OUR NATION’S LEADER: There are many activities parents can do with their children to help them think about what it means to be president of the United States. Molly Cota, a first-grade teacher at Tempe’s Evans Elementary School, suggests a few activities that have helped her students brainstorm about the subject.
PARENTS, TRY THIS AT HOME:
• Ask your child to tell you what they think the president does. Cota’s class said a president “helps people,” “goes to every state,” “cares about us” and “fights for us.”
• Read your child a story about a past or present president. More than a week before Presidents Day, Cota’s class read a story on Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves and the price he paid for his courageous act.
• Get out paper and pencil and ask your child to tell you what he or she would do if they were president. Ryan McClain, 6, said, “I would make freedom for people.” Briana Oliver, 6, said, “I would help people who are poor and give them money.”
VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS: Parents and kids can take a field trip today to explore presidential landmarks — without leaving home. Scholastic Online recommends these sites:
• Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace: www.nps.gov/abli/ linchomj.htm — Take a virtual tour of Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace in Kentucky.
• Abraham Lincoln:
www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/ proj/lincoln/index.html — This site was created by a first-grade class that visited the Lincoln boyhood memorial.
Hall of Presidents: National Portrait Gallery:
www.npg.si.edu/exh/ travpres/index6.htm — This site has a portrait and short biography for each president.