The third Monday of February marks Presidents’ Day. I always have good intentions to celebrate and teach my students about this national holiday, but if I’m not careful, it can slip by! Planning my Presidents’ Day activities and lesson plans ahead of time makes such a big difference!
When I’m thoughtful and intentional, I can integrate my social studies and literacy topics and standards to get more into each day. Plus, it reinforces my students’ learning when they hear about Presidents’ Day all day long!
**Amazon affiliate links are used below at no cost to you. I earn a small commission if you order from the links used.
To help make sure you are prepared with engaging, effective, and fun Presidents’ Day activities, I put together a list of seven different types of things you can easily integrate into your lesson plans no matter if you were planning to teach for one day or one week on this topic.
First, I almost always kick off a new topic with an interactive read aloud. This allows me to introduce the topic, find out what students might already know, and build some background knowledge for students.
I’ve pulled together a list of some read alouds that you might like to use in your classroom. Some specifically talk about Lincoln and Washington. Some talk about the job of the president. Finally, some talk about what it takes to run for president.
Second, I love using catch songs and interesting videos to help students understand the concepts I’m teaching. I’ll play them during the lesson, and then again during transition times, when we have a few minutes to spare, or in the morning when students come in.
I found a few that may work well in your classroom. Remember to preview them on your own to determine if they are appropriate for your students.
Next, I love to use anchor charts to help my students visualize their learning and provide a point of reference. You can create endless types of anchor charts for this topic.
As one of my Presidents’ Day activities, I would make a KWL chart. I would want to know what my students already know (or think they know) about this holiday and about Lincoln and Washington. You can pick up some FREE KWL charts HERE to use with your students.
Graphic organizers get to the heart of learning for our students. Integrating them into your Presidents’ Day activities and lesson plans allows you to incorporate more writing and help students streamline their thinking.
One type of graphic organizer I love to use is a Venn diagram comparing Lincoln and Washington. This helps younger students realize that they were two different and important people.
You can also use flipbooks to help organize students’ learning and thinking. Plus, you get to integrate literacy again. Students can use flipbooks to compare Washington and Lincoln when they are both young and old. You can also use a flipbook to compare Washington and Lincoln.
Including shared reading in your Presidents Day Activities list makes it easy to integrate social studies and literacy. You can use a song or poem (I have one in my unit you can use HERE). Then, you can find teaching points to use help students with sight words, phonics, and comprehension.
My weekly shared reading teaching points looked like this:
Flip up books have become a favorite of mine, especially since I have made them digital this year. I have and use three:
Each of these flip up books has six pages of activities for students to do either with you as a whole group or independently. They are easy to print and assemble or use as a digital notebook in Google Slides. Flip up books are great to use throughout the week or to do if you just need something quick to cover Presidents Day.
Finally, another one of my favorite Presidents’ Day activities is a craftivity! A writing activity plus a craft equals a craftivity. My students love them, too! We would make a crafty George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and then we would write facts we learned about them to share.
This also served as an informal assessment in both writing conventions and social studies.
I know planning a week of lesson plans for each subject can be overwhelming. From switching from Pinterest to Youtube to Google, it’s a lot to put together! So, I did it for you! The Presidents’ Day Unit has a ton of activities that you can easily implement into your lesson plans. It includes:
Head to my store and grab yours today to be prepared and equipped for teaching all about Presidents’ Day in a fun and engaging way!
I’m a K-1 teacher who is passionate about making lessons your students love and that are easy to implement for teachers. Helping teachers like you navigate their way through their literacy block brings me great joy. I am a lifelong learner who loves staying on top of current literacy learning and practices. Here, you’ll find the tools you need to move your K-2 students forward!
