Song of the Presidents

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Home : 2003 : August : 3

Song of the Presidents
By Lori2

When my daughter was in first grade, her teacher did a month long study of the Presidents for February. They learned all the Presidents in order using a song -- I believe it was called Song of the Presidents and went through
Clinton -- I don't know if they have a new version with the younger Bush or not. Each day they studied a President or two and learned at least one or two facts about each one. For example, George Washington our first President and the Father of our Country. John Adams kept our country out of a war and was a leader in the fight for independence. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration

of Independence and with the Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of our country. ETC. Each day the students would repeat the facts learned the day before and learn the new ones. At the end of the unit, she stood the children up and gave them each a president in order. Once she used up all the students she went back and repeated the process. So each child then had approximately three presidents to be -- my daughter was John Adams, Lincoln and Herbert Hoover. On Presidents Day, the students marched into the school chapel to God Bless America (my daughter goes to a private Christian school so you might have to change this up a bit). They then got into their places and led the pledge for the parents. They sang their presidents song, then each child stepped forward and did presented their presidential fact for each president in order -- Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, etc.

It was really cute and informational. My daughter is now going into fifth grade and still can be caught singing/humming the presidents song. She loved becoming a president and John Adams was her fav -- she has since seen 1776 and really laughs about Adams being obnoxious and disliked.

I can't remember all the activities they did but they did do silhouettes of Washington and Lincoln, looked at the Memorial on the back of the penney with a high powered magnifying glass to see the statue of Lincoln, and read a bunch of books.

Some of them are: Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers by Karen WInnick, The President and Mom's Apple Pie by Michael ??? (this is a fairly new one), Amelia and Eleanor go for a Ride, Books by Cheryl Harness -- George Washington, Young Theodore Roosevelt, Young John Quincy Adams, John Adams, and two about Abe Lincoln --, A Christmas Tree in the White House by Gary Hines (Theodore Roosevelt), Abe Lincoln and the Muddy Pig (easy reader), Abe Lincoln's Hat (easy reader), Picture book biographies by David Adler -- several presidents, A Picture Book Biography of George Washington and A Picture Book Biography of Thomas Jefferson by James Cross Giblin, Childhood of Famous American Books about the Presidents.

Hope that helps. Good luck. Those kids absoulutely loved the unit.