George Washington Lesson Plan H uscis.gov/citizenship 1

Objectives: 

Students will: 

• learn about George Washington’s life and the importance of Washington’s role in U.S. history

• locate and label Washington State, Washington, DC, East Coast and West Coast on map

• explore ways that Washington is honored using money, paintings, and famous landmarks

• identify names of other important presidents in U.S. history

• identify the current U.S. president 

• identify the date and presidents honored on Presidents’ Day

Materials: 

2 wall maps: one world map and one U.S. map, calendar, one dollar bill, U.S. coins

4 handouts: George Washington’s Life, We Honor George Washington, George Washington—Special Places, 

George Washington—Yes or No?

8.5” x 11” visuals: paintings of George Washington, Washington Monument, Mt. Vernon, Mt. Rushmore

Additional Instructions for Teachers: Using Visuals and Original Artwork in the Adult ESL/Civics Classroom—George Washington

3 optional handouts (Literacy Level Writing Practice): George Washington, President, Father of Our Country 

George Washington Lesson Answer Key

Civics Test Questions

#28—What is the name of the 

President of the United States now? 

#69—Who is the “Father of Our 

Country”?

#70—Who was the first president?

#93—Name one state that borders 

Canada.

#94—What is the capital of the 

United States?

#100—Name two national U.S. 

holidays.

LESSON PLAN

George Washington

Reading Test Vocabulary

George Washington, Abraham Lincoln

capital, state, Father of Our Country,

President

United States

Presidents’ Day

What, Where, Who 

can, come, do, is/was, lived, name 

in, of, on, the, to, we

independence

first, second, people, dollar bill, one

Writing Test Vocabulary

Lincoln, Washington

capital, Father of Our Country, 

President

United States, Washington,

Washington, DC

February

Presidents’ Day

can, come, is/was, lived 

in, of, on, the, to, we

first, second, people, dollar bill, 

one

Level: Literacy, Low Beginning

Suggested Length: 3 or 4 class periods, depending on class time and level

L1
2 George Washington Lesson Plan H uscis.gov/citizenship

In planning this history lesson, consider whether you 

wish to cover this material in two, three, or four class 

sessions. This lesson is designed to learn about George 

Washington as a man and as a leader. It highlights the 

impact that Washington made on our country as well 

as his enduring legacy over time. To teach about George 

Washington and not weave in more detail about him 

would be a missed opportunity. Besides, it makes for a 

richer lesson to teach and to learn. The visuals (photos, 

paintings, drawings, and maps) illustrate the teaching 

points (Civics items) and to engage the students in the 

discussion, whether or not they know all the vocabulary. 

The short “Reading Paragraphs” with pictures help 

students grasp the main ideas without having to worry 

about recognizing spelling or pronouncing every single 

new word perfectly. Also note that there may be more 

vocabulary than your students know at their current 

ESL level, but remember: it is not critical that they 

understand and produce every word. What is important 

is that they are engaged in the topic and gather general 

knowledge from it in order to be successful on the Civics 

Test. Therefore, the critical issue is that students be able to 

recognize and answer the Civics Test items correctly. For 

example, in the readings on Washington Monument and 

Mt. Rushmore, the dates of the construction are included 

not because the students must know those details, but 

rather to demonstrate that hundreds of years after his 

death, Americans are still honoring Washington in 

concrete ways. 

To set up the lesson, you will discuss the concept of leader 

and leadership roles, tying that to the students’ experience 

in their home country and here. Key vocabulary, such 

as leader, important, remember, celebrate, and honor 

will be taught and used, by first having the students 

identify important leaders and historical figures in 

their native country. Then the lesson topic shifts to 

George Washington, his life and leadership. The lesson 

moves on to discuss ways in which he is recognized 

and honored on a daily basis. During the class, you will 

teach and reinforce the importance of Washington’s role 

in American history, and how he is remembered today. 

Much of the content here involves “Fun Facts” about 

Washington. Again, these facts (such as Mt. Vernon, Mt. 

Rushmore, and faces on money) are not on the Civics Test. 

These points are included to illustrate the importance 

of George Washington and to tie content to the Civics 

questions. Also, remember, students will not need to 

know dates of George Washington’s life. The Additional 

Instructions for Teachers: Using Visuals and Original Artwork 

in the Adult ESL/Civics Classroom offers strategies for using 

the artwork in class as prompts for the different sections 

of the lesson text. The Literacy Level Writing Practice 

handouts George Washington, President and Father of Our 

Country help beginners practice spelling and handwriting 

while using content words from the lesson.

Introduction: Tell the class you will talk about important 

leaders. Write LEADER on the board, and ask What does 

LEADER mean? Students should answer important man/

woman/person, power, person who helps people,

etc. Ask the class Who is the leader of this class? this 

school? Then ask Why is he/she important (to the 

class/to the school)? Students answer help students, 

make decisions, supervise, control money, etc. Say 

Give me some examples of leaders in the world today, 

and write the students’ answers on the board under the 

words Important Leaders. Ask Who is the leader of the

U.S.?, then rephrase it by asking What is the name of 

the President of the United States now? Students should 

answer with the correct first and last name of the current 

president. Ask them to spell the name out loud while you 

write it on the board for them to copy. Write the question 

What is the name of the President of the United States 

now? on the board above the president’s name. Point out 

that this is an item on the Civics Test. Model the question 

and answer for the students to hear and practice in order 

to become familiar with this item. 

Warm-up: Tell the class that you will talk about leaders 

in the world. Ask several more advanced students Who 

is the leader of your country? What is that position?

Students answer President, King/Queen, Prime 

Minister, Emperor/Empress, etc. Ask again What 

position is the leader of the U.S.? Write President on 

the board. Then say Now let’s talk about history, or the 

past and ask Who was the first president of the U.S.? 

If they answer George Washington, ask them to spell 

Washington as you write it on the board. (If they don’t 

know, give them a hint and ask What’s the capital of 

the United States?). Point out that Who was the first 

president? is on the Civics Test. Tell the class We will 

study George Washington today. Show the 8.5” x 11” 

visuals of George Washington and discuss the content of 

the artwork. 

Lesson Overview and Notes to Teacher: 
George Washington Lesson Plan H uscis.gov/citizenship 3

Guided Practice: Distribute the handout George 

Washington’s Life. Point out the first picture on the handout 

before reading the sentences. Ask Who’s this? What’s 

his name? Then read each sentence 2-3 times out loud 

for students to hear. Then have the students repeat each 

sentence line by line. When you reach a sentence with a 

blank, read the sentence and pause at the blank. Ask the 

students to fill in or guess the correct word for the blank. 

Have them spell out the missing word as you write it 

on the board for them to copy on their paper. Point out 

and discuss the corresponding pictures. Then model and 

practice each sentence aloud. Ask the students Who is in 

the picture?, How many people/men/women/animals 

are there?, What are they doing?, Can you find George 

Washington?, What is George Washington doing?, Tell 

me about the people. (They are . . . young/old, rich/

poor, happy/serious/angry/cold/worried, etc.) You can 

print out 8.5” x 11” copies of the same picture which 

you can hold up for the class to see, or make copies for 

them to examine in pairs or small groups. Help the 

students with new vocabulary such as independence

(freedom/separation), Revolutionary War (change), and 

Great Britain (England). Dictate dates for students, then 

write the dates on the board for them to copy into the 

blanks. (NOTE: students will not be tested on these dates 

about George Washington’s life, but in other parts of the 

Civics Test, the students need to be able to understand or 

produce these year dates (1776, 1787, 1800s, 1803, 1812, 

1900s). See the Answer Key for all missing vocabulary and 

dates to be dictated. Tell the class DO NOT worry about 

these dates for George Washington, emphasizing This 

is interesting (or nice to know), but it’s NOT ON THE 

TEST. Practice saying the dates correctly (17-76, 17-87, 

etc.) so that the students become familiar with reading 

year dates aloud. Point out Who is the Father of Our 

Country? and Who was the first president? are questions 

on the Civics Test. 

Additional Writing Practice for Literacy/Low 

Beginning Students: Handouts George Washington, 

President, and Father of Our Country are included for optional 

copy work. Students can practice writing words from the 

Evaluation: The handout George Washington—Yes or No?

is a true-false exercise which reviews the information that 

students have learned. Items 1-6 are all related to the test 

itself. The rest (items 7-12) review other interesting facts 

about Washington’s life. Please note that all the sentences 

are false, or “NO,” and the students will need to correct 

each sentence by crossing out some words and writing 

in the corrections. There may be more than one possible 

correction, so refer to the Answer Key and accept any 

reasonable change offered by the students. 

Reading and Writing Vocabulary lists or from the Civics 

Test. Test items related to the vocabulary are included in 

each handout. 

Follow-Up Extension: Students can bring in paper 

money and coins from their native country, and discuss 

who is on each and why. Students can practice the 

6 test items in pairs, role-playing as teacher/student or 

immigration officer/applicant.

Practice: Continue the same method reviewing the 

“Reading Paragraphs” with the 2-page handouts We Honor 

George Washington and George Washington—Special Places. 

Refer to the Answer Key for information to fill in the 

blanks. For the section on money, have the students take 

bills and coins from their pockets or provide them with 

some change or play money. For the middle section of the 

page on We Honor, have the students place the coins over 

the circles and identify which president is on each coin. 

While this lesson focuses on President Washington, all 

the other presidents are mentioned in other parts of the 

Civics Test (Jefferson, Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt). 

On Special Places, continue this process (discuss picture, 

model sentences, and practice together out loud) and fill 

in the sentences as you go along. Stress to the students 

once more that they are not required to know these dates 

or specifics for the Civics Test, but that it is interesting to 

know these facts. 
4 George Washington Lesson Plan H uscis.gov/citizenship

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR TEACHERS— 

Using Visuals and Original Artwork in the Adult ESL/Civics Classroom

George Washington

The old expression, “A picture speaks a thousand words” 

applies here, and those words are exactly what we want 

to elicit from our beginning ESL students. We hope the 

artwork and photos chosen for this lesson will be used 

to “illustrate” and “brighten” your history and civics 

lessons. Discussion of the visuals can range from small 

details to broad generalities, tailoring that discussion to 

the class time, the language proficiency, and the level of 

student interest. This discussion is valuable because new 

vocabulary can be introduced as you discuss the visuals 

with the students. This approach gives them a chance to 

“warm up” to the specific vocabulary to be mastered later 

on. You will find that the time involved in this discussion 

will be well spent. In addition, your visual learners will 

have the time and opportunity to employ their own 

learning strategies and absorb the lesson objectives 

without being taxed by a text-rich handout.

In reviewing the handouts, you can start each “Reading 

Paragraph” section by asking the students to tell you 

about the accompanying picture, with such questions 

as: 1) How many people do you see?, 2) What are the 

people doing?, 3) What are they wearing?, or 4) Are 

they happy, sad, cold, etc? While the lesson plan includes 

suggestions about how to address this, it would be 

impossible to cover every point that might come up. You 

may find that the students notice and comment on details 

you have overlooked or taken for granted. As we all do, 

the students will relate to the picture by drawing from 

their own life experiences. As you discuss the visual, write 

key vocabulary on the board and give the students time to 

practice the pronunciation, copy the words, and reflect on 

the meaning. 

The paintings and photos were chosen with some 

consideration for our target audience. While we all know 

this anecdotally, research has shown that when lessons 

evoke an emotional response in the learner, the individual 

will be more open and receptive to the subject and more 

able to absorb and retain the new information. Some 

paintings were selected because of their content and 

appeal, even when produced in a black and white version. 

Others were chosen because they represented a previous 

era that may be easily identified by our older students. 

If the visuals can be printed in color, it would be best. 

However, black and white versions can be used effectively 

as well. If there are limited resources, it might be 

economical to produce one or two sets of color visuals 

and laminate them for future use.