The Pledge of Allegiance              

As I write to you tonight, the election results are beginning to pour in and still no one knows who will be president in such a close race. (Hopefully, by the time you read this, it will be more decisive.) I had a most interesting day working with a great group of teachers in Miami doing a very appropriate Civics lesson on the Pledge of Allegiance. Miami schools are closed on Election Day to allow for many of their buildings to be used as polling stations and when I pulled in this morning, I was awed to see long lines. It made me proud to be an American and to be part of such an amazing republic in which we are represented by our votes for those we place in office. I am also encouraged that no matter who becomes President that each side will stand back and recognize the beauty of our system. That's why I wanted to encourage you also, to take a look at the Pledge of Allegiance as an excellent lesson for anyone who has a homeroom and recites the pledge with our upcoming voting citizens.

    
   

One of my colleagues, Marie, developed a really great lesson on The Pledge of Allegiance that was amazingly appropriate for today. It was a combination of RTI and Differentiation using digital media and instructional strategies to engage the students. I really enjoyed being able to share it with the teachers as we dug into vocabulary, word study and multiple modes of hearing and viewing the pledge (including reciting it together.) I was excited to go online tonight and research a place where there may be a creative website for the Pledge. I came up lacking. I even went into the Library of Congress (I'll have to get Susie to help me with this) and didn't find anything that was engaging for the students. However, there are two amazing videos that I highly recommend you check out for yourself: Red Skelton from 1969 and Gabby Gifford from the DNC National Convention.

If you've ever had a homeroom class, you know one of the most teachable moments is to help students appreciate this great nation. In elementary school, reciting the pledge is a natural part of the beginning of the day. Even my little Pre-K grand daughter has that down. So what happens when they cross into middle and high school? Without the encouragement of a teacher who sees the Pledge of Allegiance as a symbol of America's liberties and freedoms, the students, if left on their own, will opt to just stand there (or less). My encouragement to you is to do a small study of the Pledge of Allegiance with your students. It's not just a social studies lesson, but a civic privilege. If we appeal to the reasoning power of our teenagers, they are more likely to pay more attention to the significance of the Pledge. If we turn a blind eye to their apathy, we risk a whole generation of citizens who have no sense of how important it is to be a free citizen. The Pledge of Allegiance is rich in vocabulary and deep meaning. Give your students the opportunity to get to know what a great land they live in.

How do you study the Pledge of Allegiance? Begin with the key terms. Have the students try to define them in their own words while working in pairs or groups. Give them the opportunity to see images that reflect the words. Find an audio recording or song about the Pledge and let them hear it from another perspective. Have them record their own voice saying the Pledge and check for understanding. Consider showing a video of someone's interpretation of the Pledge and then have them revisit their original definitions. Finally, have them rewrite the Pledge of Allegiance in their own words and have them record it in their own voice. I realize that is a large study, but it can be done in bite-sized pieces throughout the year, or adopted by the Social Studies department so that every student in the school has an opportunity to participate. It's a great day to be an American. The process works. Thanks Marie, for such a great lesson.

"We can have no '50-50' allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all."

Theodore Roosevelt  

This file is a work of a sailor or employee of the U.S. Navy, taken or made during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

ipadio   

LiveBinders 

Doceri 

NASA's Image Gallery 

Popplet 

Zoey's Room
Finance in the Classroom
Fotopedia 

The Common Good Forecaster  

Google Earth 

UJAM 

Symbaloo.edu 

Google Science Fair 

Stossel in the Classroom
Word Sift 

Lee Kolbert