Lesson Process:
Step 1: Students will read the story “By the Dawn’s Early Light” by Steven Kroll to learn about the history of the Star-Spangled Banner.
Step 2: Play a recording of the Star-Spangled Banner and have the students sing along if they know it.
Step 3: Look at the words to the Star-Spangled Banner and discuss each line as it relates back to the book they just read.
Step 4: Using pre-made sentence strips with the words to the song already on them, give each student a sentence strip and have them get themselves in order from the beginning of the song to the end.
Step 5: Then, have students cut up the sentence strips into pieces and try to put them back together again like a puzzle.
Step 6: Create a list of the qualities of America: freedom, passion, creativity, etc. Explain that America is like a puzzle too – each piece fits together to create a large picture. In art, this is called a mosaic. Show some examples of mosaics.
Step 7: Have students look through magazines to find images that represent the Qualities of America on their list. Cut out the images that work for each quality.
Step 8: Put the images together as if it was a puzzle of America.
Time Required:
30-45 minutes
Materials List:
- By the Dawn’s Early Light book
- Star-Spangled Banner recording/ CD player
- Sentence Strips
- Large paper scissors, glue, pencils
- computer, internet, screen and LCD projector
Assessment:
Flag Mosaic.
Students will cut their “puzzle of America” images into small pieces and place them into a flag mosaic. Create the template of an American flag on a large piece of paper. Have students cut their images into small pieces that they can then assemble into a new “American Flag” and when it’s finished, sing the StarSpangled Banner”
