Meet the Presidents: Kindergarten Kids Love Non Fiction!

I love teaching about the presidents in celebration of their birthdays in February. My partner was born on Lincoln's birthday and I was born on Washington's. Yup, I swear this is the truth! The kids get such a kick out of this and we love teaching about these two important leaders. This books have been some of my best sellers because their is so little informational text out there that young children can actually read! Much of what is available is too complex for young learners. However, I do have a few favorites you might want to check out. I am a big fan of the scholastic series My First Biography. They have a limited number of books but my guess is more will come. Common Core requires that we read more non fiction to our students 

and I think they need readers that reflect this shift. If these readers appeal to you they can be purchased here and here. I provided a colored version for the teacher to present and a black and white version for your students. The dots are under the text to help children with tracking. What are some of your favorite activities to do to celebrate these holidays? We make a tall hat for Lincoln with a shiny penny glued to the front that  the kids get to clean themselves. This is a big hit with the boys! For Washington we make a red, white and blue three cornered hat with a feather (Michaels purchase) with a fake quarter in the center. This is a great time to talk about money with your students and do some probability work, flipping a coin to determine heads or tails. Students have a blast with this. So take some time out of your busy day to expose your students to biographies that they will enjoy.

History Reinvented Kinder Style!

Okay so I changed it out a little to simplify the story. My kids loved hearing about this president and what happened during his lifetime. They made immediate connections to Lincoln and even Barack Obama. Why do they find this information so fascinating? Students love non fiction but it's not always easy to find appropriate text at this level.  I thought you might enjoy seeing their version of his portrait. I can never get enough of this. 
I read them an actual book on George Washington (yup it wasn't coloring book style) but they told me they liked mine a lot better. They know how to flatter their teacher!  We also made 3 cornered hats with our fifth grade mentors.

You Guessed It

So I came in today bearing the gift of the Lincoln emergent reader and got tons of kuddos for this. However,

now they want George's biography kinder style. What does that mean? I re-invent history and never mention any of the bad stuff. My partner is an expert at doing this when she is reading a text with words like death, war, slavery, etc. She changes it quick as a wink and never looks up at me because I am laughing hysterically in the back of the room. 

George and I were both born on February 22nd and I am not sure how to celebrate this on my blog. Any fabulous suggestions? The icing on the cake is that my blog will also be a year old. Okay, too much on a Monday night to think about so I will get back to ya.