Whether you’re talking about George Washington, Donald Trump, or any president in between, Presidents’ Day is a chance for you and your students to reflect on how American leadership has changed over the years and how it’s shaped the world we live in. We’ve got a list of Presidents’ Day lesson plans that you can use in your ELA and social studies classes in February and beyond.

• Explore presidential traditions with social studies lessons
• Read like a president with ELA lessons

[Explore presidential traditions with social studies lessons](id-ss)

Help students learn more about our country’s presidents and what it takes to become one:

Teach students about the history of Presidents’ Day

Do your students know the length of a presidential term? What about the number of terms one person can have? Explore these and other questions with resources like:

• Articles that explain a president’s job responsibilities, like signing executive orders and addressing the American people.
• Profiles on noteworthy presidents like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
• Tailor this lesson for your elementary students with a special elementary spotlight using similar resources and age-appropriate activities.

Learn more about presidential executive orders

Have your students dig deeper into what the president of the United States can do when they deliver executive orders. Explore resources like:

• A video explainer of how executive orders work.
• An article explaining how President Trump declared a national emergency with an executive order during his first term.
• Extend the lesson by asking students to complete a reflection exit ticket to share what they learned about executive orders.

Travel back to the first presidency, virtually

None of us were alive during the very first presidency, but we can still learn more about George Washington’s time in office by exploring primary and secondary sources from that time. 

• Share an article about the first presidential administration.
• Have students read George Washington’s first inaugural address from 1789.
• Compare the messages in Washington’s inaugural address to those in his farewell address in 1796.

Discover the precedents the first five presidents set

Washington wasn’t the only president who set a precedent for how to run our country. Teach students about the next four presidents who came after him, their policies, and ideas, with profile sketches of:

• John Adams
• Thomas Jefferson
• James Madison
• James Monroe

Learn more about our most recent U.S. presidents

Students may not be as interested in (or familiar with) presidents of the distant past. Bring some relevance to your President’s Day lessons by letting them explore articles on and profiles of our last six presidents:

• George H.W. Bush
• Bill Clinton
• George W. Bush
• Barack Obama
• Joe Biden
• Donald Trump

Teach about the historical significance of the 2008 presidential election

The 2008 Presidential Election was a historic moment for the United States. Citizens elected the first Black person to the position. Students can explore the significance of this event using the following lesson:

• Assign the full text of Barack Obama’s 2008 election night victory speech.
• Have students read the text of Obama’s first inaugural address.
• Ask students to complete an Evidence-Conclusion worksheet that answers the question “Why was the 2008 election significant?” using information from the speeches as evidence.

[Read like a president with ELA lessons](id-ela)

Explore some of the most famous nonfiction speeches and selections written by past presidents and see how our nation’s leaders inspired other works in your ELA classes:

Share poems for Presidents’ Day

Discover how some of our nation’s leaders and their actions inspired poets to share their thoughts and contemplate the American experience with selections like:

• “O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman
• “Mortality” by William Knox
• “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman
• “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes

Get book recommendations from U.S. presidents

Dive into some of the most explored fictional (and real-life) worlds of the presidents with novel and book study selections of their favorite stories or by their favorite authors:

• Abraham Lincoln: “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• Dwight D. Eisenhower: “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain
• George H. W. Bush: “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy
• Barack Obama: “Becoming” (Adapted for Young Readers) by Michelle Obama.

Go beyond President’s Day with Newsela’s subject products

Use Newsela’s knowledge and skill-building products to create timely, engaging lessons for every holiday, event, and state mandate all year. If you’re not a Newsela customer yet, sign up for Newsela Lite and get a 45-day free trial of all our premium and differentiated content and activities to help you plan more exciting activities for Presidents’ Day and beyond.