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Teaching Day-by-Day: U.S. Faces & Places
February: Celebrate our country with 28 days of All-American activities.
By the Editors of Weekly Reader
- Presidents in your pocket. Almost every U.S. coin features a president: Franklin Roosevelt is on the dime and Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Kennedy appear on other coins. Can you find all of those presidential coins?
- Our star-spangled banner. The U.S. flag has 50 stars to symbolize the 50 states and 13 stripes to symbolize the original 13 colonies. Create your own flag using the reproducible flag page at www.weeklyreader.com/flag
- Name game. History surrounds us! Pick a local street or public park named after someone. Research, write and present that person's story.
- Land of languages. Thomas Jefferson, our third president, spoke six languages. How many can you speak? How many of your classmates speak languages other than English? Make a chart showing the languages spoken in your class.
- American motto. Our country's motto is "E Pluribus Unum," which is Latin for "Out of many, one." Our country has many states that make up one nation. Try writing a new motto for the United States.
- M and Ns. Eight state names begin with the letter M, and eight begin with the letter N. How many of those states can you name?
- Lincoln's logs. Abe Lincoln was born in a log cabin. You can make your own log cabin, using an empty pint-size milk carton, pretzel rods and crackers. Glue the pretzel rods to the sides of the carton for logs.
Glue crackers for the roof and door. - Black history news. February is Black History Month. Research a famous African American and write a news story about his or her life. To organize the story, use the "Hot Off the Press" reproducible at www.weeklyreader.com/newswriting
- Oh, say can you SING? "The Star-Spangled Banner" is our national anthem. Two out of three Americans don't know the words to this song. Try writing the words. What is the song about? Visit www.nationalanthemproject.org for more information.
- Presidential ABCs. The word "president" contains nine letters. But those letters can be used to make more than 100 different words. How many words can you make?
- American pie. "It's as American as apple pie" is a familiar saying. What other foods do you think of as American? Hot dogs? Pizza? Tacos? Egg rolls? Create a menu for an All-American restaurant.
- A great gift. In 1884, France gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States as a gift. If you could give a gift to any country in the world, what would it be? To whom would you give it? Why?
- Good advice! Grace Bedell, an 11-year-old girl, wrote to Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and advised him to grow a beard. He listened – and won the presidential election! Write a letter to our President with some advice of your own.
- Cards of the presidents. Go to www.weeklyreader.com/ptc for a trading-card reproducible page. Draw or paste a picture of
a president on the card. Find fun facts about him to write on the reverse side. - Frontier fables. Tall tales are stories that are full of exaggerations. The stories about Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed are tall tales. Write a tall tale about yourself. What would you exaggerate about yourself?
- Help wanted. What problems are facing our nation? What qualities would a leader need to have to solve those problems? Work with your classmates to write a classified ad for a leader with those qualities.
- Where are we? Look at a U.S. map to answer these questions: What ocean is to the east of the United States? What ocean is to the west? What country is to the south? What country is to the north?
- A vote for women! Susan B. Anthony worked to gain voting rights for women. Use the page at www.weeklyreader.com/point to write a persuasive essay from her point of view. Why should women be allowed to vote?
- Mr. or Mrs.? The longest river in the United States also has a long name. A state has the same name. What is its name? How many letters are in the word? In which state does this river start?
- Alphabet soup. Many famous Americans are referred to simply by their initials (JFK, FDR, LBJ, RFK, MLK and so on). Find the complete names of these five famous Americans.
- Birth order. The 50 states joined the United States at different times. The youngest state is Hawaii. It became part of our country in 1959. When did your state join the United States? If it has a new quarter, look for the date at the top.
- Compare commanders. Pick two presidents and research their biographies. Use the Venn diagram at www.weeklyreader.com/venn to compare and contrast those two presidents.
- Pets of the powerful. George Washington had a horse named Nelson. Abraham Lincoln had a turkey named Jack. Which other presidents have had pets? Research the answer.
- Home sweet home. The White House has 132 rooms – including a movie theater and a bowling alley. If you could add another room, what would it be? Why?
- What's in a name? Many state names come from Native American words. Oklahoma, for example, comes from a Choctaw Indian word that means "red man." Research the origin of other state names and make a chart.
- From the great state of... One state is often referred to as the "Mother of Presidents" because a total of eight U.S. presidents were born there. Which state is it? Create a quiz using a fun fact about each state.
- Protect a park. Yellowstone, the world's first national park, was established in 1872. National parks preserve the natural environment. Create a poster that encourages visitors to take care of national parks.
- A hero's life. Which famous American do you admire? Download a word web at www.weeklyreader.com/wordweb Write that person's name in the center and add words to describe him or her in the other circles. Write a biography using those words.
February, 2007, Vol.37, No.5
