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!