This month is all about the American flag, the Statue of Liberty and George and Abe
Is it I pledge allegiance to the flag? Or is it I led a piegeon to the flag? This picture books helps kids understand the meaning of the words to the pledge of allegiance.
Voting Booth: Use the book Duck For President by Doreen Cronin to talk about the election process. Contruct a simple voting booth in your classroom where students can cast their secret ballots. Students can vote on a wide variety of topics - Do you like Abraham Lincoln better with a beard or without a beard? or Which of these three books should we read at Storytime? You get the idea!
American Bingo: Familiarize your students with American symbols by playing - BINGO! Prepare a six or nine box BINGO card for each player. Put stickers of American symbols or small clip art pictures in each box. make a matching set of individual cards with stickers. Put out beans, coins, etc. for BINGO markers. One player shuffles the cards and places them face down in a pile. Players take turns drawing a card and calling out the name of the symbol. The first player to cover the entire
board - or four corners - or only the top row, WINS!
I'm Proud to Be an American: Choose 4 or 5 of your favorite "cut and paste" projects representing different American symbols. Put a different project out for students to make every day for a week. For example, an American flag, an eagle, a paper Statue of Liberty. What about an Abraham Lincoln or George Washington craft project? Save all the student projects to assemble into booklets at the end of the week.
I'm Proud to Be an American: It's time to use your favorite February craft projects and write about the different American symbols. Assemble into booklets and sent them home.
If I Were President . . . Find out exactly what your students would do if THEY were president by having them write about it. Combine it with a simple drawing or craft project that can be used as a hall or bulletin board display or assembled into a class book.
How Many Drops? Your student's won't want to leave this activity - it's that much fun! Put out lots of pennies, droppers, aluminum pie tins (anything that's shallow and will hold water), and . . .
of course - water! Students put a penny into the pie tine, then, one drop at a time, add water. The question for the students is "How many drops of water can you drop onto the penny before it overflows?" Tallying might help them to count the drops as they do the experiment. Students record their findings as they draw and write about the experiment.
Investigating Coins: Ever wonder what to do with those mismatched socks we all seem to have floating around? You can use them for an easy Math Station! Fill the socks with different coins. Students reach in the sock, choose a coin and try to identify the coin they're holding just by the feel
of it. The student pulls the coin out of the sock to check their guess. It doesn't get much easier than this. Possible Extensions: Coin Rubbings and Coin Matching Games.
Penny Count: Estimation - How many pennies will fit inside Lincoln's head? Make copies of a silhouette of Abraham Lincoln in 5 different sizes. Have a large jar of pennies available. Students estimate how many pennies will fit in Lincoln's head, then write their name and estimate on a chart. Students then use the pennies to fill Lincoln's silhouette and see how close their estimate was to the actual amount. Use a different size silhouette for each day of the week. Students can also do this activity with a silhouette of George Washington estimating how many cotton balls would fit on Washington's wig!
Symmetry Stars: Use large cardboard star shapes to combine the study of symmetry and American symbols. Cut star shapes from cardboard in a variety of sizes. Make them large enough for Kindergarten students to trace and cut. Cut the cardboard star template exactly in half. Show students how to fold paper in half and place the edge of the cut star template exactly on the fold. They trace the "star" and cut it out. When opened, the shape they see is a symmetrical star. This is a fun project to do with red, white and blue themed papers.
A patriotic program for parents is a great culmination and celebration of all your students have learned this month!
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