Teacher: Kristen Drabek

Previous Lesson: 4
th
Grade Geography of Oregon Trail

Certification: Early Childhood/Elementary Education

Subject: Civics and Government

Grade Level: 2
nd


Lesson: What is the Pledge of Allegiance and Why is it Important?

Time needed: 1 hour periods, 2 days

Standards: 2-C2.0.2: Describe how the Pledge of Allegiance reflects the core
democratic values of patriotism.

Objectives: Students will be able to
Illustrate what they look like when saying the Pledge of Allegiance and why
Write the meaning, symbolism, and why we say the Pledge of Allegiance
Understand how the Pledge of Allegiance reflects the core democratic values
of patriotism- decoding the meaning and symbolism of the words
Make the connection not only between patriotism and the Pledge of
Allegiance, but also between Patriotism and the Star Spangled Banner
o Identify the reasons why we sing the songs with the rhythm, pitch,
lyrics, and feeling that we hear, do and feel

Materials:
I Pledge Allegiance By Nancy Harris
White board
The Pledge of Allegiance words handout
The Pledge of Allegiance picture handout and booklet
Crayons/markers/colored pencils
Assessment worksheet
The Star Spangled Banner By Francis Scott Key
By the Dawns Early light By Steven Kroll
The Star Spangled Banner lyrics handout

Prior Knowledge Needed: Have a basic knowledge of the values and principles of
the American constitutional democracy by understanding what core democratic
values have to do with government and how local governments balance individual
rights with the common good to solve local community problems. Review the
meaning of the terms individual rights and common good learned from previous
lesson (finding examples from the story Old Henry that illustrated individual rights
conflicting with the common good)



Summary/Focus: Students will learn the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance and
how it reflects the core democratic values of patriotism by breaking down the words
of the Pledge of Allegiance and making connections using other resources (patriotic
songs).

Key Vocabulary: patriotism, pledge, allegiance, republic, nation, indivisible, liberty,
justice, dawn, proudly, hailed, twilight, gleaming, perilous, ramparts, gallantly,
streaming, glare, proof, O Say, star-spangled, banner, yet, free, brave, symbol

Introduction: Have The Star Spangled Banner playing as you welcome students to
join you and sit on the carpet at the front of the classroom. Have the word
Patriotism written on the white board as the start of the class word wall and to get
the students thinking. Once the song has finished, ask the class What do you think
patriotism means? Give students time to formulate and express their thoughts, then
as a class develop the conclusion that it means to show respect and love for our
country. Record this definition on the board. Ask if anyone knows one way that we
show our patriotism every morning, searching for the answer saying the Pledge of
Allegiance! Instruct students to stand up like they are about to recite the Pledge of
Allegiance. Have the class sit down and call on students to answer the question,
What does your body look like when youre reciting the Pledge of Allegiance?
Students will offer answers such as standing up straight, facing the classroom flag,
placing your right hand over your heart, etc. Play The Star Spangled Banner once
again while you have students return to their seats.

Activity-Pledge of Allegiance:
Pose the question, Why do you think we say the Pledge of Allegiance?
Instruct students to pair up with the person sitting next to them and share
their idea.
As a class, talk about what symbolism is. A symbol is a word or words that
represent or stand for to mean something else. The Pledge of Allegiance
symbolizes patriotism and is filled with words that have meaning.
Hand out the words of the Pledge of Allegiance. Looking at the left column of
the handout, review each line as a class and discuss the meaning, or
symbolism, behind each phrase. Write the meaning/symbolism discussed as
a class on the word wall and have the students record the
meaning/symbolism in the right column of their handout.
Read the first line aloud, I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States
of America, and discuss that the word pledge means to promise and
allegiance means to be true to something. The flag symbolizes our
country and the United States of America stands for each state that has
joined together to make up our country. The first line of the Pledge of
Allegiance means I promise to be true to the symbol of our country that is
made up of states that have joined together.
Read aloud, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God,
and breakdown the meaning of the words to this phrase. A republic is a
country where the people decide they want someone else to make their laws
for them (ex: government). A nation means a country, and the use of God in
the Pledge of Allegiance symbolizes a higher being that the people believe in.
The second phrase means, for the single country that chooses government
to make their laws under that power of a higher being.
Read the last line aloud, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all. When
talking about our single country under the power of a higher being (one
nation under God), the word indivisible means that the country cannot be
split or broken into parts (it will remain one single country/nation). The
term Liberty stands for freedom, and the term Justice stands for fairness.
The last two words, for all, refer to each person in the USA, including you
and me! The last phrase of the Pledge of Allegiance means the country
cannot be split into parts, and there is freedom and fairness for each person
in the country.
Conclude that the message of the Pledge of Allegiance is that when we recite
it, we are promising to be true to the United States of America.
Pass out the picture and booklet handouts.
Discuss how the booklets include the words to the Pledge of Allegiance on
the pages with space to paste the pictures that symbolize those words. Talk
about how and why the pictures illustrate what the words mean and help
students correctly place them in their booklets.
Instruct the class to color the pictures and add their revised meaning of the
words to their booklet.
After the class completes their booklets, have students stand and practice
reciting the original version of the Pledge and the classs revised version.
As an exit ticket for the day, each student must write one sentence on the
back of their booklets stating their opinion of why we say the Pledge of
Allegiance and turn it in.

Activity- The Star Spangled Banner:
Review what we learned about patriotism and symbolism from the previous
day with a class discussion.
Explain to the class that we can also express our patriotism by singing songs.
Pass out the lyrics handout of The Star Spangled Banner. Have the class
follow along in their heads while you play the song aloud.
Read aloud the story, By the Dawns Early Light to teach the history and
meaning of the song.
Add the new vocabulary words learned from the song to the word wall.
Have students pair up with the person sitting next to them and share 2
different times that they can remember hearing the Star Spangled Banner
(ex: baseball game), and talk about how they felt when they heard the song.
Now when you play the song, have the students sing along.
Ask what the students hear and notice when the song is played and sung.
o There are loud and soft parts and they add meaning and emotion to go
along with what the words mean at those points of differentiated
dynamics
The loud/bold parts of the song symbolize the strength and
powerfulness that the meanings of the words are trying to
portray. The soft sections represent vulnerability and
peacefulness
o The rhythm also adds to the meaning of the words
The rhythm is arranged specifically to convey pride. The song
is not sung in the minor. If it were sung in minor, the feeling
would be more negative or somber.
o The pitch rises and falls at certain parts of the song
Adding to the meaning because the high pitched sections are so
powerful and important
o The overall sound and feeling of the song is proud, bold, and serious
because that is the message the song is portraying.
The composer incorporates a great amount of texture in the
piece. The use of different pitches, dynamics, and instruments
or ways to create different sound(timbre) show meaning and
feelings of pride and importance.
o The song has a lot of symbolism- the words sung mean something, just
like the Pledge of Allegiance
Exit ticket- How are the Pledge of Allegiance and The Star Spangled Banner
song similar?

Monitoring/Modeling: Model the meaning of the vocabulary terms on the board
for the students to copy and refer to. Review Pledge and song in depth with the
class. When students are working independently, be available if needed. Walk
about room to verify that students are all on the right track.

Assessment:
Exit ticket from day one- Pledge of allegiance booklet with one-sentence
meaning written on the back
o Pictures correctly placed in booklet. Creativity and effort evident.
Meaning of why we say the Pledge of Allegiance included on the back
reflecting knowledge learned during class (uses vocabulary learned,
proper sentence structure)
Day two Exit ticket
Participation during all discussions and activities

Cognitive Demand of Lesson Sequence:

How are the Pledge of Allegiance and The Star Spangled Banner song similar?
They both are about patriotism and symbolize our love and loyalty for the USA
(Analysis & Comprehension- Explain meaning and compare the two)
Can you create a booklet using the words of the Pledge of Allegiance, the
meaning of the words, and pictures that illustrate that meaning? (Synthesis-
combining learned information creatively)
How do you feel about the Star Spangled Banner when you hear and sing it?
(Evaluation- making personal judgment about the song- evaluate, decide)
Can you demonstrate the proper way your body should look while reciting
the Pledge of Allegiance? (Application- Stand up straight, right hand on heart,
facing flag, etc.)

Closure: Remind students that we can relate to the Pledge because we recite it
every morning and we live in the USA! We hear the Star Spangled Banner and now
can actually understand what the words of the song mean and represent. We can
now practice patriotism and teach our newly gained knowledge to our friends and
families.




Categories


Outstanding
effort (4pts)

Good Effort
(3pts)

Adequate Effort
(2pts)

Minimal Effort
(1pt)

Team work and
Cooperation


Always
working
together with
group and
making the best
effort with time
presenting.
Working well
as a group but
sometimes
would become
distracted while
researching.
Worked well
with group but
did not use your
time as well as
you should
have when
given to
practice
presenting.
Did not
working well as
a group, and
did not use time
well.

Organization


Very organized
when talking
about the right
and
responsibilities,
went above and
beyond.
Talks very
much about the
right and
responsibility,
knows all that
was asked
nothing more.
Could have
been more
organized when
speaking upon
group with
more
information.
Knew very
little about the
right and was
not organized
much at all.

Content


Explained all
questions asked
clearly.
Explained all,
but did not all
agree
Explained some
of the right only
knew 1-2 things
about what you
learned about
them.
Barely knew
anything about
the right and
could only
mention one
thing they
learned from
the research.


Presentation


You have gone
above and
beyond
explaining their
right and
reasonings.
Concluded
majority of
their rights and
responsibilities.
Knew only a
few things
about their
right.
Did bare
minimum only.