First graders have been studying Presidents’ Day by learning about two great American presidents, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. Students read about Lincoln and shared their ideas as to what makes someone a good leader. Exploring features of nonfiction texts, through partner reading, students discussed maps comparing the United States in 1861 to today. Practicing reading comprehension skills, students determined cause and effect relationships relating to Lincoln and the Civil War. We defined the cause as the reason something happened and the effect as the event that happened.
Next, as they read about George Washington, students further explored nonfiction features looking at lists and diagrams. After reading, students practiced the comprehension skill of sequencing by ordering the events in George Washington’s path to becoming our first president. Integrating math and language skills, first graders used Venn Diagrams to compare and contrast Lincoln and Washington. These will be used to began drafting a formal writing piece on these two presidents.
