Lesson Plan #4

Grade: 1stSocial Studies Strand: Civics

Submitted By: Patty Medeiros

EDEL 453: Teaching Elementary School Social ScienceNevada State College – Spring 2014Instructor: Karen Powell

Understanding Flag Symbolism

Lesson Plan #4 - Civics submitted by: Patty Medeiros

B. Summary of the Lesson Plan : This social studies lesson is designed for 1st grade students to understand the flag is a symbol of a nation’s people and its ideals. This lesson uses strategies from Integrating Language Arts and Social Studies (p. 171-178).

C. Basic Information: Grade Level: 1st grade Time to Complete this Lesson: approximately 50 minutes Groupings: Whole class discussions, partner groups for activity and assessment

D. Materials: American Flag (if one is not already displayed in the classroom)Nevada State FlagF is for Flag by Wendy Cheyette Lewison Books with state flags for student resourcesIndex cards with the name of a different state

printed on each, one per partner group (do not include Nevada) State flag symbols and meanings for the chosen states (can be

printed from www.enchantedlearning.com)Example of a completed page for the Class Book of United States

Flags (using Nevada) following the provided example:Heavy duty white construction paper (to be used for pages of a

book)Markers/ colored pencils

E. Objectives: o NV State Social Studies Standards

C13.1.5 Name a traditional U.S. patriotic activity, holiday, or symbol. C13.1.5A Develop an awareness of traditional U.S. and Nevada

patriotic activities, holidays, and symbols.o Student-Friendly Standards

C13.1.5 I can identify the flag of the United States of America. C13.1.5 I can identify the flag for the state of Nevada. C13.1.5A I can explain how a flag is a symbol of its nation.

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Lesson Plan #4 - Civics submitted by: Patty Medeiros

F. Vocabulary flag – a piece of cloth with a special design that is used as a symbol or for signaling. nation – an organized body of people under a single government. symbol – something that stands for something else.

G. Procedure: 1. Display the American Flag in front of the class and discuss why they think our

country has a flag and what they think it means. Have the students think about the designs on the flag; the stars and the stripes, and the different colors. Where are some places students have seen the American Flag being flown?

Introduce vocabulary (flag, nation, symbol).

2. Read aloud F is for Flag by Wendy Cheyette Lewison using think-aloud strategy. Discuss symbolism and unity. Ask students to describe other flags they may have seen. Where did

they see these flags? What were some of the symbols on these other flags? What do they think the symbols stood for?

Display and discuss the Nevada State Flag. Do students know what the flag is? Have they seen it anywhere else? What are the symbols they see on the Nevada flag? What do they think the symbols stand for?

o “Battle Born” in the upper left corner indicates Nevada became a state during the American Civil War; the sprays of sagebrush beneath “Nevada” are the state flower; the silver star represents the rich mineral wealth of Nevada.

Explain to students that along with the American Flag, each state also has a state flag to stand for their unity as a state. Explain that the state flags have different symbols that represent each state.

3. Group students in partner groups of 2. Assign each group a different state using the index cards previously

prepared.

Distribute the required materials to each group: one reference book, one large sheet of white construction paper, and markers or colored pencils.

Discuss the activity students will participate in:o Each partner group of students will be responsible for illustrating a

page for the Class Book of United States Flags. o The page will follow the same format as the displayed example for

the state of Nevada; the first letter of the state they are assigned will be written at the top of the page in large, neat letters, beneath it will be the whole name of the state in large, neat letters, and

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Lesson Plan #4 - Civics submitted by: Patty Medeiros

beneath the state name will be a colored illustration of the state’s flag.

o The partner groups will use the resource books to find the state and the flag they have been assigned.

o Once complete, each groups state flag will be bound together in alphabetical order in the Class Book of United States Flags to be used as a read-aloud or resource book.

H. Assessment: What will you use to measure student understanding?

On the back of the index card the students were given, the students will work with their partner to identify and write the symbols they found on their state flag, as well as what they infer the symbols mean.

Explain how you will know students understand the concepts from the lesson. The students will have correctly identified at least most of the symbols found on their state flag with reasonable meanings behind the identified symbols.

I. Closure: Give each partner group the printed copy of the symbols and meanings for their

state flag and have them compare it with the information they wrote on their index card.

Have students use the printed copies to write the correct symbols and meanings on the back of their state flag using their best penmanship.

At a later time, the students should share their state flag with the whole class and explain the symbols and their meanings.

J. Reflection: 1. Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach?

I think the easiest part of teaching this lesson will be activating student schema and background knowledge for a more concrete foundation of understanding. Most students should be at least somewhat familiar with the American Flag by the first grade, especially with the pledge of allegiance being recited daily.

2. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach? I think the most challenging part of teaching this lesson will be helping students understand symbols and how they are used to represent the different items or concepts on the flags. For this reason I am using the read aloud of F is for Flag to help activate student’s schema and help students make personal connections.

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Lesson Plan #4 - Civics submitted by: Patty Medeiros

3. How will you follow up or extend this lesson?Beyond reading the completed class book aloud, I would like to further extend the lesson by having students create a Family flag using symbols, colors, and words to represent their family. The students should include a written paragraph to explain their choice of symbols, colors, and words that were used on their flags.

4. What can you do for students who don’t grasp the concepts?While partner groups are working together on their projects, I can meet with students who are having difficulty with the concepts. I think symbolism may be the most confusing aspect of this lesson and to help students understand this concept a few pictures may be printed out prior to the lesson to help struggling students. Symbolism may become clearer to students using familiar images and concepts such as showing a picture of McDonald’s famous “golden arches.” Most students will identify the yellow “M” sign with that of the fast-food restaurant (an example of symbolism). Another example might include a picture of the boy that is shown on the front of the men’s restroom door and the girl that is shown on the front of the women’s restroom door. Students should be able to quickly identify these symbols.

5. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change?At this point I do not think any part of the lesson might need to change. It seems to be within the allotted time frame, aligns with the Nevada State Social Studies Standards, and appears to be an engaging lesson with an activity students should enjoy while they are learning.

6. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part?I struggled the most with trying to keep the steps simple while still giving enough information so that a teacher (or sub) would be able to pick up this lesson and start working with the students right away without confusion.

7. Explain the strategy from “Integrating Language Arts & Social Studies” that you included in this lesson plan.

The strategy I included from “Integrating Language Arts & Social Studies” was Understanding Global Symbols; Analysis of Flag Symbolism. In this strategy students are examining and studying flag symbols from flags of other countries and then creating a page for a class book on flags. Since my lesson is for 1st grade I changed it so that students are working with state flags instead.

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