Teach your students about the American Flag, including its history, what the symbols represent, and the proper way to display it. Discuss how the American Flag has played a part in recent events. Then choose one or more of the American Flag activities for wearing, sharing, or displaying.
After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to:
* Tell what a symbol is and give examples of a symbol, such as the American flag.
* Give examples of other countries and their flags.
* Understand the relationship of city to state to country.
* Explain how symbols relate to objects and actions, how one thing can stand for another.
* Talk about the design of the American flag, i.e., what the colors mean, and that the 13 stripes represent the original 13 colonies.
* Discuss the legend of Betsy Ross (1752-1836).
* Learn about Flag Day (June 14).
Students
* discover that some historians question the story of Betsy Ross’s involvement in the creation of the first U.S. flag.
* learn why historians question the story.
* list reasons the story of Betsy Ross might not be true.
* note the counterpoints offered by those who say Betsy Ross did play a key role in the creation of the U.S. flag.
* use The Betsy Ross Story: Truth or Legend? work sheet to document some of those points and counterpoints.
* synthesize and evaluate what they learn by responding to the question “Is the story of Betsy Ross’s grandson William Canby true?”
Students
* follow oral or written directions as they fold and cut a five-point star like the one that appears on the American flag.
* perform one of the writing exercises in the Lesson Plan section below.
Students
* search for images and headlines that demonstrate what they think makes the United States a great place to live.
* create five-point stars
* cut up the images and headlines and use them, along with the five-point stars, to create a large American flag.
* use the completed flag as an inspiration for This Is What America Means to Me essays.
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