The United States Flag a Symbol of our Country

Kelly Hoffman Brimley Elementary School

Brimley Area Schools

The United States Flag

a Symbol of our Country Lesson Overview: In this activity, students will learn what a “symbol” is and about an important national

symbol: the American flag. Students will compare and contrast images of American

flags from the post-Revolutionary War era to the present flag and compare details

(i.e., the stars and stripes). This activity may be extended to learn “You’re a Grand Old

Flag” or the “Star- Spangled Banner” as our national anthem and/or other national

symbols.

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

• Identify the American flag as a national symbol

• Analyze details of this symbol

• Compare four different versions of the American flag to understand why this

symbol has changed over time

Standards: K - C2.0.1: Identify our country’s flag as an important symbol of the United States. 1 - C2.0.2: Identify important symbols of the United States of America (e.g., Statue of Liberty, Uncle Sam, White House, Bald Eagle)

Time Required:

1-2 class periods

Recommended Grade Level(s):

K-1

Topic(s):

Citizenship

Era:

Colonial America to present.



Preparation:

Materials:

• Current Classroom Map of United States

• Current classroom U.S. Flag

• Displayable symbols for locations/items familiar to your students. (ie. Golden

arches for McDonald’s, star/happy face ball for Walmart, bullseye for Target, etc.)

• The American Flag a Symbol of Our Country Worksheet (one for each student)

• The American Flag a Symbol of Our Country Analysis Worksheet (one for each

student)

• Whiteboard or Chalkboard

Images of:

• General map of British Colonies from the Library of Congress

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3710.ar071300

• The Star Spangled Banner from the Smithsonian

http://americanhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/images/3400_09.jpg

• The 36 Star American Flag from the Library of Congress

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pga.02834

• The 48 star American Flag from the Library of Congress

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.27444

• Birth of the American Flag

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hec.18419

• the Union Jack (British Flag)

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3g12162



Resources: Image Description Citation url

Birth of the

American Flag

" B i r t h o f t h e

A m e r i c a n F l a g . "

L i b a r y o f C o n g r e s s P r i n t s a n d P h o t o g r a p h s O n l i n e C a t a l o g . W e b . 2 8

J u n 2 0 1 1 .

< h t t p : / / h d l . l o c . g o v

/ l o c . p n p / h e c . 1 8 4 1 9

> .

http://hdl.loc.gov/lo

c.pnp/hec.18419

The Star Spangled

Banner

" T h e S t a r S p a n g l e d

B a n n e r . "

Sm i t h s o n i a n T h e S t a r

S p a n g l e d B a n n e r .

W e b . 2 8 J u n 2 0 1 1 .

< h t t p : / / am e r i c a n h i s t

o r y . s i . e d u / s t a r s p a n g l

e d b a n n e r / n a t i o n a l -t r e a s u r e . a s p x > .

http://americanhist

ory.si.edu/starspangl

edbanner/images/34

00_09.jpg

36 star American

Flag Library of Congress,

Prints & Photographs

Division [LC-DIG-

pga-02834 (digital

file from original

print)]


c.pnp/pga.02834

48 star American

Flag at Post Office

" A m e r i c a n F l a g a t

P o s t O f f i c e . "

L i b r a r y o f C o n g r e s s P r i n t s a n d P h o t o g r a p h s O n l i n e C a t a l o g .

W e b . 2 8 J u n 2 0 1 1 .

< h t t p : / / h d l . l o c . g o v

/ l o c . p n p / n p c c . 2 7 4 4

4 > .


c.pnp/npcc.27444

General map of the

British colonies

Library of Congress,

Geography and Map

Division.

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.

gmd/g3710.ar071300



Francis Scott Key’s

“Star Spangled

Banner”

Key, Francis Scott.

The Star Spangled

Banner. 1840,

manuscript. Historic Sheet Music 1800-1922. Performing

Arts Encyclopedia.

Library of Congress.

27 June 2008.

<http://lcweb2.loc.g

ov/diglib/ihas/loc.na

tlib.ihas.100000019/

default.html>.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/

diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ih

as.100010478/default.

html

Irish Rangers;

British Flag

"We Go Next !

Ir i sh Canad i an

Rangers . "

L ibrary of Congress Pr in ts and Photographs On l i ne Cata l og .

Web . 28 Jun

2011 .

< h ttp ://hd l . l oc .

gov/ l oc .pnp/cph .

3g12162> .


c.pnp/cph.3g12162

Procedure: Activities Step 1: Show students each familiar environmental symbol(s). Ask them what it

represents or stands for. Discuss the idea of what a “symbol” is. “A thing that represents or stands for something else, esp. a material object representing something abstract.” Step 2: Display the 4 versions of the U.S. flags. Ask students to tell what the 4 items

are. Ask what they are “symbols” of. (our country United States.) Expect questions as to

why they are different. Make a 4 circle Venn Diagram on the board to compare and

contrast the flags. Lead the students to find:

• All flags have stars.

• All flags have stripes



• All flags are red, white, blue.

• Count the stripes and place on the diagram appropriately.

• Count the stars and place on the diagram appropriately.

Lead students to ask the question why all have the same number of stripes but different

numbers of stars.

Step 3: Show the current map of the United States. Count the states on the current

map.

Show the map of the 13 colonies. Show a picture of the Union Jack (British Flag.)

Explain briefly how the United States became a country with the Pilgrims coming over on

the Mayflower and the King taxing them, so they became their own country and wanted

their own symbol.

Show image of The Birth of the American Flag.

Explain the characteristics of the U.S. flag.

• Stripes represent 13 original colonies that fought to become their own country.

• Stars represent the states that had achieved statehood at the time.

Step 4: Look at each flag starting with the Star Spangled Banner and ask how many states

there were when that flag was made. Continue for each successive flag. Emphasize our

current flag has 50 stars, but only 13 stripes.

Step 5: Do The American Flag a Symbol of Our Country worksheet

Extension Activities:

• List places you see flags.

• Write about how seeing the flag makes you feel.

• Interview an adult and ask how they feel about the flag/What the flag means to

them.

• Listen to/learn the Star Spangled Banner.

• Learn song You’re a Grand Old Flag.

• Read and Discuss The Pledge of Allegiance book

The P ledge of A l l eg i ance . 1st . 1 . New Yor k , NY : Scho l ast i c , 2000 .

Pr in t .

Evaluation: Use The American Flag a Symbol of Our Country Analysis Worksheet.



Sample Environmental Symbols





The American Flag a Symbol of Our Country

How many stars does

the flag have?

What does our flag look like? Color all of the parts the correct colors.

How many stripes does

the flag have?

What do the stars stand for?

What do the stripes stand for?

Name



What does our flag look like? Draw in all the parts you remember on this rectangle.

How many stars does

the flag have?

How many stripes does

the flag have?

What do the stars stand for?

What do the stripes stand for?

Name

The American Flag a Symbol of Our Country

Analysis

Documents

The United States Flag a Symbol of our Country