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George
Washington Unit
As an
avid historian, I am blessed to be living in Virginia, the
birthplace of George Washington. Additionally, we are in
close proximity to Washington, D.C. Many of our students
have visited our famous Virginia historical homes and sites and
Washington, D.C.. However, when I taught in Arizona, many
of my students did not have this wealth of background
knowledge. Consequently, I have acquired many resources to
implement for any learning situation.
I am a frequent visitor at Mount Vernon. You never know
who may invite you for tea! So, enjoy some tea as you
visit this page.
B.
Sarah Froehlich
Yes, I am having tea with Lady Washington at Mount Vernon
Then visited with George Washington
 Some
Unit Ideas
IN
THE BEGINNING .... GETTING READY
* Select literature that will be appropriate for read
aloud, independent, and guided reading experiences. I have
listed several books that I have incorporated into this unit on
the Washington page of this site. If you review some of
the books there, you may save some time searching or reinventing
the wheel.
* Locate some music from Colonial America. There are
many selections available on the Mount Vernon, Williamsburg, and
Monticello sites. I have some links to music in the book
nook. I play the music in the background during our
writer's workshop. The kids enjoy the new sound.
* Collect pictures and primary sources. Visit the
web sites of the Library of Congress, Mount Vernon, and the
Smithsonian. Pictures of Washington as a person are
powerful images for children to understand that this person was
real. Find pictures that reflect the age group of your
students. Family pictures of Washington, his home, etc.
enable to develop more personal connections to the historical
people, events, and time. Also locate replicas of
toys, games, etc. from that period.
* Locate pictures of children's activities, clothing,
homes, etc relating to Colonial America. Pictures from the
past combined with pictures of present times support learning
about past and present, economics, and social
demographics.
* Reflect on your student group. What activities
excite them or really get them eager to pursue new
learning? Each year my class personality varies so it is
best to have a smorgasbord of ideas that would interest a wide
range of students.
* What hands on materials will you incorporate? I
have some children's games, letter paper, quill pens, ink, slate
boards, jacks, etc. for children to experience.
* Songs and poems - a few suggestions are on this
page. When kids can sing and move learning new
concepts, they remember.
* Art - Activities that involve fine motor skills. I
love the TLC Art projects that incorporate a great deal of
vocabulary, math concepts, directionality, listening and
following directions, and fine motor skills. A picture of
their George Washington portraits are on this page. Also,
a patriotic windsock.
* Math - Washington's first job was as a surveyor.
Measurement can be integrated in this unit. Additionally,
money (coins, the dollar). Create word problems using the
Washington theme using addition and subtraction and money.
An example would be: George had two coins in his pocket
that made 30 cents. What coins did he have in his pocket?
* INCLUDE COLONIAL AMERICA - some suggestions are
listed on this page. Also try Colonial Williamsburg's web
site.
* Think about using a reader's theatre. There are a
few good resources published by Scholastic that vary in reading
level. While students are having fun, they also develop
fluency. The books below are a hit in my classroom each
year.
For emergent readers, the following book is very good to
introduce biographies of famous Americans. There is a
section for Washington and Lincoln in the book. You simply
copy the black line book, cut and fold. Students can take
the book home their book bags or keep in their reading boxes.
These are
a few of the suggestions that I can make to help the development
and integration of a living history experience. The more
kids can interact and "live" this experience, the
better they will internalize the major themes and concepts of
social studies.
DEVELOPING
CHARTS, CONCEPT MAPS, SCHEMATA
1. FIND OUT WHAT STUDENTS KNOW OR UNDERSTAND ABOUT GEORGE
WASHINGTON. Write their ideas on chart paper. They
will have some misconceptions. MISCONCEPTIONS are
good. They will be added to the schemata chart as students
correct their understanding of the concepts.
2. WHAT QUESTIONS DO THEY WANT TO ASK ABOUT GEORGE
WASHINGTON? I list all of their questions. Then, we
discuss how we can put some of our questions together into one
big question. If you review the questions on the list, the
direction of their questions should be obvious to the
teacher. The major questions will also guide what you
present in resources for them to dig into the learning
experience.
3. REVISIT the questions map. Ask students what they have
learned that would answer the question(s). List their
ideas. If there are misconceptions from the first chart,
begin a new chart called OUR MISCONCEPTIONS.
4. Here are some examples of the end of the unit schemata
chart I made with my students. Day one, we listed
EVERYTHING we remembered about George Washington together.
I wrote their ideas on chart paper. Then, we grouped their
ideas into categories using different colored markers. Any
phrases that were about his boyhood life we circled in one
color, as a young man in another color, as a soldier, president,
and later years. I took the charts home and created a new
chart with the questions, headings, and ideas. Then, I
modeled how to use their "schemata" plan to help them
write about each category. My first graders were really
amazed how easy this made nonfiction writing. Activities
like this help reinforce the importance of planning and
organizing ideas (prewriting) tasks.
You will be amazed at the writing that the students will
generate after working though this process. My first grade
students dazzled me!
Some
Published Writing
George
Washington Portraits
The
portrait directions and project are from TLC Art, the winter
book. You can view some of the TLC products at www.tlclessons.com
 Patriotic
Windsock for Washington and Lincoln
President's Day
Materials you will need:
1. Royal blue construction paper 18" X 10"
(1) per student
2. Red construction paper strips (2) per student 18"
X 2".
3. Locate a picture of Washington and Lincoln, side
view. Trace this onto cardstock paper. Have students
trace one of each on white construction paper. Cut out and
glue on the blue part of the paper. If you have an Ellison
machine for cut outs, this works the best.
4. Tissue paper (whatever color you would like). (4)
per student. Cut into strips 1" X 8"
5. Hole puncher to punch two holes at the top to string
the yarn for hanging.
6. Yarn.
7. White stars (2) per student.
Making
George Washington's Cherry
Pie
This
recipe is from Book Cooks, 2002 by Creative Teaching
Press.
You will need:
1. Small plastic cups (1) per student
2. Graham crackers
3. Cherry pie filling
4. Baggies (Zip Loc) Small
5. Whipping cream
6. Spoons
* Have students take one whole graham cracker and put it
into the Zip Loc bag. They need to make graham cracker
crumbs. I have the students use the palm of their hand or
squeeze with fingers.
* Pour the graham cracker crumbs into the cup. This
will be the bottom layer of the pie.
* Spoon some of the cherry pie filling next, on top of the
graham cracker crumbs, into the cup.
* Top with whipping cream
* Serve and see the smiles.
Patriotic
Hats
You
will need:
1. Black construction paper - cut (3) pieces 9" x
3" each piece.
2. Feathers
Cut the three pieces of black construction paper. Then,
staple one end to one other piece. Staple the other
sides. It will form a triangle. Staple or glue a
feather on the inside of the side of the hat.
PATRIOTIC
CELEBRATION
On
our last day, the students act out a reader's theatre. The
Scholastic book that contains many holiday reader's theatres is
listed in the book selection section of this web
site.
Web
sites for hat making and other Washington crafts:
http://www.edumart.com/teachers/projects/grabbag/
http://www.thebestkidsbooksite.com/craftdetails3.cfm?CraftID=669
http://familycrafts.com/ad/presidentsday
http://washingtons-birthday.123holiday.net/washington.crafts.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com
http://www.lovetolearn.net/presday/3cornerdhat/
George
Washington Songs and Poems
To
view songs and poems about Washington, Lincoln, President's Day
and a patriotic theme, click
here.
To
view PRESIDENT'S DAY ACTIVITIES,
these are posted on the Lincoln page. Click
here.
WHAT
IS A COLONY?
Learning
about history is and should be fun. For primary teachers
the planning does require more time, effort, and thinking than
for upper grade curriculum. The reason is simple---
resources are limited or they are simply BORING. I want my
students to get hooked on history. So, I make many of my
own books using primary sources and pictures.
Additionally, I read the historical research then, create a
story about the topic told from a child's point of view for the
students. To make the books, use the primary source pictures
about the concept, theme or topic and glue the story parts on
the back of each picture. VOILA! You are a
storyteller. As you show the pictures, you are the only one
seeing the back of the page. I add some drama to the
setting by dressing in period clothes or as a character from the
past. Have tea with Mary Washington as she tells you her tale of
woe with George fighting in the Revolutionary War. The
examples below are parts of a book/story I wrote for my first
graders to help them understand the colonies.
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Hi, colonists.
My name is Samuel. I live in the colony of
Virginia. My family came from England to live in
this colony over 200 years ago. Moving was hard
for our family. They did not have much money but
we wanted a better life. In the Virginia colony my
family would have land. The journey took about 6
months on a boat but they were happy to finally call
this colony home. I hope you enjoy learning about
my colonial relatives. |
In
the 1700s, the United States looked very
different. There were 13 colonies. If you
look at this map, you will see a colony that is in
green. That is Virginia. We were part of the
southern colonies. The King of England, George
III, still owned the colonies and liked to tell us what
to do. He lived very far away from Virginia so how
did he really know what our life was like? But,
the colonists still thought of themselves as British
people, not Americans. |
SOME GREAT BOOKS ...WELCOME BOOKS
Don't
have time? Try the Welcome Book series. Great
pictures with concise information, limited text on the
page. The books can be incorporated in shared or guided
reading activities. Use the pictures alone to engage
students and begin discussions.
TEACHER RESOURCES COLONIAL LIFE
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| The
book is a bit expensive but it is full of activities,
games, colonial childhood, etc. |
Historic
pictures of plantation life |
Colonial
town life with pictures. |
Guided reading activities for many of the core guided reading
books on the Washington page will be added soon.
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