February is jam packed with holidays and celebrations! From Groundhog Day, Black History Month, Valentine's Day and President's Day, it's a lot.
(And then there was that one year the 100th day of school fell in February thanks to a bazillion snow days!)
For me, all of the celebrations are welcome. After January drags on and on and on, all the things in February seem to help us move along quickly into Spring!
Plus, as usual, these holidays provide some really great social studies content for first graders. So let's get started talking about my four favorite February activities! (Hint: one of them is technically NOT for February... but I'm making it fit anyways!)
Black History Month
February is black history month. In my classroom, we operate on content units. We have 6 science or social studies based units during the year. In January, we kick off our unit on Famous Americans with MLK day. And Black History is a huge part of that Famous People and Inventors unit!
We research each person and chart them on anchor charts. It's not secret that I love a good shaped anchor chart. And Black History anchor charts are some of my very favorite.
It is so so important to teach our kids ALL of our history. Like our own lives, our history is full of highs and lows, light and dark spots, and studying how people overcome adversity and persevere to make the most of their life is invaluable to us all...even 6 year olds!
Read this blog post for more about our Black History month activities and routines.
Valentine's Day + The Wizard of Oz
I know what you're thinking... how in the world are these two things connected??
Well, Valentine's Day is about the time we start our fifth first grade unit on weather. The Wizard of Oz is our big class read aloud during this weather and cause and effect unit (Hello, tornadoes and severe weather!)
The year we kicked off this "Winds of Change" weather unit with a Oz Valentine's Party was the absolute cutest. I mean, Pin the Heart of Tin Man and all the cute themed snacks.
I mean, y'all. You'll have to see all of the details in this Wizard of Oz Valentine's Party post to understand just how fun this was for our first graders!
President's Day
Another holiday about Famous Americans in February.... see why it's so perfect to be learning about Famous Americans in January and February?!?
We spend some time learning about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and comparing and contrasting them. You can read about all the Washington lessons and activities here and the Lincoln lessons and activities here.
Then, these President's Day crafts are easy and adorable February hallway decorations.
Dr. Seuss
Yes, I Know that Read Across America is in March. And yes, I know that Dr. Seuss' birthday is March 2nd. BUT I love to end our mini-study of Dr. Seuss with his birthday. It's a fun birthday celebration after learning all about him!
In first grade, our Dr. Seuss mini-unit focuses on poetry. We use his books as a mentor texts for learning to create rhyming sentences and write couplets and short poems!