We are using a story to help us memorize the
presidents. (Now required with the new curriculum). When we work on
these in class, I tell the story and show the picture. We then take turns
reciting the presidents aloud to each other or writing them down. Due to
copyright laws, I can not reproduce the pictures to post on the website, but I can
retell the story. I will do this, highlighting the names of the
presidents as they occur in the story. This comes from a book published
by Scholastic called Yo, Millard Fillmore! (and all those other Presidents
you don't know) the isbn number is 0-590-47268-2. If you would like
to see or order a copy you can call 1-800-scholastic.
And so here
is the story...
Imagine
a huge washing machine sitting on the
White House
lawn. This washing machine is so big you could "wash a ton" (Washington) of
clothes. If you open the lid of the washing machine you will see "atoms"
floating around (Adams) in the
water. Now, you see the atoms in a frying pan over an open fire.
There is a boy with a chef's hat holding the handle of the pan and a man his
father who is a a chef is standing beside him.
The
boy is the "chef's son"
(Jefferson). Under the frying pan where the fire is is a sun creating the
heat for the fire, and boy is that sun angry. He is a very "mad
son" (Madison). Finally he escapes but lands in a river, when he
opens up his mouth to shout a water comes pouring out. In the water is a
boat...a row boat with some "money rowing"
(Monroe). As you look
closer, you
see that the money is $5.00 bills. This is helpful because Monroe is the
5th president.
The boat bumps into "a dam" (Adams) and flips
over. The money turns into playing cards...not just any cards but "jacks"
(Jackson). They go over the waterfall and turn into wheels on a
van. This van is unusual because it had a bureau on it. It is a "van
bureau" (van Buren). Suddenly this can grows hair...a lot of
hair. It is a "hairy van". (Harrison)
It such interesting
hair that someone has created a tie out of it and decorated it with a fishing
lure. Not just any fishing lure...a "tie lure" (Tyler)
Boys
generally
start wearing ties around the age of 10, so we know that Tyler is the 10th
president.
That
tie has changed...the hair has fallen off and underneath his a "Polka
dot" (Polk) pattern. It is such an attractive pattern that a "tailor"
(Taylor) has made a suit of it. This tailor has a second job.
He owns a filling station. We see him "filling more and
more" (Fillmore) of these little paper cups with oil.
For some strange reason, he then starts to "pierce"
(Pierce) the bottom of the
cups.
The oil starts to drip out into these u-shaped cannons or "u-cannons"
(Buchanan). As it happens, the cannon balls that fit into these
cannons weigh 15 pounds each. Which helps us remember that Buchanan is
the 15th president.
The cannons are pointed at a "Lincoln log"
(Lincoln)
cabin. On top of the cannon are two potties, one big and one
little...named John. One is the father and the other is "John's
son" (Johnson). The lids of the potties open up and out come
these "giant ants" (Grant). 
They climb down
and over to a "haystack" (Hayes). This haystack is in
the middle of a giant "cigar field" (Garfield). It just
so happens that usually cigars are packed 20 to a box which helps us remember
that there Garfield is the 20th president.
One of the giant cigars is writing a book on an 
typewriter.
This particular cigar is an "author" (Arthur). His
typewriter is then shown sitting in a field of giant leaves. As a matter
of a fact it is a giant "leaf-land". (Cleveland).
Munching on the leaves of this land is a giant rabbit or hare and his sons, "Hare's
sons" (Harrison). These hares get
startled then
scared...because chasing after them is a crazed lamb with cleavers. It is
a "cleaver lamb" (Cleveland).
Well,
the 
lamb doesn't
get the hare's but he is still hungry to he goes to "McKinley"...not
McDonalds (McKinley) for a salad. While he's there, he sees a sign that
says something like 25 billion served...which helps us remember that McKinley
is the 25th president.
At the counter inside is a giant
teddy bear wearing a "belt of roses", or rose belt (Roosevelt).
Suddenly, we see the bear, floating down a river in a rubber raft named
"S.S. Taffy", (Taft). Oops, the raft
bumps
ashore, but it's okay because wheels appear. These wheels aren't just
regular wheels though, they are tennis balls. Actually ,they have a brand
name on them. (Wilson). 
One of the wheels becomes a clapper for a giant bell. The
bell looks very much like the Liberty Bell. It rings loud, and it can
only do that with a hard ding. (Harding). If you look at the bell
closer, you'll see that there are icicles forming on the edge. 
Actually,
it's has a very 'cool edge' (Coolidge). You know, water freezes at
about 30 degrees (32 actually) which helps us
remember that Coolidge was the 30th president.
Under the bell there is an owl. He is
very cold and wearing a fur coat. The owl wants to show you his fur coat,
so as all owls do, he says Hoo, Fur. (Hoover). Like I said
he is chilly, and he wants to
warm up so
he goes for a walk. He starts down a wide, brown road that's actually a
belt, a road belt. (Roosevelt) At the end of the belt is the
buckle, and growing out of the buckle is this tree, but it's not an ordinary
tree. It has a face and nose and arms...it's a 
treeman.
(Truman). The tree man is hungry, so he sees a tower that looks
like the Eifle Tower. The thing is, if you look at the tower, you will
see 'eyes on the tower' (Eisenhower) At the top of the 'eyes on tower'
that is a huge bowl of candy. (Kennedy). There are 35 pieces of
candy in the bowl, which helps us remember that Kennedy is the 35th president.
If you look among the candy you will see one of those old, metal
band-aid boxes. You know the brand Johnson & Johnson. (Johnson).
If you close at the box you will see 
'nicks on
it' (Nixon). Coming out of one of the nicks is a little pick-up
truck. Not just any truck, but a Ford. (Ford).
Watch out! The Ford Car runs into the grocery cart, throwing groceries everywhere.
(Luckily, no one is hurt.) Cart for Carter (Carter)
As the groceries fly through the
air, they turn into ray guns shooting out laser beams. It takes a lot of energy to turn
groceries into ray guns. In fact
it takes forty gigawatts of electric.
Which is a coincidence, because Ronald Reagan was the 40th president.
(Reagan)
The beams from the ray guns blast
into a bush catching it on fire. (Bush)
The smoke from the burning bush
forms a whole bunch of numbers as it rises. All of the smokey numbers as it rises. All of the smokey numbers are dark and
sooty, except for the ten, which isn’t dirty at all. In fact, it’s actually bright and shiny… it’s a clean
ten. (Clinton)
The smoke clears and the Bush still
remains! (George W. Bush)
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