George Washington Biography Unit- Perfect for President's Day!

Wow, time is flying by! It's already February which means President's Day is almost here!

In my 4th grade class, we spend a lot of time studying the American Revolution and George Washington. His life was so fascinating! Most students know he was the first president of the United States, but they don't really know much more about his life and what he accomplished. So, I am reading the biography Who Was George Washington? with them. It is part of the Who Was Biography Series. We already read Who Was Neil Armstrong? earlier in the year, and they loved it!

I created a unit to go along with our study of the book (click here to see the unit in our store). It ties in so well with learning about the American Revolution- it describes the causes, battles, and life after the war- of course, you don't have to be studying the American Revolution in your class, it's just a bonus that we happen to be!  :)

In the unit, I have comprehension questions for each chapter as well as writing prompts. Then, I've also included graphic organizers to use throughout the book: KWL, cause and effect, summarizing, character traits, and more. I made a comprehension assessment covering the whole book to use at the end of our unit for a reading grade. I'm going to use some comprehension questions and writing pieces as reading and writing grades too (it's always good to have some grades- always seems like I run out of time before the quarter is up!)   :)

I have really been focusing on text-dependent questions with my students this year, so all of the writing prompts are questions that the students will use evidence from the text to answer. It's great practice for them to go back in the text to locate information and then use the information to draw conclusions and make inferences.

So, how am I going to use this book? You could use this book as a class read-aloud, in guided reading groups, in literature circles, or as a whole class study. Since I don't have many copies of the book right now, I am reading it aloud, and then choosing parts to have the students close read with me. There are so many activities included- I am definitely not using all of them- I'm picking and choosing what works for my kids and what we have time for.

I hope you can check this book out! I'd love to hear what you are doing to celebrate President's Day! :)
Happy Wednesday!