A creative idea for an open project that gets kids thinking and giving back. Great to use during a unit on civics and government. I had great success with this project in my classroom. It is best to not use it at the beginning of the year. This is a handout that includes a description of the project, ideas, a simple rubric, and a place for students to write their proposals and for you, the teacher, to approve of before they begin.

As a teacher I believe in an occasional party with a purpose. After all, they exist in the workforce, why not in the classroom? This is a fun, but educational "birthday party”, to be held near President's day. A Presidential Birthday Party typically lasts 20-30 minutes. Students complete the test while the room is set up. The resources for the party include: an “invitation" that has clear instructions, a sample assignment, and list to be cut into strips for assigning presidents. Resources for the test include: a study guide, lyrics to the song "The Presidents" by Warner Bros Animaniacs, and the quiz over the first 17 presidents. For the actual "birthday party”, we would have cake and icecream, but drinks and cups would be sufficient. Students get really into this activity and it's a fun and easy way to introduce them to some of the presidents that may or may not be covered in your curriculum

This is one of my favorite units. I did it almost every year I was teaching and always had a good response. It works well because the writing assignment involves choice and authenticity. They aren’t writing what you tell them to write and they aren’t writing to you. This works great for a persuasive writing unit in English or a government unit in U.S. History. Students write official letters to their government representatives. Included in this set is a page for the teacher explaining how I taught this unit, a page on ethos/pathos/logos that can be used as a handout or a lesson, a planning page that guides the student's research and outline, a letter format page to help the student understand how to write an official letter, and a peer edit page for the revising process.

Includes 3 different quizzes and a key. Quizzes are formatted to fit multiple on a page for easy printing.

This is the free version for the Presidential Birthday party - a fun and educational activity where students prepare place cards and toasts to various U.S. Presidents. Please see the paid version for $5 for access to the "invitation" to the party with detailed instructions, pages to help you as the teacher make it a success, and study aids for the test.