A guide for using our resources

Children will identify and analyze one strategy Abe Lincoln used to be a calm leader.

Vocabulary: frustrating, calm, quill pen

Social Studies Focus: Presidents’ Day

CCSS and Similar State Standards: RL.1.1 key details; RF.1.2 vowel sounds; RF.1.3 digraphs; W.1.2 writing; RI.1.10 read and discuss first-grade texts; SL.1.2 ask and answer questions; L.1.2 punctuation

Simple, spectacular ideas to boost your lessons.

• Discover Abe Lincoln’s experiences as a young boy, struggles that he faced, and how books shaped his life and helped him become the 16th president of the United States in this illustrated biography.

• Tell students that the digraph th- can be found at the beginning, middle, and end of words. Have students find all the words with the digraph th- and use different colored markers to identify where the sound is located within the word. Ask students to use a green marker to circle words that begin with th-, a yellow marker to circle words that have th- in the middle, and a red marker to circle words that end in th-. Which one did they find the most of?

Skill: social awareness, relationships

Materials: Act It Out! skill sheet, scissors

• Students can practice responding to frustrating situations through role-playing!
• Cut out each scenario. Choose a scenario to practice as a class. Read the card aloud. Volunteers can come up to act it out. Have multiple students try it out.
• Then have students pair up or work in small groups. Pass out the cards and have groups read each card and try acting them out to find a solution. Then the groups can swap cards and try a new scenario.
• As students are acting, walk around the classroom and see what they come up with!