Do you know the flag's history?
"Have you ever wondered how America got its first flag? Some people believe that a woman named Betsy Ross made it." "Betsy Ross lived from 1752 to 1836 and she may have sewn the first American flag."
Imagine being a young woman working inside your husband's upholstery shop in the 1700's. It's a time of war, and your husband is off fighting while you tend to the business. One day, the General of the colonies' army comes in and requests your assistance in making a flag to represent freedom from England!
The Easy Reader's Biography book, Betsy Ross, The Story of Our Flag by Pamela Chanko is an excellent source for correlating the standard:
SSKH1:h The student will identify the purpose of national holidays and describe the people or events celebrated. h. Flag Day
and introducing young students to the American legend of how George Washington commissioned Betsy Ross to create a flag for the anticipation of the declaration our independence and the adoption of making it our official flag.
In this book, the life of Betsy Ross is told in a narrative format on a level that is easy for young students to understand. It depicts colorful illustrations that include historical facts on each page. Some interesting facts stated in this book include, "Betsy had 16 brothers and sisters. Her chores included helping with the sewing. She married John Ross and they owned an upholstery shop. This is where George Washington (not yet President) commissioned her to create the first American flag". The book illustrates a comparison of the 1776 and today's flag with facts about the number of stripes and stars used. The book also states that, "It was on June 14, 1777, the design of the first American flag was made official." Hence: The celebration of Flag Day.
In closing, we will leave you with our own "take away thoughts" and a short music video to integrate music into your lessons. Be sure to share your thoughts with us and how would you use this book inside the classroom?
Karen's thoughts:
The thing I liked the most about this book was the simplicity. It told a story of the life of Betsy Ross, while including historical facts in the colorful illustrations. I had thought it to be fact that Betsy Ross sewed the first flag before reading this book. I found it interesting to learn this is just a legend., and it really has not been proven to be a fact. Teachers could use a Venn diagram to compare the two flags. as well as teach about celebrating Flag Day. I think a great activity to use for the book is to have the students design their own interpretation of the American flag.
Whitney's thoughts:
I found this book to be interesting because I never realized the first flag was not the actual original design. I would read this book as part of a symbols lesson and add many objects like the flag, along with other American symbols to spark the interest of the children. It would be great to teach children the flag represents American and teach them its importance. It would be fun to allow the children to imagine they were designing their own country and flag. I would ask the children to explain the meaning behind their flags.
Integrate a little music into your lesson....
Young children love music! Check out this cute Flag Day song you could also incorporate into your lesson.
The american flag and the story behind it is always an important lesson. The book could be used to begin to talk about America and the many history lessons behind it. I like that the book has illustrations to keep the students engaged. I would love to use this book in my class.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post-I have never really known much about the flag history-Wow I learned something new today. A woman is responsibile for making the American Flag! How awesome is that for children to learn....Nikki Revell
ReplyDeleteI love how this book is about historical facts but it is also easy enough for young children to understand. This book would be a great book to read when you are learning about symbols. After reading the book you could take your class on a walk to the front of the school so they could look at the American flag that was flying. Then you could have your students go back to their seats and color you a picture of the American flag. Great book ladies!
ReplyDeleteI really could have used this book for teaching my kindergarten students about the American Flag as well! I really enjoyed learning about Betsy Ross as a child. I would love to use this book next time in my class.- mackenzy
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