Lifelong U.S. history appreciation starts in first grade.
Most public school districts have standard of learning goals for each grade and distribute the activities required to meet those standards. However, the creative teacher can add activities to augment these requirements as well as meet some objectives of her own. The first grade social studies program usually includes U.S. history and many activities can complement these programs.
Art
Coloring pictures of famous U.S. historical figures, symbols and events in tandem with a short discussion of the coloring page give children an enjoyable introduction to U.S. history.
Trace and color each state in the order that the states came into the union along with features on each page that represent that state's history. Then make the pages into a U.S. history booklet for each child. This not only introduces children to U.S. history, but sharpens their eye/hand coordination skills.
Cutting out pictures to place on a timeline helps children learn to cut and to put things in chronological order.
Children can color and cut out clothing items and paste them on an early statesman, pioneer, miner or patriot.
Have the children color and cut out pieces depicting a famous person, place or event from a study page and paste them into a shoe box. A simple talk by each student showing and explaining her particular diorama can introduce first-graders to speaking in front of others.
For spacial-skills training, have the children build things such as little log houses out of pretzels and chocolate frosting.
Literacy
To sharpen listening skills and directional concepts, pass out coloring sheets consisting of items concerning a famous American, place or event. Tell the class which item to color next and what color they may use to color the item. Use directional words such as "up," "down," "top" and "bottom" and explain "right hand" and "left hand."
Have a large picture of a U.S. historical event or person and have the children suggest sentences about the picture. Write these sentences on the board. After the children have drawn pictures of the event or person, have them choose one or two sentences from the board and write it under their pictures.
Use large colorful storybooks about U.S. history for storytime. Allow plenty of time for discussion.
Drama
Have the class act out important events. Students can pretend they are slaves escaping from a plantation and try to sneak through the school halls without the principal or other adults and children discovering them. They can sit on the floor in a line with their legs alongside the person in front of them and "row" across the Delaware singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." Desks can be turned into Conestoga wagons and groups of children around each desk can act like they are leading cows, and riding horses and plodding along while singing a pioneer song. Acting out the first Thanksgiving is always fun.
Bring dress-up items such as hats, wigs, spectacles, and peanut butter, sweet potato, soybeans, cotton and wood shavings, play horse, kite, etc. for great American leaders such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington Carver. Mark a calendar with the birthdays of these men and women. As each birthday arrives, dress one of the students as that particular person and have a storytelling session. After a little introduction, have the children improvise a short skit. Take the skit to one of the kindergarten classes.
Have an end-of-the-year play with the children dressed as U.S. historical persons, and have them tell about the person. Invite the parents and have U.S. history related food for treats i.e. popcorn balls, peanut butter cookies (for those without peanut allergies), jelly beans (President Reagan's favorite snack), and cider.
Games
Children, especially first-graders, get antsy quickly, so games are always welcomed. One game involves a U.S. puzzle. Every morning during opening exercises, show the children the puzzle and hold up one state puzzle piece and tell the class a little about that state. Then one student comes up and places that piece in the puzzle. As the days go on, hold up each piece that has already been discussed and choose a child to come up in front of the class and place the piece into the puzzle. Then display a new piece and explain about it. By the end of the semester, each member of the class could put the puzzle together and tell something about each state.
Matching games played like Memory are easy to create and play. Pieces can match a historical person such as a pioneer with the appropriate means of travel such as a Conestoga wagon; or hats such as a stovepipe hat with Abraham Lincoln; or pictures of the person with his name.
Play the "Then or Now" game. Have a stack of pictures handy. Hold one picture up at a time and ask the children if it represents something in history. If it does, the children answer "Then." If the picture depicts a modern concept, the class answers "Now." Have a student tape or Velcro the picture under the correct heading on the chalk/white board.
Song/Dance
Songs that children love to sing, whether a standby like "You're a Grand Old Flag" or "I've Got a Mule and Her Name is Sal," can inform as well as entertain. Use a simple melody and make up lyrics to tell a story or have the children make up lyrics about a famous person or event. Simple dance steps and marching also add to the fun.
Tags: have children, person have, Abraham Lincoln, each state, event person, event person have, famous person