The American Flag - 3rd Grade Social Studies

In this lesson students will have the opportunity to gain knowledge of the American Flag and the importance of the flag in the school and community. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to tell what the colors, stripes, and stars of the American flag mean, know laws and regulations about flags, and learn the proper way to fold the American Flag. In this social studies lesson, students will learn to appreciate the American Flag and what it stands for.

Grade Level: 3rd Grade Social Studies
The American Flag

Concepts:
Student's will gain knowledge about the American Flag and the importance of the flag in
the school and community.

Materials: Handouts of the song: "Colors and Symbols of the American Flag" An American
Flag

Objectives:
1. Student's will be able to tell what the colors, stripes, and stars of the American flag mean.
2. Student's will learn about the flags laws and regulations.
3. Student's will learn how to fold the American Flag.

Procedure:
1. We will start each lesson by saying the Pledge of Allegiance.
2. Ask student's what they know about the American Flag.
3. Discuss the meanings of the stripes, stars, and colors of the American Flag.
4. Sing the song: "America the Beautiful”
5. Together we will sing verse 1-2 together and then we will discuss what it means. After the
discussion we will sing verse 3 followed by a discussion and repeat this method until we are done with all the verses.
6. Next, we will learn about some laws and regulations about taking care of the flag and why they are important. These laws and regulations can be used when we raise and take down our flag at the school when the students arrive and when it is time for departure. Some of the laws and regulations we will be discussing are:
*The flag is normally put up during sunrise and taken down at sunset, sometimes though when there is a need for a patriot effect the flag can be displayed 24 hours a day.
*The flag should not be displayed when weather is bad, unless it is an all weather flag.
*The flag should never be flown with the stars facing to the ground unless the nation is under
distress.
*The flag should never touch anything beneath it, like the floor. The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always up and free.
*When the national anthem is sung and the flag is displayed all people except those in
uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with their right hand over their heart.
7. We will sing the song one more time and I will ask them if this song will help them remember what the colors and symbols of the flag represent.

Activity:
The activity I want my students to learn is to fold the American flag properly, I will demonstrate how to do this with a volunteer in the classroom and the students will all have a paper with the steps drawn out for them to look at if they have problems. The students will all have the chance to learn how to fold the American Flag after it is taken down for the day and to store it away until the next day, when it is time to put the flag backup.

Evaluation:
Removing the words of the song, I will ask the students to correctly tell me what the colors and symbols of the flag represent. The students will demonstrate to me the proper way of folding the American Flag following the correct regulations that they have learned.

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