Presidents' Day by Anne Rockwell - Teaching Tips

Presidents' Day by Anne Rockwell teaching tips from The Picture Book Teacher.


What a wonderful book, weaving the information about our beloved presidents into a story of elementary children putting on a play for Presidents' Day. This is a must read for any classroom to get ready for Presidents' Day.

Here are the teaching tips that you can use to help create a fun and meaningful lesson.


Reading level: 4.3
Theme: Presidents’ Day
Genre: Informational

Suggested Vocabulary: Mount Rushmore, granite, “a house divided against itself…”, scowled,  Declaration of Independence, galloping, hobbyhorse, national parks, mural, redwood trees, Grand Canyon, Old Faithful, Everglades,

Reading skills and strategies:
  • purpose for reading – to learn more about Presidents’ Day
  • author's purpose – inform
    • evidence
      • the book talks about George Washington
      • the book talks about Abe Lincoln
      • the book talks about Teddy Roosevelt
  • organization
    • ideas or topics –talks about electing new presidents and some of the different presidents and some of their accomplishments
      • Elections – when they are held and how they happen
      • George Washington – first president
      • Abe Lincoln – uniting our nation
      • Thomas Jefferson – writing the Declaration of Independence
      • Teddy Roosevelt – creation of national parks
  • classify & categorize
    • classify - presidents
    • categorize – by party
  • compare & contrast
    • any of the presidents mentioned in this book
  • fact & opinion
    • fact
      • George Washington was the first president
      • Abe Lincoln was the 16th president
      • Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence
      • Teddy Roosevelt created national parks
    • Opinion
      • Abe Lincoln was the best president
      • George Washington did a better job than Thomas Jefferson as president
      • Creating a united nation was more important than creating national parks
      • The Declaration of Independence is the most important American document
  • main idea & details
    • main idea – the text is mostly about the presidents that we honor during Presidents’ Day
    • details
      • George Washington because it’s his birthday and he was the first president
      • Abe Lincoln because he united our nation
      • Thomas Jefferson because he wrote the Declaration of Independence
      • Teddy Roosevelt because he protected the land
  • predict
    • What do you think the story is going to be about?
    • Why do you think we celebrate Presidents’ Day?
    • Why do you think we have elections?
    • Why do you think we honor George Washington?
    • Why do you think we honor Abe Lincoln?
    • Why do you think we honor Teddy Roosevelt?
    • Why do you think we honor Thomas Jefferson?
    • Who do you think will win the class election?
  • story elements
    • title – Presidents’ Day
    • author – Anne Rockwell
    • topic – honoring the presidents on Presidents’ Day
    • organization – by topic or ideas
    • KWL – have student give you this info
  • summarize main idea
    • author – Anne Rockwell wrote
    • book title – Presidents’ Day
    • author’s purpose – to inform readers
    • statement about topic – about what an election is and why we honor the presidents.
    • at least 2 detail – We honor George Washington because he was our first president and we honor Abe Lincoln because he united our nation.
I have some One Pagers available for this book.
One Pager activities for the book Presidents' Day by Anne Rockwell.
You can find these One Pagers in the Growing Holiday Bundle. This growing bundle already has 6 stories and will continue to grow as I add more.
One Pager activities in a Holiday Growing Bundle for a variety of holdiay books.


https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Holiday-Books-Bundle-One-Pagers-of-Reading-Skills-Strategies-2366743



Happy reading!


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