President's Day

1 Day:
Introduction about our country and our beginning story. How and why we fought for our freedom. Brief introduction to our nation's symbols. I read a book that has beautiful pictures of America. We listen to America the Beautiful and watch a clip on YouTube.

1-2 Days:
FLAG: Meanings and purpose
The students use prepared construction paper to create the USA flag.
The story about how the Star Spangled Banner song was written.
We listen to the Star Spangled Banner.

The next day, the students learn about the Pledge of Allegiance in simple terms.
We fill in the blanks for the "easier" words.

How to: Make a Graham Cracker Flag
Students write how to make a flag with a graham cracker. (I guide this one)
I used this as a shared writing activity with my small groups. They helped spell words and they spelled words on their own. 
(This was an idea from a co-worker)



1 Day:
Eagle

2 Days:
Statue of Liberty: Story of her as our gift from France.

Happy 125th birthday, Statue of Liberty

Mold Statue of Liberty. 
Students were given some fantastic playdough (that will dry well), but you can use molding clay. Using pictures of the Statue of Liberty, the students were to mold their own statue. Then they learn about the coloring of the Statue from the science experiment - to finish they paint their Statue of Liberty!

What happened to the color of the Statue of Liberty
Penny/Statue of Liberty Science Experiment
Paint students' Statue of Liberty a light shade of green

Liberty Bell:
The Liberty Bell Video

Presidents:
Abraham Lincoln: 
Biography of Abe book (for younger kids)
Abraham Portrait & sentence blanks (info about Abe) - Shared Reading and writing
His hair was created with torn up brown construction pieces.
(I'll get a picture next time!)


George Washington:
Video Biography
George Portrait & sentence blanks (info about George) - Shared Reading and writing
His hair was done with a mix of glue and paint to give some 3D feel to it. (need more glue next time)