Introducing American Presidents with Help from Coins, Songs, and Games

What better time than the week of Presidents' Day?

After the excitement surrounding Valentine's Day (and the winter storm) died down, we got to recognizing some Presidents of the past. We started the lesson with the Presidents on the quarter (George Washington), the penny (Abraham Lincoln), the dime (Franklin Roosevelt), and nickel (Thomas Jefferson). In individual and/or small group lessons, the children proved their new knowledge by recognizing the coins themselves, and then the President printed on them. A coinciding worksheet was available for those interested. Turns out, the majority of the class was interested in the entire lesson! And we are so proud of the work they completed!

Singing Makes Learning Fun

Many times in lessons and unit plans, I include a song we learn together at circle. I have found it is an effective way of teaching a variety of concepts. Because the children continue to sing the songs throughout the day, it has been reported by parents that they, too, are learning the songs at home. So I think I'll continue to implement strategical lyrics in songs, since it has been a natural bridge between at school learning and at home learning.

Here's the song we used to learn the coins and the Presidents on them:

"Do you know who's on the quarter? (penny, dime, nickel)

On the quarter, 

On the quarter?

Do you know who's on the quarter?

It's George Wash-ing-ton!"

 (Ab-ra-ham Lincoln, Franklin Roos-e-velt, Thom-as Jeff-er-son)

Demonstrating Our Knowledge with a Game 

At circle time, we discussed more about Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. We read a little about their lives before office, as well as the legacy they left. We kept to the four Presidents we found on the coins, not to overwhelm everyone (including me!). Keeping everyone involved in the learning, we played a game where every child got a chance to point out the correct coin by name and/or point out the correct President. This was inadvertently an informal assessment for the children, and I am pleased to share that overall, the children answered correctly, without much help! 

**Please continue to ask your children about the Coins and the Presidents. You never know, you may learn something as well in the process!

We've planted the seeds for further growth in historical knowledge and American money. With practice, these children could move on to learning money value!

Hip, Hip, Hooray! Another Birthday!

I love the posters the kids create with photos throughout their life. Often times their little personalities pop right off the page. While she was presenting, we noticed that this little girl was often photographed outside in nature. She was on grass and sand before turning one, was wading in the streams and waves at the beach at age two, and there was even a picture of her dancing in a field of sunflowers! So earthy, so cute!

Her face walking around the months of the year says it all!

These two ladies made up and practiced a special "peace dance" for the birthday girl that they performed at circle time after the "celebration of life". After the performance, the birthday girl smiled big and said, "I loved it!". What a sweet gift it was!

Before going outside to sing "Happy Birthday" and share a sweet treat, we read the book, Emma's Cold Day, a tale about a chicken searching the farm for a way to get warm. It was a perfect story to read alongside this birthday celebration because this young girl actually has chickens and a chicken coop, and she was able to answer questions we had about chickens. 

We are so blessed to have this loving girl in our class community!

And it has been so neat watching her grow!

Nothing Wrong with an Extended Valentine's Day!

Three and a half consecutive snow days postponed our Valentine's Day celebration. It all worked out though, because it just meant more time for the spirit of love, giving, and not to mention, heart-themed fun!

Building with Unifix Cubes

Creative building with the "Unifix Cubes" was a favorite activity this month. I'm not sure if it was the color that drew them all in, but boy did they flock!

Sewed Hearts

The older children in the class sewed (with a needle and yarn) the outline of a heart and one student even made a heart-shaped pillow for her grandparents! The younger children got to study the older children's movements and learned from watching. Soon they will have the readiness to sew with such precision too!

Painted Hearts

Painting is always fun! And these hearts decorated our school lobby so beautifully!

Made Heart-Shaped Handprints and Footprints

With a little help from a very helpful student leader!

The children are growing up so fast. I like to make handprints a couple times a year so the children can look back and see proof of how much they've grown. It seemed the perfect time to make this documentation and we tried to make our handprints and footprints look like hearts, to describe the time of year. The children loved the sensation of a paintbrush on their fingers and toes. Many chuckled, describing it as ticklish. 

 

Made Flower Arrangements to Decorate our Tables

The class as a whole has come a long way with their body control in the classroom. The children have demonstrated readiness in having a glass vase full of water on the tables with them at meal and work times. This is great progress because it is absolutely lovely to have fresh flowers surrounding us during our day. Of course Valentine's Day was a perfect time to start this tradition. As you can see in the pictures, the children help prepare the vases and flower stems for an arrangement (and sometimes one solitary flower) that he or she can place on a table. I just love this! And I hope it inspires some flower power at home too!

Exchanged Valentine's

We allowed for each child, one at a time, to distribute their Valentine's to their friends. This provided opportunity for pure gratitude. The children really got to soak up the feeling of giving as their friends showed their appreciation for the gift they just received. It was great to see some creativity in the Valentine's and I loved that some children signed their names themselves. Valentine's are not that expensive (especially homemade ones) but they sure do create a lot of joy!

And Noshed Together on a Heart-Themed Snack and Lunch

Thanks to the Parents of iMontessori School we had a gloriously designed Valentine's lunch and snack times. There was thoughtfulness and creativity abound and the offerings were healthy yet fun! I like to call the spread "Heart-Shaped and Heart-Healthy". It was also great to gather as a whole school to celebrate! 

Thank you Parents for making our Valentine's Day 2014 a very special one!