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Engaging Activities To Teach About Presidents Day in Elementary

Presidents Day is quickly approaching!

As you likely know, this is a national holiday celebrated in the United States to commemorate the birthdays of Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and this year it falls on February 20, 2023.

As teachers, this is the perfect time to teach about the history of the United States and the role of the President!

Here are some simple and fun ideas to help you celebrate Presidents Day in your elementary classroom:

Create a timeline: Create a timeline with your students of the Presidents of the United States, starting with George Washington and ending with the current President. This activity will help students learn about the different Presidents and the order in which they served. With younger students, it may be best to stick with only a handful of notable presidents throughout the years so it’s a little less overwhelming.
Read some books about presidents: Pick a few Presidents to focus on and read picture books about them to your class. You can then discuss with your students who the president is and what they did that was so important.
Role-play: Have students take on the role of Presidents, such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or a current President. You can pair them up and have them teach each other what their president did and why it was an important part of American history.
Celebrate with food: Research and make dishes from the Presidents’ favorite foods. For example, George Washington was known to enjoy hoecakes, and Abraham Lincoln loved apples. This activity is a fun and interactive way for students to learn about the Presidents and their tastes. Plus, who doesn’t love a yummy treat?
Visit a virtual museum: Can’t take a field trip? No problem! Most museums offer virtual tours and you can create a whole virtual field trip out of it. This is a great visual to help students learn more about the holiday and the Presidents of the United States.

If you’re looking for some easy, fun, low-prep resources, I have you covered!

Presidents Day Activities Reading Comprehension Passages – Word Search Writing

This resource is an informative reading comprehension packet with 60 pages of information to use for this holiday for upper elementary students (for some 3rd graders, 4th grade, and some 5th grades). There are writing activities, reading comprehension checks, and a word search. The informational (non-fiction) book will help your students understand how it came into being.

This resource will also give your students facts about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Your students will enjoy this 60-page unit that contains fun facts about presidents, worksheets, timelines, comprehension checks, fix-it sentences, word search vocabulary, Presidential word problems, writing activities, and so much more!

Presidents Day Activities Reading Comprehension Close Reading

These activities will teach your first and second grade students about this holiday. Reading comprehension is made easy with these close reading activities. They go along with the informational reader which has many real photos. Students have their own reader to use for many of the activities. Your students will love learning about the holiday, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Many skills are included along with posters and anchor chart pieces.

Presidents Day Scrambled Sentences | Sight Words Building Sentences

Sight Word Scrambled Sentences or build – a – sentences make a perfect center for Presidents Day or any “patriotic” theme you are teaching! These are Sight Word Scrambled Sentences for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades!

Want more presidential activities? Check out my TpT store here!

By using these activities, you can make this holiday a memorable and educational event for your students!

For more patriotic activities, check out my post here!

Digraphs Vs. Blends: Tips For Teaching Students The Difference

Let’s talk about digraphs and blends! These can be pretty tricky for new readers. The difference between the two is subtle and could easily confuse them. So how do we teach them in a way that is effective and easy to remember for little learners?

Let’s start with the basics! Here are some common questions teachers have about digraphs and blends.

1. “What is the difference between blends and digraphs?”

A BLEND is when each sound of two or more consonants can be heard as they are blended together. For example, /pl/ as in play. You say (and teach) /pl/ but the /p/ and /l/ can be heard as separate phonemes. Each letter within the blend is pronounced individually, but quickly, so they blend together.

A DIGRAPH is when two consonants together make a single sound. For example, if you tell someone to be quiet by saying “shhhhhh”, you say it as one sound. You don’t say /s/ /h/.

2. What are the most common blends and what order should I teach them?

BLENDS

The most common beginning consonant blends include: bl, br, cl, cr, dr, fr, tr, fl, gl, gr, pl, pr, sl, sm, sp and st.

Click to download a FREE Beginning Blends Poster.

There is a great deal of variance as to which blends to teach first. Even many basal reading programs disagree. Yet, it is thought that the following is a good guideline of which to teach first: gr, pl, bl, st, br, sp, tr, cl, fl, sl, fr, sn, thr, cr, dr, sm. HOWEVER, this differs with the level of students you teach and the most important thing to remember is to teach intentionally!

There are also ending consonant blends in words such as fast.

Click to download a FREE poster for Ending Blends Poster.

Some blends contain three consonants (clusters) such as str,spl, spr, shr, scr, squ, str. It is thought that these clusters along with nk and sk should be taught later rather than at the beginning.

3. What are the most common digraphs and what order should I teach them?

DIGRAPHS

We like to call the most common consonant digraphs the “h” brothers. The most common are sh, ch, th, and wh but there also is ph. The most common to teach first are the “Big 4”! Many reading programs introduce blends before the digraphs.

The main thing to remember is you need to teach whatever your district says! This goes for blends (clusters) AND digraphs.

Click to download a FREE Digraph Poster.

4. What is the correct spelling and pronunciation of DIGRAPH?

It is spelled d-i- g-r-a-p-h and pronounced dī- graf. There is no “a” as in d-i-a-g-r-a-p-h. It is not pronounced dī-uh-graf.

In conclusion, learning digraphs and blends are important in learning to read. Go by your district, your campus, or your reading program to guide you with when and how to introduce them. We all have our opinions but we must go by the guidelines our employers give us.

Click HERE for a FREE digraph resource with activities and worksheets aimed at 1st-2nd graders and upper Kindergarten students.

If you like these digraph freebies, you’ll love the bundle!

It’s a 329-page bundle for the digraphs ck, kn, ph, wr, sh, ch, wh, th with activities, center activities, and worksheets. The bundle is more than 20% off with a FREE assessment pack. The assessment pack is only available as part of the bundle deal. I don’t think you will need anything else for the entire year to teach digraphs.

It has everything, from small group work to games to centers. Games make great small group activities and give you the chance to do formative assessments as you monitor and guide the children during the game!

Find the hidden word pages make great centers. Before laminating the picture, cut off the bottom recording sheet. You can copy two recording sheets per 8.5×11 sheet of paper to put at the center with the laminated picture and a few magnifying glasses. Kids LOVE using the magnifying glasses to play “word detectives.”

This huge bundle of resources was created in collaboration with Teacher’s Toolkit, The Fun Factory, and Practice Makes Perfect. We put our over 80 years (gasp) of combined experience together to come up with activities that will engage, excite, and challenge your students.

Do you have any tricks for teaching digraphs? Let me know in the comments!

The Importance Of Reading To Follow Directions

In first and second grade, students are starting to get the hang of reading. We spend so much time focusing on reading-level books and reading comprehension. It is so important!

reading to follow directions

However, another important part of learning to read is reading to follow directions!

As first or second grade teachers, we may be surprised to find that students didn’t follow directions. They continue to ask questions about how to do things even though the instructions have been explained and listed.

Reading to follow directions is a skill that students need to learn. They don’t just naturally understand it when they learn to read. Their whole lives so far, they have learned what to do by being told or shown. This is a new way of communicating so it is important to focus on this in the earlier grades so they are able to use this skill in day-to-day life.

reading to follow directions

Here are some ways you can teach your students how to read to follow directions.

Always list directions on the board. This may seem obvious, but it’s important so it is worth mentioning. Use big letters and a numbered list to help them understand the format.
Go over commonly used words in directions that they may not know. Something that can trip them up big time with reading to follow directions is words they don’t know or are struggling to sound out. Looking at instructions full of words they don’t understand can be overwhelming and discouraging for them. Going over those words ahead of time will boost their confidence.
Use worksheets that have instructions listed on them. Tell students that the instructions are on the worksheets so they can read it to find out how to complete it.
Make it fun with games! Create centers that focus on reading directions. In each center, include the instructions for a simple game that students have to read in order to play. You can also pair students up, and have them race to read their instructions to complete a task first. There are so many possibilities!

Reading to follow directions is a skill that students will need for their whole lives. College assignments, job applications, instruction manuals, the list goes on! Practicing and perfecting this skill early on is vital and will set them up for success later on.

Another great way to practice this skill is with this Reading To Follow Directions resource!

This bundle comes with activities for every month of the year that will have your students perfecting their reading to follow directions skills.

Students demonstrate reading comprehension by simply reading sentences and coloring a picture to follow the directions.

They can read the sheet using many sight words and then follow the directions to color pictures. It’s fun and creative!

Try out some free activities with my FREE 120 Day of School Read To Follow Directions resource.

You can also try out my Veterans Day Read and Follow Directions resource here!

reading to follow directions

Looking for more back to school resources and tips? Check out my post here!