The Pledge of Allegiance

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but you all really do make my day!!   This is my second year to watch the buses go by my house, instead of waiting for them to arrive and deliver my Kindergartners to me.  I have plenty to do, and I’m thankful for time with my family and friends, but I will probably always miss Kindergarten.  I really appreciate teachers who read my blog, and especially when you leave a comment.  It means so much to hear form you!!   A couple of days ago Cindy asked if I had any activities or ideas to share about the Pledge of Allegiance or the American flag.  I’m so happy to share!!

pledge 1

I hope that reciting the pledge is part of your classroom routine. I loved doing the pledge, but I wanted it to mean something to the children.   The beginning of the year is very busy, and depending on your group – sometimes it is really a matter of survival for those first few weeks!   The first thing I emphasized to my children was to put their right hand on their heart.  I mentioned this in another post, but I found it really helpful to cut out a left and right handprint.  I put a flag sticker on the right hand, then I taped both handprints on the wall by our flag.  Now when the children looked up at the flag they could hold up both hands and figure out that the one that matched the handprint with the flag was the one they would put over their heart.

I found this book about the flag in my files.

Printable copy:

american_flag_book

I often took the flag out of the holder and brought it to circle time so we could study it.  I liked to ask the children what they noticed about it, and encourage them to use some math skills.  I had this handout in my collection, but I only used it to remind me to talk about patterns, counting, and shapes with the flag.  Sometimes we made our own chart telling what we noticed about the flag.

Sometimes we colored individual flags and I taped them to pencils for a flag pole.

flag

This book has great information, I didn’t always read it word for word because it is a little long.

I used to have a reproducible small book retelling the Pledge of Allegiance, but I guess I didn’t save a copy.  I think it was from Frank Schaffer but I didn’t find it in my search.  There is a nice little booklet on this website:  www.hubbardscupboard.org, under the social studies section.

Since I couldn’t find my little book, I made another.  I enlarged a copy on the copy machine and read it to the whole group, taking time to talk about what the words really mean.

Meaning of words

You could copy the clipart and put the words into a pocket chart too.

This is a half page book to be stapled on the left side.  You could put 2 of each page on one page, then after copying and collating you would just have to staple the books.  Or you might not choose to send it home, but just to read it to your class to help them understand those mysterious strange words.

Pledge book

Here is another chart I found to help explain the meaning of the pledge to children.

pledge chart

So Cindy, I hope this gives you a few ideas that you could use.  Please everyone, feel free to ask – if I don’t have an idea or activity, someone else might!