Amanda Hensley
Ed 417
American History
The American Flag
3rd Grade
Objectives
The third grade students will:
*understand the importance of the pledge of allegiance.
* understand the symbols within the American flag.
*increase their patriotism for America.
*
*gain knowledge of the history of the American flag.
Web Sites
The Flag of the United States
http://www.usflag.org/toc.html
The Betsy Ross Homepage
http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/
Happy Birthday America
http://www.usacitylink.com/usa/
The American Flag Page
http://userpages.aug.com/~haywire/flag.html
Flag Day Quest
http://www2.lhric.org/kat/flag.htm
Materials Needed:
Construction paper
Markers
Long paper for timeline
Access to the internet
Web Sites
Web Sites
1. A Closer Look at the Pledge
of Allegiance
The students will be divided into five groups. Each group
will be given a line of the pledge of allegiance to examine.
The students will look up underlined words in a dictionary to
find out what they really mean. (pledge, allegiance, republic,
indivisible, liberty, justice, etc.) Each group will report their
results to the class. Together, the class will summarize what
the pledge means and why we say it.
Web Sites
2. The History of Our Flag
After the class has studied the American flag, students will
each be given an important time in the flag’s history. As a
class, the students will decide how to piece the information
together in the order that they happened. Once everyone
agrees on the correct order, the information will be placed on
the timeline that will remain in the classroom.
Web Sites
3. Symbols
The students will learn about the various symbols the flag
has, and what they represent. By searching the internet, they
will find another important symbol for America. They will
share their results with the class.
Web Sites
4. Flag Acronym
The students will write an acronym for the word FLAG
based on what the flag means to them.
F lying
L ovely
A merica
G reat
Web Sites
5. A Collage of Flags
Each student will be given a variety of materials to use as
they each create a flag that represents themselves. They can
include pictures, words, or any symbols they believe in.
The flag is an important symbol
for the United States of America.
• What is a symbol?
• Can you think of
any other kinds of
symbols?
• Do you know of any
other American
symbols?
Other American Symbols
Where did our flag come from?
• Most people think
that Betsy Ross
sewed the first
American flag in
1776, the year
America was born.
The flag has changed many times
throughout history.
• The country
used to only
have 13 states.
The first flag
had 13 stars and
13 stripes, for
each of the 13
states.
• Some people made
different versions
of the American
flag.
When new states were added to
our country, the flag would
change.
• This flag has 15
stars and 15
stripes.
Stars and Stripes
• The government
decided to make 13
stripes because
there were
thirteen original
states.
• A star would be
added for each new
state that joined
our country.
The flag continued to change as
new states were added.
Our Flag Today
• Today our flag has
50 stars, 1 for
each state.
• It has 13 stripes
for the 13 original
states.
The Pledge of Allegiance
• We show pride for
our country every
time we say the
pledge of
allegiance.
• How else do we
show pride for our
country?
Flag Day
• June 14th is
National Flag Day.
• Many people display
their flags all year
long to show the
pride they have in
their country.
Displaying the Flag
Other Web Sites Used in this Presentation
http://home.gci.net/~alaskajoe/flag_staff.jpg
http://www.flagday.org/pictures/Pictures6.html
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/july4/clip.html