Rewind History To The Present For A Peek Into The Past!
I wanted to post these pictures in case anyone is looking for some pix of civil war times just in case you’d like to enhance your study of Abraham Lincoln.
These would make a nice slide show.
During the summer, while we were visiting the Tawas Point Lighthouse in Michigan, my husband and I happened upon a “Living History” reenactment of this time period.
The folks pictured, were kind enough to pose and give permission to post. They do this kind of thing often and enjoy providing a really educational look into the past.
There were lots of hands-on activities, like dipping wicks hung from a stick into hot wax to make candles, a blacksmith demonstrating his trade, soldiers explaining their uniforms and shooting off their rifles.
You could even try your hand at sawing wood.
People displayed quilts, photographs and other things of the time.
Click on the link to view/download Living History Civil War Reenactment Pix
If you’re looking for another history-based activity, I wrote a play that my daughter’s class presented when she was in the 8th grade.
It was a terrific way for them to do research and learn about Lincoln and the time he lived.
Click on the link to view/download the play: A Day In The Life Of Abraham Lincoln
I hope to see you tomorrow! I'll post some more fun stuff!
Money Matters!
The more different opportunities you give students to experience coins, the better chance they have of latching on to some sort of comparison, fact or piece of trivia that helps the light bulb go on, so that they are able to identify the coins and give you some information about them.
Making this Autograph Coin booklet is a fun way to do that. Run off copies for all of your students, or simply make one for yourself and share your teacher’s copy with them. 
I was fascinated with the President’s signatures.
Washington and Jefferson wrote with feather quills. Set up a center activity where students write their name with a feather-dipped in paint.
I did this for a Constitution Day activity and have a template for that. Click on the link to view/download the quill page from Activities For Constitution Day.
To get some name writing practice in, include an extra page with the booklet and have students collect some autographs of their friends, or to expedite things, have each student sign one paper, and run off copies for everyone, entitled Your Classmate’s Autographs.
Click on the link to view/download the Coin Autograph Booklet Do you have a teaching tip you’d like to share? I’d enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com or leave a comment here, especially if you used an idea! Thanks in advance.
My Y5’s really enjoyed making flip booklets.
The cutting and gluing were great fine motor skills, and writing facts offered practice in handwriting that prepared them for doing research in upper grades.
They especially liked the secretive and surprise element of something being hidden under a flap.
Here’s how to make a coin flip booklet:
Run off my templates on two different colors of bright copy paper for the booklet and white paper for the coins.
Students color the coins the appropriate color, then cut and glue them to the matching circles on the cover of their booklet.
Children cut on the lines to make flip-up pages.
Write the “Master” template on your board and brainstorm/discuss with students the answers. Write them on the board so that children can copy them onto their paper.
Make sure to tell them NOT to cut their insert page into individual pages, but to simply glue the whole long paper into the bottom of the inside of their booklet.
Some little ones get scissor-happy and make more work for themselves.
Another “head’s up”: Remind students to write the information in appropriate order, dime first, penny second, etc.
Some students want to start with the penny, but the dime is glued first on the cover, because I want to reinforce smallest coin to largest.
This helps give students another way to compare, recognize and remember the coins.
So that children remember how to make tally marks, Using glue dots, I glue 4 Popsicle sticks of one color on a sheet of construction paper, and then cross the 5th one over using a different color stick.
I number the sticks and put a magnet strip on the back of this mini-poster that I hang on my white board as a reminder. It also helps students remember which way to cross the 4 sticks.
You can give your students another opportunity to “play” with these 4 coins and enhance their flip book by having them do crayon rubs of the coins.
Set out a real penny, nickel, dime and quarter at a TV tray center, along with copper and silver-colored crayons and scrap paper.
Students put the paper over the coin and rub the crayon over it.
They choose their best picture, cut it out and glue it on the flipped-up page, to match the appropriate coin.
On the front of their booklets students write: It makes “cents” to Diane. Inserting their name on the end of the sentence and putting one word on the first 2 flaps and “cents to” on the 3rd flap.
Click on the link to view/download the Coin Flip Booklet
Once your students have learned all of the coins reward them with a certificate of praise. Click on the link for Coin Certificates.
I hope you and your students have a cent-sational time learning about coins this way!
If you have a tip you’d like to share, I’d enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com or leave a comment here. Thanks in advance.
See you tomorrow with another coin idea; an autograph book of the presidents!
President's Day Games & Activities
A quick and easy center for your students on President’s Day is to make an Itty Bitty Alphabet or Counting booklet.
Students trace the upper and lowercase letters, cut them out and sequence them.
My Y5’s always enjoyed taking these “just the right-size” booklets home to share with their families, which helped reinforce the lessons that they learned.
They also liked collecting all of the different little booklets each month.
Make extra sets for in class. Run the uppercase letters off on a DIFFERENT color from the lowercase ones and laminate them so that you can play Memory Match games.
I find that if you differentiate the sets via color, you make it less frustrating for little ones to play memory games and they don’t take an inordinate amount of time either.
You can also distribute the cards an play “I Have…Who Has?”
Click on the link to view/download the President’s Day Alphabet cards.
Besides these traceable word cards, I help my students learn letters by making up Bingo songs.
The Bingo song is a great way to review the concept of subtraction and a clapping pattern as well + students LOVE singing.
What better way to review who the President and Vice President are of the United States than with this little song.
Print off the OBAMA and BIDEN bingo cards. Put magnet strip on the back and put them on your white board. Use them to sing the Bingo song.
Here are the words:
Obama is the president.
He is our Nation’s leader
O-B-A-M-A O-B-A-M-A
O-B-A-M-A
He is the President.
Biden is the VP
He helps the President
B-I-D-E-N B-I-D-E-N
B-I-D-E-N
Joe helps the president.
Click on the link to view/print the Obama Bingo Cards and song.
Click on the link to view/download my other Bingo Song Cards
If you teach a song each month you will have reviewed all of the letters of the alphabet except X.
Besides the alphabet, I made sets of numbers for counting by 1’s with pennies, by 5’s with nickels, by 10’s with dimes to reinforce not only skip counting, but recognizing these particular coins and their value.
There’s also a set for counting by 2’s and 3’s. All have covers so that the students can make individual Itty Bitty Booklets as well.
Finish up the counting activities by getting the wiggles out and have students count backwards from 20 or 10.
Once they’ve jumped into the air they can bounce out to their lockers and take their booklets with them.
Click on the link to view/download the President’s Day Counting Cards.
Whatever you’re doing on President’s Day I hope it’s letter perfect!
Pennies For Your Thoughts
If someone caught you daydreaming and a million miles away, you might have heard them asking you, “A penny for your thoughts.”
This is a nice writing prompt for students, especially on President’s Day, and makes a cute class book.
Brainstorm with your students of what they could think about. I think… the cafeteria should serve… I think that someday I would like to be a... I think tomorrow I will… etc.
Run off my template and have students fill in the conversation cloud and then glue their school photo next to it as if they are “thinking”.
Collate the pages and make a class book. Share it with the class by having students read their page when you come to it.
You can reward them with a shiny penny after they have shared their thoughts.
A similar activity is “Thoughts On A Penny.” So that students become familiar with what is on a penny, explain to them the data on the coin.
Run off the penny template on brown construction paper and tell students they will cut it out and fill in some informational thoughts.
Instead of In God We Trust as the motto on their coin, have them come up with their own personal motto, or simply write down one of their favorite quotes.
To help them with this, read a dozen or so very short ones from a list of favorite quotations and have them choose one.
Discuss where and when coins are minted and show them where that information appears on the coin.
In lieu of that, have them write down the city where they were born, and the year.
Around the bottom, students complete the sentence: I’m cent-sational because…
Students glue their penny to the kid character, add some facial features and hair; color and cut it out.
These make a nice bulletin board or hallway display.
Click on the link to view/download A Penny For Your Thoughts ideas
Whatever your plans for President’s Day I hope they are simply cent-sational!
Scroll down for some ABC-123 President's Day cards, perfect for a center activity or game for President's Day!
