Happy Birthday, Mr. President

Nope, it’s not another post about Marilyn—it’s about my President’s Day lesson at the École Primaire where I teach English to kids in levels CP-CM2 (1st-5th grade). Every week I have to come up with a lesson on “Anglophone Culture.” The catch is that I can only introduce a handful of new words or phrases each week, so I mostly need to use what the kids already know.

So how do you celebrate President’s Day with only a beginner’s knowledge of the English language? By serenading Abraham Lincoln and George Washington with Happy Birthday, of course. And what do you do when they’re not there in person? This:

Two kids in each class volunteered to portray our great Presidents so we could sing to them.  Seeing a seven year old's body with George Washington's head was even funnier than this picture of me as Abraham Lincoln (and not creepy, which I can't really say about myself here).   The kids also got to practice saying "Thank you" as we showed our appreciation to Abe and George for being honest and doing good things for our country.  Maybe it's just homesickness, but I actually got a little teary shaking Abraham Lincoln's hand and telling him "Thank you, Mr. President," even if it was just a mask worn by an eight year old girl.