The Foundation of American Values
Raising Old Glory over Morro
Castle / Thomas A. Edison, Inc. ;
producers, J. Stuart Blackton,
Albert E. Smith. Library of
Congress, Motion Picture,
Broadcasting, and Recorded
Sound Division.
Debra Horvath
Webster School, Clinton
Spring 2009
Students are taught the pledge and say it everyday. Students are taught songs about America that they sing. Students
know the flag, have heard of the stature of liberty, and may know that the bald eagle is the national bird but, what do
students really know about the values that under gird these signs and symbols. In this lesson, students will learn about
the reasons for our signs and symbols of the United States of America as well as gain an understanding of the values
that form the foundation of this great nation.
Overview/ Materials/Historical Background/LOC Resources/Standards/ Procedures/Evaluation/Rubric/Handouts/Extension
Overview
Objectives
Recommended time frame
Grade level
Curriculum fit
Materials
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Students will:
 identify why specific events happened in history.
 correlate American historical events to values we
hold as necessary and privileged in America.
 identify the events and the meaning behind a
patriotic song or an American symbol.
 tell how our symbols and mottoes were developed.
10 days at 30 minutes each day
4-5th grade cross categorical special education; 1-3
grade level.
Social Studies
Loc.gov website
Pencil, paper, crayons, colored pencils, markers, poster
board and glue
Print outs from the website.
Handouts
Illinois State Learning Standards
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Language Arts:
GOAL 3: Write to communicate for a variety of
purposes.
 3B. Compose well-organized and coherent writing
for specific purposes and audiences.
 3.B. The learner will compose well-organized
and coherent writing for specific purposes and
audiences.
Social Sciences:
Goal 14F: Can understand the development of
United States political ideas and traditions.
 3F. Understand the development of United States
political ideas and traditions.
 1.F. Describe values that have formed the
foundation of the American democratic system
 2.F. Summarize the meaning of the words,
sounds, or images in an artistic expression that
illustrates the traditions important to our political
system and concept of freedom.
 3.F. Explain the significance of political
symbols, and mottoes, of the United States
Procedures
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In this lesson, students will define the meaning of
values, review a brief history of America to determine
the values on which America was founded, investigate
primary resources available to further develop an
understanding of the values and write about the
symbols, mottoes and songs.
Day One:
 Discussion starter: What do you look for in a friend?
 Discuss the character traits that each person
identifies.
 Discuss the meaning of the word “values”. Define
values.
 What values do you believe the United States of
America was founded upon?
 Give students Handout #1 to write down the values
they want in a friend and the values they believe that
the United States was founded upon.
HOMEWORK: Ask your parents, grandparents or aunts
and uncles what values they believe are important in a
friendship. Ask your parents, grandparents or aunts and
uncles what values they believe are important in the
United States.
Day Two, Three, and Four
 Ask students to identify the values that their
parents believe are important in a friendship.
 Ask students to identify the values that their
parents believe are important for our country.
 Compile the list for future reference.
 Begin or review the historical background of the
United States of America. Go to

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgibin/page.cgi/jb
Begin by asking the students about the picture in
each time period. What does the picture tell you
about this time period? Read the history.
Following each time period ask students to
identify the values that we wanted or learned at
that time.
Colonial America (1492-1763)
Revolutionary Period (1764-1789)
The New Nation (1790-1828)
Western Expansion & Reform (1829-1859)
Civil War (1860-1865)
Reconstruction (1866-1877)
Gilded Age (1878-1889)
Progressive Era (1890-1913)
Great War & Jazz Age (1914-1928)
Depression & WWII (1929-1945)
Modern Era (1946 - present)

After reviewing the time eras, discuss the values.
Identify the ones that were similar and the ones
that were different.
 Help students list the most important values such
as: freedom, acceptance, gratitude, justice,
loyalty, citizenship, forgiveness, love of
learning, kindness or sharing, trustworthiness,
honesty, truthfulness, and fairness.
Day Five, Six and Seven
 Put the chart with all the value words up on the
board. Ask students to pick one value word that
they would like to research.
 Ask students to research their word within the
http://www.loc.gov/index.html website as well
as through www.google.com or encyclopedias
and other resource books. Other sections of the
http://www.loc.gov/index.html website include
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/; Black
history:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/
aointro.html; Women’s history
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/index.h
tml; American Memory section
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html.
 Explain the project. Students will research the
word chosen. After saving the pictures, stories,
poems, songs, recordings, ask them to make a
poster of their word and what it means. Show
them an example.

Show students how to save pictures and
resources from the website for easy retrieval and
printing.
 After researching the value word, ask them to
print out their pictures, prints, maps, songs, etc.
and develop their poster. They will need to
complete this at home.
Day Eight and Nine
 Write the following list on the board: US Flag,
US Seal, Presidential Seal, National Bird,
Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial,
White House, Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty,
National Anthem- Star Spangled Banner, Pledge
of Allegiance. Go to
http://enchantedlearning.com/history/us/symbols
/
 Give out the booklets on the American Symbols
 Discuss each symbol and how it came to be
 Discuss the values that it represents. Write the
value of each motto and symbol in the booklet.
Day Ten
History Fair, students put on a History Fair for the rest
of the school. Show the DVD or PowerPoint, skits,
posters, poems and art work.
Evaluation
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
Students will be graded on their poster project and
their final presentation. Extra credit will be given for
the extension projects.
Extension
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


Write a poem about the value word. Draw a
picture that accurately represents what that
means for us in our lives in the twenty-first
century. If you do a haiku poem, water paint a
picture to reflect the poems message.
Develop a power point or a DVD of all the
values that were studied.
Develop a skit(s) about the values studied. Video
tape the skit to show the class and/or other
classes.
Historical Background
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Websites to access further information about the historical events that are the foundation of our democracy.
Brief Timeline of American Literature and Events: http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/1651.htm
American History: http://americanhistory.about.com/
History of the United States: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_history
American History: http://www.historycentral.com/USHistory.html
The History Place: http://www.historyplace.com/
Kids Learn Out Loud: http://kids.learnoutloud.com/Kids-Free-Stuff/History/American-History
Apples for the Teacher: http://www.apples4theteacher.com/coloring-pages/american-history/
Other Resources:
Liberty Kids DVD: Liberty's Kids® ©2004 DIC Entertainment.
Tell Me Why: Americana /Beginnings, The Children’s DVD Encyclopedia, DSSP Inc., 2003
Primary Resources from the Library of Congress
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RESOURCE TABLE
SAMPLE RESOURCES for the POSTER PROJECT
Image
Freedom
Freedom on the old
Description
From The Phonoscope,
January 1899, p. 15:
Down goes the Spanish
flag, and up floats the
Stars and Stripes.
Down falls the symbol
of tyranny and
oppression that has
ruled in the new world
for four hundred years,
and up goes the Banner
of Freedom. In the
distance are the turrets
and battlements of
Morro, the last
foothold of Spain in
America. (C. Musser,
Edison motion pictures
1890-1900, According
to Edison film historian
C. Musser, the film
was made by Vitagraph
producers and Edison
licensees J. Stuart
Blackton and Albert E.
Smith, then submitted
as a negative to
Edison’s Kinetograph
Dept., which
copyrighted and
distributed the title.
(Edison motion
pictures 1890-1900, p.
481-482)
Citation
Library of Congress,
Motion Picture,
Broadcasting, and
Recorded Sound
Division.
URL
http://memory.loc.
gov/cgibin/query/r?amme
m/papr:@field(NU
MBER+@band(sa
wmp+1032))
Freedom, freedom,
freedom on the old
plantation
Historic American
Sheet Music,
"Freedom on the Old
Plantation", Music B451, Duke University
Rare Book,
Manuscript, and
Special Collections
Library
http://memory.loc.
gov/cgibin/query/r?amme
m/dukesm:@field(
DOCID+@lit(ncd
hasm.b0451))
plantation. 1866
The Africans of the
slave bark “Wildfire”
Freedom
The beginning of the
19th century was, for
many Americans, a
time to take stock.
The writer of this poem
is unknown, and he
chose to identify
himself only as a
Revolutionary soldier
drawing closer to his
death. As you read the
poem, think about the
achievements this
writer describes, as
well as which
responsibilities he feels
he is leaving for future
The writer of this poem
is unknown, and he
chose to identify
himself only as a
Revolutionary soldier
drawing closer to his
death.
Library of Congress,
Rare Book and
Special Collections
Division, America
Singing: NineteenthCentury Song Sheets.
http://memory.loc.
gov/cgibin/ampage?collId
=amss&fileName=
as1/as107890/ams
spage.db&recNum
=0
The Africans of the
slave bark "Wildfire"-The slave deck of the
bark "Wildfire,"
brought into Key West
on April 30, 1860
Illus. in: Harper's
weekly, 1860 June 2,
p. 344.; Library of
Congress Prints and
Photographs Division
Washington, D.C.
20540 USA
http://lcweb2.loc.g
ov/cgibin/query/i?pp/ils:
@field(NUMBER
+@band(cph+3a4
2003))
Friday, August 29th,
2008
Carol Highsmith sent
some images from
yesterday’s final day
of convention
festivities in Denver:
Copyright free
http://www.loc.go
v/extranet/paodocs
/images/dnc2008/b
arack-obama.jpg
African men crowded
onto a lower deck;
African women
crowded on an upper
deck.
President-Elect Barak
Obama final day of
convention festivities
in Denver.
President Barak
Obama, First Black
President, 2009
photos, Library of
Congress
Mrs. Rosa Parks
Woman fingerprinted.
Mrs. Rosa Parks,
Negro seamstress,
whose refusal to move
to the back of a bus
touched off the bus
boycott in
Montgomery, Ala. Mrs.
Rosa Parks being
fingerprinted by
Deputy Sheriff D.H.
Lackey in
Montgomery,
Alabama.
Two women holding a
banner between them
reading "National
Woman Suffrage
Association."
Library of Congress,
Prints & Photographs
Division, NYWT&S
Collection,
[reproduction
number, LC-USZ62109643 (b&w film
copy neg.)]
http://memory.loc.
gov/cgibin/query/r?pp/ils:
@filreq(@field(N
UMBER+@band(
cph+3c09643))+@
field(COLLID+cp
h))
Library of Congress,
Prints and
Photographs Division
[reproduction
number, LC-USZ6293552 DLC (b&w
film copy neg.)]
http://memory.loc.
gov/cgibin/query/r?amme
m/suffrg:@field(N
UMBER+@band(
cph+3b39728))
Reynolds's political
map of the United
States, designed to
exhibit the comparative
area of the free and
slave states and the
territory open to
slavery or freedom by
the repeal of the
Missouri Compromise.
Library of Congress,
Geography and Map
Division.
http://memory.loc.
gov/cgibin/query/r?amme
m/gmd:@filreq(@
field(NUMBER+
@band(g3701e+ct
000604))+@field(
COLLID+setlmap)
)
Library of Congress,
Prints and
Photographs Division
[reproduction
number, LC-USZ6216225 DLC (b&w
film copy neg.)]
http://memory.loc.
gov/cgibin/query/r?pp/ils:
@filreq(@field(N
UMBER+@band(
cph+3a18453))+@
field(COLLID+cp
h))
Suffragists Mrs.
Stanley McCormick
and Mrs. Charles
Parker, April 22, 1913
Free and Slave States
Abraham Lincoln
A. Lincoln showing
Sojourner Truth the
Bible presented by
colored people of
Baltimore, Executive
Mansion, Washington,
D.C., Oct. 29, 1864;
The 13th
with Sojourner Truth
First and the Last
Portrait of Dr. W.E.B.
Amendment to the
Constitution: Civil
Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights Act
of 1866 guaranteed
African Americans
basic economic rights
to contract, sue, and
own property.
Significance: The
intention of this law
was to protect all
persons in the United
States, including
African Americans, in
their civil rights.
Hiram Revels of
Mississippi was elected
the country's first
African-American
senator in 1870.
04/1901; African
Methodist Episcopal
Church Review, Vol.
17, Num. 4; The Ohio
Historical Society is
offering public access
to these materials for
educational and
research purposes only.
Most of the published
materials digitized for
this electronic
collection date from
before 1923 and are
presumed by the Ohio
Historical Society to be
in the public domain.
First leader of the
newly formed National
Association for the
Advancement of
Colored People, 1910.
Developed as a result
of two black men in
Springfield, IL being
lynched.
Manly, Alex, L., First
and the Last,
04/1901, National
Afr0-American
Museum and Cultural
Center, The AfricanAmerican Experience
in Ohio, 1850-1920,
Library of Congress.
http://memory.loc.
gov/cgibin/query/r?amme
m/aaeo:@field(DO
CID+@lit(o2257))
Library of Congress,
Prints & Photographs
Division, Carl Van
Vechten collection,
[reproduction
number, LC-USZ6242528 DLC (b&w
film copy neg.)]
http://memory.loc.
gov/cgibin/query/r?amme
m/van:@field(NU
MBER+@band(cp
h+3a42846))
Du Bois
Rubric
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POSTER RUBRIC: AMERICAN VALUES
The poster and presentation of American values and history will be graded on the following scale.
Category
Graphics
4
All graphics are
relevant to the value.
3
Most graphics are
relevant to the value.
Labels
All labels are clear,
neat and accurate.
Understanding
Student understands
the value and can
clearly and concisely
discuss the poster.
All labels are
accurate and
somewhat neat.
Student understands
the value and can
reasonably discuss
the poster.
2
The majority of
graphics are relevant
to the topic.
All labels are
somewhat neat and
mostly accurate.
Student understands
the value but has
difficulty presenting
the poster.
Attractiveness
The layout, design
and neatness are
outstanding.
Mechanics
Capitalization and
punctuation are
accurate.
Grammar is correct.
The layout, design
and neatness are
somewhat
exceptional.
Capitalization and
punctuation are 90%
accurate.
Grammar is 90%
accurate.
The layout, design
and neatness are
somewhat
confusing.
Capitalization and
punctuation are 80%
accurate.
Grammar is 80%
accurate.
Grammar
1
Half of the graphics
are relevant to the
topic.
All labels are mostly
accurate but messy
or difficult to read.
Student has some
understanding of the
value and is able to
present the poster
with some clarity.
The layout, design,
and neatness are
messy and difficult
to understand.
Capitalization and
punctuation are 70%
accurate.
Grammar is 70%
accurate.
Handouts
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K
What do you already know
about the values American
was founded upon?
W
L
What do you want to know
about the values America was
founded upon?
What have you learned about
the values America was
founded upon?
Name ____________________________________
Date _________________________
VALUES
My Values in a Friend
My Values in the United States
Parents’ or Family Values
Values in a Friend
Values in America