Sunday, February 10, 2013

It's Presidents Month! Make it FUN! WIN BOOKS!

Check Out These Ideas for Celebrating Presidents Month with Kids!
AND Send Us YOUR Best Activity Idea
to
WIN BOOKS for ALL Students
in Your Class or Group in the
NCBLA's Our White House Book Giveaway!


Although Americans celebrate Presidents Day on Monday, February 18, we also honor our presidents throughout the month! This focus on American presidents provides the perfect opportunity for engaging kids in presidents past and present and in learning about American history! Check out our ideas and resources and start engaging your kids today:
  • Visit a Presidential Historic Site or Library
    The NCBLA's educational website OurWhiteHouse.org offers a comprehensive guide to finding presidential sites and libraries, listed by state in "Field Trip Guide! Presidential Birthplaces, Houses, and Libraries."


    Veteran educator Marcy Prager of the Brookline Public Schools enjoys taking her students on a field trip to the John F. Kennedy home in Brookline, Massachusetts, where Kennedy was born. Upon returning to school, Prager asks her students to each sketch a favorite room in the Kennedy house and write about the activities they learned used to be held there.
  • Check Out Special Activities at Local Museums
    Many presidential libraries and museums are offering child-friendly and family-oriented activities to commemorate Presidents Month. At the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas,
    area residents can enjoy the storytelling program "George to George," a program about presidential leadership. Click here to learn more.
  • Play a Game of Presidential Trivia!
    Do you know
    which president was the first to live in the White House?
    (Hint: It wasn’t George Washington!) Do you know which president served the shortest term? (Hint: He was president for 31 days in 1841.) Do you know which presidents have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

    Make up your own presidential trivia game by digging into amazing Presidential Facts. Find the answers to these questions and make up even more questions using the essays about presidential job requirements, campaigns, and PETS—all on the NCBLA's educational website OurWhiteHouse.org!
  • Host a Presidential Pet Parade!
    The Obama's dog Bo is not the only four-footed friend to live in the White House! Find out what other presidential pets once roamed the halls of the people's house in "The Presidential Pet" written and illustrated by Steven Kellogg in the interdisciplinary anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out! After researching presidential pets, invite kids to draw or create their own pet and have fun hosting a pet parade.

  • Read, Research, Question, Learn!
    Delve deeper into America's past in the NCBLA's art and literature anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out!
    On the companion educational website OurWhiteHouse.org, check out children's literature expert Maria Salvadore’s extensive list of book and website recommendations online in "Presidents, the President’s House, and More: A Select List of Books (and a Few Web Sources) for Children and Young Adults."  Discover what you might have in common with American presidents and what unusual critters have resided in the White House with them in "Presidents Are People Too!" and "Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My" both by Heather Lang.

WIN Copies of Our White House for  
EVERY Student in Your Class or Group!

Just Send Us Your Best Activity Idea for Celebrating Presidents Month with Kids!
 
The NCBLA is currently sponsoring the Our White House Book Giveaway, an opportunity for all other adults who live and work with young people to win copies of the interdisciplinary anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out for every student in the winner’s class or group--up to 40 copies!

To be entered to win, share your most creative activity idea for engaging young people during Presidents Month. Send a one- to three-paragraph summary or a lesson plan that describes your idea to the NCBLA by email (info@thencbla.org) or by Facebook message (facebook.com/TheNCBLA) before 11:00 PM EST Friday, February 22, 2013. Be sure to include complete contact information.

Up to three winners will be chosen at random from all entries received. For more contest information and rules, go to: thencbla.org/OWH_Book_Giveaway.html.

This giveaway is made possible by the generous donation of all books by Candlewick Press. Thank you!