History Lesson (Presidents)

Significance of the Topic

Rationale:
This unit lesson will teach children the history of our past leaders, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  There will be a comparison and contrast between the way people lived in Washington's era and Lincoln's era, and the way people live today.  This unit also teaches the children to be aware and to recognize what Washington and Lincoln had contributed to America.

Historical Context: 
George Washington was the first president of the United States (1789-1797).  There will be a discussion about Washington's personal life as well as his educational background.  Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States (1861-1865).  He could not go to school because school was too far.  He read books by the fire unlike how it is today that people read under the light.  Lincoln's life ended early after he was shot by a gunman.

Student Outcome(s):
1. The students will be able to describe some of  the lifestyles of people from Washington's and Lincoln's times and compare them to the lifestyles of people today.
2. The students will be able to compare and contrast the unique characteristics of Washington and Lincoln through a Venn diagram.
3. The students will be able to recognize the important contributions that both Washington and Lincoln had made for their country (America).
4.  At the end of the lesson, students will be able to list at least three facts about George Washington.
5.  The students will be able to point on the map where George Washington was born.
6.  At the end of the lesson, students will be able to list at least three facts about Abraham Lincoln.
7.  The students will be able to point on the map where Abraham Lincoln was born.

Essential Question(s):
1.  Who is George Washington?  Make a list about his personal and educational background (including his birthplace).
 2.  Who is Abraham Lincoln?  Make a list about his personal and educational background (including his birthplace).
3. What are some of the differences and similarities between the way people from the past (Washington's and Lincoln's times) lived and the way people live today?
4. What are some of the differences and similarities between Washington and Lincoln?
5. What contributions did Washington and Lincoln make for their country?
6.  Will the students be able to point on the map the locations of George Washington’s birthplace and Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace?

Primary sources:

• Pictures of both Presidents Washington and Lincoln
• Money (coins and dollar bills that have the faces of the two presidents imprinted on there)
• Letter from President Lincoln to Miss Grace Bedell of Westfield, New York in 1860
• Map of the United States in 1797

Secondary sources:

• Map of the United States today

SDAIE Statement:
            Students with special needs and those who are English Language Learners will have access to the content because of the instructional strategies used throughout the unit.  For many activities in the instructional unit, they will be working collaboratively in groups to encourage working together as a team.  Working collaboratively in groups will also help the ELL and special needs students to freely discuss their ideas/opinions with other peers and to learn from other peers as well.  Other activities will also include the usage of pictures, illustrations, maps, realia, and graphic organizers as the learning tools that can help the students to understand the materials and lessons better.  The unit gives these students access to resources/literature and technology.  The students should be allow to work at their own paces with help if they need it.  This unit also encourage the students to make connection among concepts, prior knowledge, and content to make the lesson more meaningful to them.

Beginning the Topic

Unit title:  Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln

Outcomes: 

• At the end of this lesson, students will be able to list at least three facts about George Washington.
• At the end of this lesson, students will be able to list at least three facts about Abraham Lincoln.

Focus Questions:

• Who is George Washington?  Make a list about his personal and educational background.
• Who is Abraham Lincoln?  Make a list about his personal and educational background.

Materials:

• Book Young George Washington-America’s First President by Andrew Woods
• Book Young Abraham Lincoln-Log Cabin President by Andrew Woods
• Chart paper for the fact sheets on both presidents
• Photos of both presidents (George W. and Abraham L.)
• KWL chart for brainstorming what the students know about leaders and presidents
• The United States current map

Teaching Sequence for Lesson:

A.  Introducing the Topic -
Ask the students if they know anything about Presidents’ Day that we celebrate in
February.  Tell them that we are going to learn about two important presidents of the
United States that we celebrate their birthdays in February.  Show students the photos
of both presidents and ask them if they know who is who.  Introduce the two
presidents to them if they do not know who George Washington or Abraham Lincoln
is.  By using the United States current map, show students the two states that the presidents were born in.  Point to the state of Virginia and tell students that it was George Washington’s birthplace.  Next, point to the state of Kentucky and tell students that it was where Abraham Lincoln was born. Tell students to think of as many things as they can name about the role of a leader (for example, the principal of our school). Discuss these things that they can name and work on the KWL chart and.  Also, have a discussion about the role of a president as the leader of the whole country.  For example, what a president does and what kind of power he has as a leader.  As a group, continue working on the KWL chart.

B.  Input -

• Read Young George Washington-America’s First President.  Explain each page in terms that are easy for students to understand.  Make a list of difficult vocabulary words as we read the book and discuss these words as well.  Tell them to listen to the book very carefully because they will have to list at least three facts about George Washington based on the facts written in the book.  The difficult vocabulary words from the book can be used for the mini lessons to teach ELD students.  By using the map of the United States, the teacher can point out President Washington’s birthplace in Virginia on the map. 
• Read Young Abraham Lincoln-Log Cabin President.  Explain each page in terms that are easy for students to understand.  Make a list of difficult vocabulary words as we read the book and explain these words to them.  Tell them to listen and pay close attention to the book because they will also have to list at least three facts about Abraham Lincoln as well.  These words can also be used for the vocabulary mini lessons for the ELD students.  The teacher also point on the map the location where President Lincoln was born (Kentucky).
• To check for students’ understanding of the books, ask them to name at least three facts about each president.  As the students are naming or listing these facts, record them on the chart paper where they all can see it.

3. Closure –

After the chart paper is done, go over it one more time with the children.  Let them know that the class will be spending a lot of time learning about these two presidents because we are in the month of February.  As we are learning about Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, we are also going to practice a play about these two presidents.  Before we go to the next unit topic, we will invite our parents to join us for our Presidents’ Day celebration and we will perform our play for them to see.

ELL and Special Needs Strategies:

• Use of visuals and realia
• Active prior knowledge
• Use of graphic organizer
• Work in collaborative groups

Beginning the Topic Narrative:
Day 1:
Ask students if they have ever heard of the names President George Washington and President Abraham Lincoln.  Have the KWL charts posted on the board where it is visible to all students (one KWL chart for each president).  Ask students if they know anything about President Washington.  Record what they say under the “K” column on the KWL chart.  Besides of what they know about President Washington already, ask them what they would want to learn more about this president.  Record what they want to learn under the “W” column.  Leave the “L” column blank for now.  Repeat the same steps of doing the KWL chart for President Lincoln.

Day 2:
Introduce the two presidents to students by showing them photos of the presidents.  After showing them the pictures and recognizing which picture is President Washington and which one is President Lincoln.  Tell them that on Presidents’ Day, we are celebrating both of these presidents’ birthdays.  Discuss about the roles of a leader by using the principal of our school for an example.  Let them know that these presidents were the past leaders of our country (the United States).  Now, discuss about the roles of a president (what kind of matters/things that a president is responsible for, what kind of power that he has, can we look up to him as a role model, etc.).  After this discussion, read Young George Washington-America’s First President as an introduction to the lesson.  Along with the reading, make a list of difficult vocabulary words in the book and explain them to the students as well.  Read Young Abraham Lincoln-Log Cabin President to introduce President Lincoln to the students.  Make a list of difficult vocabulary words from this book and explain them to the students for better understanding.  At the end of the lesson, ask the class to name at least three facts about each president based on the books we just read.

Day 3:
 Read the two books again at the beginning of the day as a review.  Show the students the photos of President Washington and President Lincoln to see if they remember who is who from the pictures.  Post the KWL charts on the board again.  Review the questions from the “W” column that listed what the class would like to know more about these two presidents.

Developing the Topic

Lesson:  Technology References and Lesson

Unit:  Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln

Grade Level:  Kindergarten

History-Social Science Content Standard:

K.6 - Students understand that history relates to events, people, and places of other times.

#1 – Identify the purposes of, and the people and events honored in, commemorative holidays, including the human struggles that were the basis for the events (e.g., Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Washington’s and Lincoln’s Birthdays, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day).

ISTE Standard:

Technology productivity tools

Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.

Annotated Bibliography:

George Washington – www.ipl.org/div/potus/gwashington.html 

Abraham Lincoln – www.imahero.com/education.html 

Student Outcome:

Students will be able to recognize the facts about President George Washington and President Abraham Lincoln.  

Essential Questions:

What are the personal and educational facts about President George Washington?

What are the personal and educational facts about President Abraham Lincoln?

Lesson Preparation:

Teacher should create a classroom web page (Presidents Matching game) for this assignment. 

Materials:

Computers (enough for about five students).

Procedure:

Explain to the students the rules at the computers (e.g., no hitting the mouse on the table, don’t do anything with the keyboard or the computer until the teacher instructs to do so, etc.)

Teacher will demonstrate first to show the students how to log on the internet. Students then can follow to log on.

Log on to the site that discusses about President George Washington (site provided above).  Teacher will read aloud the facts about this president.

Log on to the site that discusses about President Abraham Lincoln (site provided above).  Teacher will also read aloud the facts about this president.

Teacher helps students to log on the classroom web page that the teacher made for this assignment that has the Presidents Matching game.

The students are asked to answer eight questions about the two presidents by clicking on the appropriate picture images of the two presidents.  Questions are based on the personal and educational facts that the students have learned about these two presidents (e.g., Who is considered as “Father of Our Country?” or who was born in a log cabin?, etc.).

Teacher will read aloud each question and allow the students time to answer each.  If the students think the answer is Abraham Lincoln, then they will click on the image of Abraham Lincoln (same for George Washington).

Students will click on the Next button on the bottom of the page in order to go to the next questions.

When the students finish answering the last question, they will click on the Done button on the bottom of the page.

Once the students click on the Done button the game is completed.  They will be able to view their scores right after they click on the Done button.

Teacher will record each student’s score in order to assess their understanding of the assignment.

Resources: 

Internet websites:

Beginners Central – http://www.northernwebs.com/bc/

               “A walk-through of beginning steps on the internet.”

www.whitehousekids.com 

www.whitehouse.gov/kids/

Plan for classroom management during the lesson:

Have the class divided into four academic groups.

Teacher sets up four different stations (including the computer lab) for the groups to go to.  Each station should have different activities such as computer lab, creative arts (coloring pictures of the two presidents), language arts (write one sentence about each president), and math (counting coins).

Each group will have about ten minutes at each station.  Teacher will clap softly three times to rotate the groups clockwise.

ELL and Special Needs commendations:

Working in collaborative groups (they will be grouped with other non-ELL students and students without special needs)

The teacher, or the aide will provide extra attention to guide them through the lesson.  He/She will explain any difficult words that they might come across from the reading.

Developing the Topic Narrative:

Lesson 1 – Discussion about George Washington

The teacher will conduct a short review about the book, Young George Washington, that was read to the class two days ago.  Ask students if they remember anything from that book and record their answers/responses on the board.  After recording the responses, the teacher then reads the same book again before any discussion about George Washington.  While reading the book, the teacher should pull out some main key points that the students should know and have a class discussion on those points.  To help the ELL and special needs students, the teacher should also pull out difficult words and briefly explain them clearly to these students so they can understand the materials better.

Once the teacher finishes the reading and discussion, the students are required to make a Facts chart about President Washington as the whole class.  The teacher will be the recorder and the students will be the reporters.  The students are encouraged to tell the teacher anything they can remember from the reading and the class discussion.  The teacher then records their answers/responses on a big chart paper where everyone can see.  This Facts chart should include many things about President George Washington (first President, was born in Virginia in 1732, was married to Martha Custis, led the American army to fight in the American Revolution war, and the “Father of Our Country”).

Before shifting to the next lesson about President Lincoln, allow the students to do at least one fun activity.  This activity can involve learning a song about George Washington, or an art project like a pattern collage with little George holding a hatchet next to the cherry tree.  This art project can be done right after the teacher tells students the story of little George Washington and the cherry tree.

Lesson 2 – Discussion about Abraham Lincoln

The teacher will conduct a short review about the book, Young Abraham Lincoln, that was read to the students on day two of the unit.  In order to active their prior knowledge, the teacher will ask them questions regarding about the book.  Record any responses from students on the board for later discussion.  The teacher now reads the same book again.  As same as lesson 1, the teacher will pull any difficult words out from the book and briefly explain these words to the class, especial for the ELL and special needs students.  While reading and going through the book, the teacher should also pull out the main key points and discuss them with the class.

After the teacher finishes the book, there will be a Facts chart for President Lincoln for the students to do.  Once again, the students are asked to answer and response to the questions that the teacher will be asking.  The teacher records the students’ answers on the Facts chart.  The Facts chart should include things about President Abraham Lincoln (sixteenth president, was born in a log cabin in Kentucky in 1809, read by the light of the fire, was married to Mary Todd, and signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 which set many slaves free).

Culminating the Topic

Assessment:  Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln

Grade level: Kindergarten

1. Standards to be assessed:

History-Social Science Content Standard
K.6  Students understand that history relates to events, people, and places of other times.
#1  Identify the purposes of, and the people and events honored in, commemorative holidays, including the human struggles that were the basis for the events (e.g., Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Washington’s and Lincoln’s Birthdays, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day).

Language Arts Content Standard
Reading – 2.0  Reading Comprehension

• Connect to life experiences the information and events in texts.

Writing – 1.0  Writing Strategies

• Write uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet independently, attending to the form and proper spacing of the letters.

2. Student outcomes to be assessed:  Students will…

• Write in complete sentences who Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were
• Compare the way people of President Washington’s time traveled to the way we travel now
• Compare the way people of President Lincoln’s time traveled to the way we travel now

3. Assessment:

• At the end of the unit, the teacher will review the facts about both President Washington and President Lincoln (e.g., President Washington was the first President of the United States of America and President Lincoln was the sixteenth President; George Washington is remembered as “the Father of Our Country” and Abraham Lincoln is remembered as the President who helped to end slavery;  President Washington’s face is imprinted on the one dollar bills, and President Lincoln’s face is imprinted on the pennies and the five dollar bills).
• The teacher will also review information about how these two presidents and people of their times traveled and how we travel today (e.g., Washington’s time – traveled by foot, boat, horseback, and horse-drawn carriage;  Lincoln’s time – traveled by trains;  today – traveling by air planes, trains, boats, cars, and buses).
• After the discussions about the two presidents and how they traveled, the students will be given each one blank sheet of paper where they can write one complete sentence about each president.  Each student will also be given a paper that has pictures of the Presidents, the student (herself and himself), and the traveling vehicles of the past and present.  For the other final assessment, the students have to match the faces with the appropriate vehicles (e.g., President Washington with the horseback and boats; President Lincoln with trains;  the student – herself or himself – with boats, planes, cars, trains, and buses).  Each vehicle can be used for more than once.

4. Rubric for Grading:

Extended and correlated activities:

• Venn diagram to compare and contrast the two presidents.
• Math lesson – Show the students one picture of Abraham Lincoln with his mustache and one picture of him without it, then allow the students to vote which picture they like better.  Make a graph to show the result of the vote.

Culminating the Topic Narrative:
Day 1:

• Tell the students that the whole class will be learning about two special presidents that we celebrate their birthdays in the month of February.  These two presidents are George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. 

• The teacher will introduce President Washington by reading Young George Washington-America’s First President to the students.  Have a class discussion after the reading to focus on the main important facts about President Washington.  Make a Facts chart for this president.
• The teacher will then introduce President Lincoln by reading Young Abraham Lincoln-Log Cabin President to the students.  Have a class discussion after the reading to focus on the main important facts about President Lincoln.  Make a Facts chart for this president.

Day 2:

• Ask students what they use to travel around, even to school.  Have a class discussion about the way we travel today (talk about the transportation – cars, planes, boats, buses, trains,…).
• Discuss to students on how George Washington and the people of his time used to travel (traveled by foot, boats, horseback, and horse-drawn carriages).
• Discuss to students on how Abraham Lincoln and the people of his time used to travel (traveled mostly by trains)
• Divide the students into three academic groups and have three different centers where each group can go to.  One of the centers will be the writing center.  At this center, each student will be asked to write one complete sentence about each presidents based on the Facts charts that the class just finished (e.g., President Washington was the first President of the United States of America;  President Lincoln was the sixteenth President of the United States of America; etc).  At the other table, the students will be working individually on the matching sheet where they are asked to match the pictures of Presidents Washington and Lincoln, and a picture of herself/himself to the appropriate transportation.  At each center, there will be either the teachers or the aide to help the students with their writing or other skills that they need help on.
• When the students finish their sentences, encourage them to write another fact about each president in complete sentences again.
• Ask the students to read their sentences aloud before they get in line to go to the next center.

Appendix

Annotated Bibliography:

Giblin, James Cross (1992).  George Washington – A Picture Book Biography, ISBN 0-590-42551-X.  New York: Scholastic Inc.  This book is a biography of President George Washington.  It also includes a wonderful map of the United States back in 1797, the story of George and the cherry tree, and his rules of good behavior that are great topics to discuss with the students in the lessons.

Schaefer, Lola M. (1999).  Abraham Lincoln, ISBN 0-7368-0108-1.  Minnesota: Pebble Books.  This book is about the life journey of President Abraham Lincoln.  Each page of the book has a short paragraph about President Lincoln from his childhood to adulthood and a picture corresponding to the paragraph that is very easy for young children to follow and understand. 

Schaefer, Lola M. (1999).  George Washington, ISBN 0-7368-0110-3.  Minnesota: Pebble Books.  This book offers the same useful information about President Washington as the book (above) has to offer about President Lincoln.  This book is appropriate for kindergarteners because its content is easy for students to follow and understand.

Woods, Andrew (1992).  Young Abraham Lincoln – Log-Cabin President, ISBN 0-8167-2533-0.  Troll Associates.  This book is about President Lincoln’s life from a young boy to becoming an U.S. President.  It can be used to take young children on a journey back to the past to find out how life was for Abraham Lincoln back then.  From learning the facts in this book, the children can compare life in the past to the life today.

Woods, Andrew (1992).  Young George Washington – America’s First President, ISBN 0-8167-2541-1.  Troll Associates.  This book is about President Washington’s life from a  young boy to becoming the first U.S. President.  This book can also be used to help young children to understand how life was different back then comparing to now.

Children Literature:

Waber, Bernard (1964).  Just Like Abraham Lincoln, ISBN 0-590-43355-5.  New York: Scholastic Inc.  This book is about a little boy’s neighbor, Mr. Potts.  One special thing about Mr. Potts is that he looks exactly like President Lincoln.  He also has many special qualities like the president.  Throughout the story, Mr. Potts is being described of how much he is like President Lincoln, from his look to the ways he treats other people and even animals around him.  This book brings out many good qualities that both President Lincoln and Mr. Potts possessed that adults and young children admire.  These two characters are seen as perfect role models for young children to look up to and to follow.

Winnick, Karen (1996).  Mr. Lincoln’s Whiskers, ISBN 1-56397-805-9.  Pennsylvania: Boyds  Mills Press, Inc.  The story of this book is about the history of President Lincoln’s beard.  It is beautifully presented by Karen B. Winnick.  This story is about the girl named Grace Bedell who wrote a letter to Mr. Lincoln advising him to grow a beard.  No one would ever thought that such a young girl can change a president’s mind about his appearance.  Surprisingly, Abraham Lincoln is known as the first president of the United States to wear a beard.  This wonderful book can be used to teach young children that even though they are young, they can still make differences in other people’s lives.

Graphic organizer:

• KWL chart
• Venn Diagram