Each year in February, primary teachers plan lessons on the lives of Washington and Lincoln. While these activities are good, the deeper teaching opportunity is to do Presidents Day leadership traits. The focus would be to get to know the president’s leadership style and works. This is a new objective included many state Social Studies Curriculums.
The President of the United States is the ultimate leader. This person sets the tone for the nation. Also, he is the face of the nation for the world. Primary students need to learn not only their names and histories, but also how they ran their office. Our kids need to judge leaders by their works and style, not just the commercials. Presidents Day is the perfect opportunity to do a bit of a deeper dive into a few presidents. I usually choose 3-5 presidents. Then, I fill a bookshelf with books on each president. Make sure to allow time for kids to pair up and look for facts. In the lower grades, you will need to walk through the steps of research with them.
Leadership Styles
There are many types of leaders. For primary kids, I teach 5 simple types:
- Teacher (Participative)
- Pied Piper of Hamelin (Charismatic)
- Fairy Godmother (Transformative)
- King (Authoritarian)
- Wizard of Oz (Laissez-faire)
To read more about each leadership style and how to bring this content into your classroom, click here.
Putting it into Practice
Once I have introduced the 5 styles, I set the kids to work on researching specific presidents. There are many books on the presidents. Choose 3-5 names and fill your classroom with books about them. Introduce 10-20 traits. Have students read to find evidence of a trait. Don’t forget that historical photos have a lot of learning in them, especially for K-1st kids. Many Social Studies curriculums include using technology to read in the content area. Presidents day leadership traits is a win-win. I have some sort of table paper or anchor chart so that we can discuss our findings, and point out the likeness or difference between the presidents.
Click on the left to see my Google Slides product. It can use it to add technology research on 8 presidents.
Click on the right to check out a Mount Rushmore Anchor chart .
