New Ideas for a New Leader
Posted by Amy on 15 Jan 2009 | Posted in: Holiday and Seasonal
Tuesday, January 20, 2009 is an historic day for our country. Barack Obama will be inaugurated as our 44th president. We’d like to start a discussion of the ideas and activities you plan to use in your classroom during the next few days. Are you a registered member at TheMailbox.com? If so, check your homepage for a few ideas to get started. What plans do you and your students have to recognize this major event? Will you watch the inauguration in your classroom? What topics will you discuss with your students?
We can’t wait to hear from you!
Amy and Hope
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I teach kindergarten. We frequently change our dramatic play area to address important themes throughout the year. One student suggested that we create the oval office. My IA created a setting that looks very similar to the one we found in a book, including the desk, flags and green plants. The children helped to design a “rug” with the presidential seal and their names written on red stars. The center has been a tremendous hit with our students. They like choosing a president for the day. Also they like wearing shirts and blazers along with dark glasses when pretending to be secret service agents. The area includes opportunities for writing and making decisions, using the “red phone”, and playing with the Obama paper dolls I found at Dover.
I teach Preschool and the children became more aware of the Presidential campaign as the election approached. The children drew pictures of the flag after we discussed the colors, the pattern of the stripes and the stars on a blue background, and I drew my flag first so that they had a model. The day of the election we talked about what it means to be the President. We read “Duck For President” and they drew pictures for their journals and expressed what they would do if they were president. The day after the election, we talked about who won.
Tomorrow, the day of the Inauguration, we are planning a party. We will look at newspapers to find Obama’s pictures and then we will see if we can spot him on T.V. We will have cake with red, white and blue toppings and make commemorative buttons.
I work with 20 first-time moms, many of whom are African-American, going into their homes to teach child development and parenting skills, and to provide support. It amazes me how little they seem to care about teaching their wee ones about black history. President elect Obama will provide us with so many opportunities to teach using a positive role model. I believe, though, that parents will have to make it a regular point to plan activities, read age appropriate books, and talk about this in a positive way for it to impact their children as it should. If I were still in the classroom, I’d have a Peace Party with cake and icecream to celebrate MLK Day and our 1st AA President!
This last week we learned about our civil Right’s leaders. I showed my Kindergartners a picture of Dr. King and asked them if they knew whose picture it was. They all replied simultaneously, “Barack Obama” I had some difficulty convincing them that it was Dr. Martin Luther King!