Paula Pittz

Holiday Unit Plan: Presidents Day

Grade: 3
Student Learner Objectives:
Students will learn about a holiday honoring all US Presidents and especially focus on
our first president, George Washington.
Students will read a story about Presidents Day
Students will sing a song about George Washington called Washington
Students will find and locate where in the US each of the Presidents are from on a map
Students will pretend that they were just elected President, and will write and deliver a
speech about their plans in leading our country.

Materials:
-Presidents Day by Anne Rockwell. ISBN-13: 9780060501945
-Lyrics to the song Washington by Linda Brown
-Interactive map of the US showing President's names, Presidential states, their
constituency and birthplace along with their term. It can be found at this site:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/presidents/.
-Worksheets with an unmarked map of the US on it.

Curricular Connections:
Reading, language, music, history, vocabulary, geography, writing, public speaking

Procedure:
1. Ask the class what they already know about Presidents Day.
2. Read the story, Presidents Day (Literature)
3. Briefly discuss the book. Ask questions about it. (When is Presidents Day celebrated
every year? -3rd Monday of February)
4. Ask students if there was any vocabulary words that they didnt know in the book.
Discuss them.
5. Teach the song Washington. Remind students that he is the reason the Presidents Day
holiday was started. (Music, history)
6. Bring up an interactive map of where all the presidents are from on the projector.
http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/presidents/ Give each of the students a map of the
United States and have them label where each President is from. If theres not enough
room to write each of the Presidents names on the map, have the students be creative and
come up with some other way to label- maybe using symbols and a map legend.
7. Tell the students to pretend as if they were just elected President. They need to prepare a
short speech to give saying what they will do as president. They will give this speech to
the class. They can read their speech if they want, or just recite it from memory. (Writing)

Song Lesson (Music)

Washington
(Verse)
Washington was born back in 1732.
Wore a powdered wig
A buckle on his shoe.
Loved to ride and swim;
Writing he did well.
Was good at math and reading books,
But words were hard to spell.
(Refrain)
Oh, Washington! Washington!
Virginias Favorite Son.
Fought a war for eight long years
Until finally we won
Washington! Washington!
A leader brave and true,
Served as our first President,
When our country was brand new

Procedure for teaching the song:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Put the lyrics up on the board or projector

Read through each line and talk about what the words mean.
Generate some discussion questions. (What war did he fight for eight long years?)
Have the class sing the song to the tune of Jingle Bells

Extensions:
1. Have students sing the song in rounds

Common Core State Standards: CCSS

Reading: Literature- Key Ideas and Details:
1. Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to
the text as the basis for the answers.
Writing Standards:
1. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
Language Standards:
1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when
writing or speaking.