Biographies about George Washington

No, we aren't quite done studying the Revolutionary War yet!  Last week, I shared a few titles that our daughters read about the Revolutionary War time period.

This time, I asked our daughters to read different biographies about George Washington.  Our youngest read George Washington, by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire and our oldest daughter read George Washington: A Picture Book Biography, by James Cross Giblin.  Both books are typical biographies spanning a good portion of Washington's life.  Each girl was required to read the book and present their findings to our family in an oral presentation.

For our preschooler, I read him Where Was George Washington? by Carla Heymsfeld.  It is a fun book we picked up years ago at Mount Vernon.  The book follows Liberty, George Washington's cat, around the plantation as he looks for Washington.  Our son has heard it before, but gladly listened again.

For all of our children, I read aloud Meet George Washington, by Joan Heilbroner.  {This is one of the Landmark Books.}  The book is 18 short chapters in length, and was read over three days. 

During each reading the children were required to choose an accompanying activity.  They could write a narration, draw a picture, or create a comic strip related to the day's readings.  With such an open invitation to creativity, our children had a wonderful time.  Our oldest son created a comic strip summarizing the entire book.  It was complete with dialogue.  One daughter chose to draw pictures the first two days.  She drew of farm life and a war scene.  On the third day, she tried her hand at a comic strip.  Our oldest daughter chose something different each day.  The first day, she wrote a lengthy summary.  Another time, she tried creating a comic strip.  Each and every day, the extension activity helped the children remember highlights of Washington's life.

A side note: Since our oldest son continues to work on a research report about Benjamin Franklin, he was exempt from extra readings on George Washington.  Currently, our son has read three biographies and is in the process of fusing his outlines.  This assignment originates from his writing curriculum: U.S. History-Based Writing Lessons, Volume I, by Lori Verstegen.