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Celebrating July 4th

Objective

The students will write a description of a flag.

Directions

1. Decide whether the whole class will participate in writing a description, or if the students will do so individually.

2. Have the students study the flag they will be describing in their writing. This will be done by either having the entire class view the one flag they will be describing, or by handing out pictures of various flags to each individual student. What colors are in the flag? What symbols are used? Where are the colors and symbols placed in the flag? How would the students write a description of the flag for someone who cannot see it? If this project is being done as a whole class, record their descriptive sentences on chart paper.

3. If older students are doing this project individually, have them keep their flag picture a secret. Once their descriptions are written, display the flag pictures for all the students to view. Then each student may read their description while the rest of the class tries to match the description with the picture.

Extension Ideas

As an alternative to the above, combine a Language Arts Lesson with an Art Lesson. Have the students write a description of the flag they have created during the art lesson. They may want to include a description of the process of creating their flag and what any of the symbols mean.Have a lesson on symbols and what they mean. Discuss the different symbols used in the American Flag. Relate this to symbols used in written language. What do the different punctuation marks mean— . , ? ! ?

Read the Pledge of Allegiance. A great book to use for this activity is The Pledge of Allegiance by Francis Bellamy (Editor), Scholastic. Make a list of the unknown words and look up their definitions. If desired use “The Pledge of Allegiance” activity sheet (most appropriate for older students).

Resources

-The United States Flag or any other flag. (Pictures of flags may be used as well). If the class will be doing this project individually, have enough pictures of flags so there is one per student. If you do not have a color printer, print out the coloring pages of flags at the Coloring Book Of Flags Web site. Show the students the color picture of their flag and have them quickly fill in the colors before writing their descriptions.

-Free Flag worksheet
-paper
-writing utensils
-chart paper or blackboard (if done as a whole class)

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