President’s Day

The history of Presidents' Day can be traced back to the late 1700s.  People began celebrating George Washington's birthday (February 22) while he was still president. 

       Now in February, the U.S. honors two of our greatest Presidents with a federal holiday. “Washington's Birthday” is the official name designated to what many of us know as “President's Day”. During the month of February the birthdays of two of our greatest President's takes place, George Washington who was born on Feb. 22nd and Abraham Lincoln born on Feb. 12th. The holiday is now observed on the third Monday of February, rather than Washington's actual birthday.

       At Library of Congress, you will find a chronological list of Presidents, First Ladies, and Vice Presidents of the United States as well as selected images from the Collections of the Library of Congress.

Paddy Number 3

Challenge your friend to add eight 8s in such a sway that the total is 1,000. If your friend gets stumped, show him/her to add the 8s like this:

8+8+8+88+888=1,000

Paddy Number 4

Choose any number                                                             15

Multiply by 6                                                                       15x6=90      

Add 12 to the product                                                          90+12=102

Divide the sum by 3                                                            102/3=34

Subtract 2 from the quotient.                                               34-2=32

Divide the difference by 2.                                                  32/2=16

Subtract the original number                                               16-15=1

Add 9 to the difference.                                                       1+9=10

(The answer is always 10.)

Paddy Number 5

Start with any number.                                                        517

Change the order of the digits in any way you  choose.     571

Subtract the smaller number from the larger number.        571-517=54

The difference is always  evenly divided by 9.                  54/9=6

Do you Celebrate 
Black History Month?

Each year in February Black History month is celebrated. Let’s celebrate Black History Month this February with a research activity that results in a great display. Assign one of the famous African American listed below to each child. Have the students research his/her person and prepare a short talk on his/her life and accomplishments. Also have the student prepare some type of visual such as a poster, cutout, or timeline to accompany his/her talk. 

Try beginning in February to set aside time early each day for two students to give a “morning update” on their famous African-Americans. After the morning’s updates, mount those students' visuals on the bulletin board or wall. As your display grows, so will student’s knowledge and appreciation of our country’s rich African-America heritage.