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2nd Grade President’s Day Resources

2 2nd grade President’s Day resources: 1 activity, 1 worksheet and 1 assessment. How teachers use these

2nd Grade President’s Day Resources

2 2nd grade President’s Day resources: 1 activity, 1 worksheet and 1 assessment. How teachers use these

Activity
Activity2nd GradeHappy Holidays National Holidays Activity

This happy holidays national holidays activity has 1st-3rd grade students match picture clue cards to ten U.S. holidays and their dates. Answer key included for easy checking.

2nd GradeHolidays4th of JulyActivities
Assessment
Assessment2nd GradePresidents Day Reading Comprehension Worksheet

This Presidents Day reading comprehension worksheet gives 2nd graders a short holiday story about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and the job of a leader. An answer key is included, so meaningful reading practice is ready in minutes.

2nd GradeHolidaysPresident’s DayWorksheets
From our teachers' playbook

Hats off to our presidents!

What do 2nd graders learn about Presidents' Day?

Presidents' Day is the third Monday in February, and it started as a celebration of George Washington's birthday. Many people now use the day to honor Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday is also in February, and every president. Second graders learn who Washington and Lincoln were, what a president does and why the country remembers them. They read short biographies, put events in order and compare the two leaders: Washington: 1st president · Lincoln: 16th president. The click moment is when kids find Washington on a quarter and Lincoln on a penny.

Our favorite ways to teach Presidents' Day

Second graders love true stories about real people. These moves bring history to life without turning it into a list of dates.

Read and retell together

Read a short passage about Washington or Lincoln aloud, then model a retell: "First he… Next he… Last he…" Do the second president together, and let partners retell one on their own. A clear retelling frame helps kids pull out the big ideas.

Why it works: handing over the work step by step, from teacher to student, is one of the most widely used teaching frameworks (Pearson and Gallagher, 1983).

Presidents Day Reading Comprehension WorksheetTry it withPresidents Day Reading Comprehension WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →

Coin detectives

Hand out real pennies and quarters, or pictures of them, and have kids draw each coin and label the president on it. Connecting history to something kids hold every day makes the names stick.

Why it works: pairing a picture with each word gives kids two ways to remember it, a well-tested principle of how people learn (Mayer, 2009).

Happy Holidays National Holidays ActivityTry it withHappy Holidays National Holidays ActivityActivitiesOpen it →

Who said it, who did it?

Read a fact like "I was the first president" or "I gave the Gettysburg Address," and kids hold up a card for Washington or Lincoln. Quick rounds over a few days beat one long history lesson.

Why it works: researchers who compared ten study methods found practice testing is one of the two that work best (Dunlosky and colleagues, 2013).

Make Presidents' Day feel like play

A little pretend goes a long way. These are favorites in our classrooms.

Happy Holidays National Holidays ActivityActivities

Holiday calendar hunt

Kids find Presidents' Day and other national holidays on a calendar and match each one to why we celebrate.

Open Happy Holidays National Holidays Activity →

What's on this page

1 Activity1 Worksheet1 Assessment

Teacher favorites right now: Happy Holidays National Holidays Activity and Presidents Day Reading Comprehension Worksheet.

Questions parents and teachers ask about Presidents' Day

When is Presidents' Day?

Presidents' Day is the third Monday in February. It began as a holiday for George Washington's birthday, which is February 22.

Why do we celebrate Presidents' Day?

We celebrate to remember the leaders of our country, especially George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Both were born in February and are two of the best-known presidents.

How do you explain Presidents' Day to a 2nd grader?

Tell them it's a day to remember the people who have led our country. Then share a few stories about Washington and Lincoln and look at the coins that show their faces.

What are easy Presidents' Day activities for kids?

Read a short biography, make a coin rubbing of a penny and quarter, or have kids write what they would do as president. Short, hands-on activities work best.

Keep exploring

2nd Grade Holidays Resources

Written by the Have Fun Teaching team of elementary teachers and homeschoolers. Research: Pearson, P. D., & Gallagher, M. C. (1983). The instruction of reading comprehension. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 8(3). Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia Learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving Students' Learning With Effective Learning Techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1).