South Carolina ETV

Attention! Salute! Pledge! (Grade 3)

Master Teacher

Beth Thomas

Time Allotment

Three 50-minute class periods.

Overview

In this lesson, using video and the Internet, students will recognize the flag as one of the symbols of our country. They will learn how it was originally designed and created and how it has changed. Students will participate in the folding of an American flag which demonstrates respect for one of the symbols of the United States of America.

Subject Matter

Social Studies

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

Recognize the flag as a symbol of the United States;
Learn how the flag was created and how it changed over the years;
Fold the flag into a triangle.

South Carolina Standards

Click here to download standards

Third Grade

II. Power, Authority, and Government/Political Science

3.8.2 describe state symbols through which American values and principles are expressed.

Media Components

Video

U.S. Flag: Proper Use. This seven-minute program reviews how and when to fly the American flag, along with other rules for using it.

Web Sites

Citizenship: Flag Etiquette - This Web site describes the rules of folding and proper display of the flag.
The Betsy Ross Homepage - This Web site links to many things about Betsy Ross and explains some history of the American flag.
Flag Picture Gallery - This Web site allows viewers to see various flags which have been flown in America.
Enchanted Learning - This Web site provides teachers with quizzes related to patriotism and famous Americans.

Materials

Guided Reading Book: Stars and Stripes: The Story of the American Flag by Sarah L. Thomson (HarperCollins, 2003)
Guided Reading Book: Red, White, and Blue: The Story of the America Flag by John Herman (Grosset & Dunlap, 1998)
Guided Reading Book: Betsy Ross: Designing Our Flag by Ann Weil
Guided Reading Book: America Is…by Louise Borden (Margaret K. McElderry, 2002)
Picture Book: America: A Patriotic Primer by Lynne V. Cheney (Simon & Schuster, 2002)
clothesline
clothes pins
classroom flag
5x8 American flag

Per student:

white construction paper
crayons or markers or colored pencils
rulers
adhesive paper stars
pencils

Equipment

TV
VCR
computer with Internet connection

Prep for Teachers

Collect various books about patriotism and the U.S. flag for the reading center and real alouds.
Preview the video U.S. Flag: Proper Use, Lesson 1.
Bookmark all the Web sites used in the lesson on each computer in your classroom. Load the Shockwave plug-in, available at www.macromedia.com onto each computer in the classroom.
Note the Focus for Media Interaction points in the Learning Activities section.
Cue the video to the point of playing.
When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Tell your students that today they will be learning about one of the most famous symbols of the United States of America—point to the classroom flag. Remind your students that each morning before beginning their school day, they recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Remind students that a pledge is a synonym, or another word for, a promise. Students will be allowed to recite the Pledge of Allegiance again at this time.

Step 2: Read the story called Stars and Stripes: The Story of the America Flag by Sarah L. Thomson. Before reading the story, tell students that the author of this story is going to tell you why the stars and stripes are a part of our American flag. Let’s listen carefully to find out why there are 13 stripes on the American flag today.

Learning Activities

Step 1: Introduce the video. Explain to your students that they will be learning some rules about properly displaying an American flag. INSERT the video, U.S. Flag: Proper Use, into your VCR. CUE the tape to where the speaker says, “The American flag is displayed daily,” and two students are carrying flags to be secured to a flag pole. Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking your students to determine when the flag should be flown outside every public institution. PLAY the tape until the speaker says, “Any time the flag is raised, even at half mast, it is hoisted briskly to the top of the pole and lowered ceremoniously or slowly.” PAUSE the video. Check for student comprehension. (The flag should be flown outside every public institution daily.)

Step 2: Ask your students if they have ever raised an American flag onto a flagpole. (Several students might be members of a local Cub Scout troop and would be able to relate to this task.) Tell your students who are Cub Scouts that they are to relate this procedure to a real life situation.

Step 3: Ask your students if they have ever heard music being played while the flag is being raised. (Some students will say they have heard music being played when the flag is being carried at a football game at our local high school.) Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to name two songs that should be played when the flag is being raised and lowered from a flag pole. PLAY the tape until the speaker says, “When the flag is lowered, it can be carried respectfully, folded, or ceremoniously folded.” PAUSE the video. Check for student comprehension. (When the flag is being raised, reveille is played. The national anthem is played when the flag is lowered.)

Step 4: Tell your students that they will now have the opportunity to view pictures using a series of interactive Web sites. The first Web site shows various flags which have been flown in America. Have students log on to the Picture Gallery at http//:www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagpics.html. Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to find and describe the Betsy Ross flag. When the students get to the Web site, ask them to scroll down the page to find the Betsy Ross flag.

(Student responses should include noting that the flag has 13 alternating stripes, beginning and ending with a red stripe on the top and bottom; there are white stripes in between the red stripes; there are 13 white stars in a circle on the top left corner; there is a blue square in the top left corner.)

Step 5: Tell your students that the flag has changed over the years and many states have been added to our country since the first flag was made. Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to find and describe a flag that was made because the states of Vermont and Kentucky were added to our country.

(At the Web site, the students will be looking for the flag which has 13 stripes and 15 stars, arranged in five rows of three each.)

Step 6: Tell your students that you are aware that many of them have nicknames. Ask them if they knew that the American flag had a nickname in 1818? (The predicted answer will be “no.”)

Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking students to find the nickname of the American flag in the year 1818 and to describe the flag at this time. (Students answers will include “Grand Star” flag. The flag consists of 13 stripes and four rows of five stars representing twenty states. Advanced students will also note that Congress mandated that the number of stripes be fixed at 13 and one new star added for each new state on the July 4th following the state’s admission to our country.)

Step 7: Tell your students that they will now have an opportunity to learn how to correctly fold an American flag into a triangle by viewing the flag folding steps on a Web site. This Web site describes the rules of folding and proper display of the flag. Have students log on to the flag etiquette Web site at http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html. Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking students to carefully read the steps to folding a flag while two students demonstrate this action.

(Note to Teacher: I tell students that they will all have an opportunity to demonstrate this skill. I choose two students to begin. I remind students that the flag should not touch the floor. I give adequate time for each student to participate in flag folding.)

Step 8: Review with your students how they can recognize that the American flag is a symbol of the United States. Allow students an opportunity to describe how the flag was created and ways in which the flag has changed over many years.

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Students will draw and color a representation of the American flag. Distribute the white construction paper, crayons, markers or colored pencils, rulers and adhesive paper stars.

Step 2: Display all the flags on a clothesline in the classroom or in the hall.

Step 3: Invite other classes to view our flags.

Step 4: Allow two students to demonstrate the proper technique of folding a flag into a triangle on the morning news show at your school.

Assessment

Teacher observations and the Culminating Activity are the Assessment.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Art: Students will design a class flag.

Students will design a school flag.

Language Arts: Students will write a letter to Betsy Ross thanking her for designing the red, white, and blue symbol of our nation, the American flag.

Community Connections

Invite a Cub Scout leader into your classroom to demonstrate how to properly dispose of a tattered U.S. flag.
Take a walking field trip to the local Town Hall and watch the policemen as they hoist the flag to the top of the flag pole.

South Carolina ETV
1101 George Rogers Boulevard
Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545