February 12 is Abraham Lincoln's birthday. You might want to integrate one or two of these ideas in your lesson plans next month.
Abraham Lincoln
(Tune: “Pop Goes the Weasel”)Abraham Lincoln, past President, (Point to a picture of Lincoln.)
Loved and honored by many.
To help us remember this famous man,
We put his face on a penny.
Hold a penny in your hand (Hold up a penny.)
And his face you’ll see.
He always tried to tell the truth.
He’s Honest Abe to me.
*Talk about what it means to be honest. Why did they call him Honest Abe?
(You can download this book at my website.)
Put Your Face on a Penny
Give children a sheet of paper cut in a circle. Draw what you would you look like if your face were on a coin?
Log Cabin Snack
Give children pretzel twist sticks and a spoonful of peanut butter or cream cheese. Children try to build a log cabin by stacking the pretzels with the peanut butter.Penny Inspection
Let children look at pennies with a magnifying glass.Rubbings
Make rubbings of pennies.Penny, Penny
Three children leave the classroom. The other children cup their hands as if holding a penny. The teacher hides the penny in one child’s hand. When the three children return to the room, they walk around the room and open their friends’ hands. The first one to find the penny gets to choose 3 new friends to leave the room and she gets to hide the penny.Time Line
Give children a sentence strip. At the left write the year they were born. Write each additional year up until the present. Children take the time line home and try to find a penny with each year’s date.Hint! Explain that’s it’s O.K. if they don’t find all of them.
