I Pledge...

Subject: Social Studies

Time: 1 hour 15 min

Grade Level: 2nd

Common Core Alignment:

ELA~ Reading Informational Texts

Standard 3: Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or
concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text
Standard 4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2
topic
Standard 6: Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer,
explain, or describe
ELA~ Writing
Standard 8: Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided
sources to answer a question
ELA~ Speaking and Listening
Standard 1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2
topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups
Standard 2: Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information
presented orally or through other media
Standard 6: Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to
provide requested detail or clarification
ELA~ Language
Standard 2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling when writing
Standard 6: Use words and phrases required through conversations, reading and being read
to, and responding to texts, including adjectives and adverbs to describe
Social Studies
Standard 2: Students will recognize and practice civic responsibility in yhe community,
state, and nation
Objective 1- Examine civic responsibility and demonstrate good citizenship
d- Identify state and national activities including the Pledge of Allegiance
Objective 3- Name school, neighborhood, Utah state, and national symbols, landmarks,
and documents
e- demonstrate respect for patriotic practices and customs (I.e Pledge of Allegiance
and flag etiquette)

Objectives:
SWBAT interpret the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance through a translation sentence strip activity,
done individually and as a whole class.
SWBAT identify and match American symbols, during a flag exercise, as a whole class.
SWBAT assist in the creation of our own classroom pledge, as a whole class activity.

Language Objectives:
ELP Standard 5: Language of Social Studies, Formative Framework Grades 1-2
Listening- Neighborhood/ Communities- Level 1- Match signs around neighborhoods with actions
based on oral commands and pictures, realia, or field trips
Speaking- Families- Level 2- Share personal stories about family life (with regards to attending another
country)
Reading- History- Level 4- Sequence illustrated sentences
Writing- History (artifacts of the past)- Level 1- Reproduce or label
Engagement Strategy:
Video Clip [In this clip students will watch the Pledge of Allegiance in American Sign Language. The
will try and predict what is is they are watching and then a video will be shown following the first clip,
that actually says the pledge aloud with the hand gestures included]
Pre Videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItOjIb3tNPM
Post Videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhYBGscNMYA
Debrief: How hard was it to figure out what was going on? Do any of you know sign language? I
suspect some of you might know certain words or how to spell your name, but its tricky when you
can't link all the signs together to make all the connections. That's why the Pledge of Allegiance can be
hard thing for people who might not have been born here or speak a different language at home. They
want to understand the meaning of what people are saying around them, but they can only rely on
certain phrases. Just like you could only rely on those few signs you knew.
Guided Questions Discussion:
How many of you have heard the Pledge of Allegiance before today?
Where did you hear it? Or where can you hear it?
Soccer games or football games (sporting events)
School
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts
City Council meetings
Official events
Lets jog our memory from last week
We looked at the word represent
We talked about how this (draw a star) represents a star right? And how this (house)
represents a house? We also talked about how sign language is a way of representing speech
So another word for these two pictures are called, symbols
a symbol- is an object that stands for something else (write this definition on the board)
What are symbols we often see?
Draw a stop sign on the board- What is this?
Its a stop sign!
What does it represent? What does it mean?

When you are driving you stop and wait until it's your turn
What are other symbols you see around the room or at home? (generate a list on the
board, when writing down the students suggestions draw a quick sketch to go along with
their ideas)
Post up other signs around the community and have students match their pictures (symbol)
with what they are telling you to do
You know what else is a symbol? A flag is a symbol!
There are lots of different flags! (print examples of different flags from around the world and
put them up on the whiteboard)
Do you recognize any flags up there?
Have students try and identify any countries they know right away
Then pull out the labels that have the countries names printed on them. For students who are
too afraid to speak, point to a flag and hold up two labels, ask them which one should go
with the flag. This way students do not have to speak but can still participate and identify
one of the flags. It also helps narrow the options.
Does anyone know someone from another country or have maybe been to another country
and want to share a personal experience?
What do you notice about these flags? Do any of them have something in common? (hint at
the colors and design)
Then point to our flag. This flag represents the United States of America, where we are right
now
we won't go into too much detail, but I just want to explain something about this flag
and why it looks the way it does!
Does anyone know why we decided to have stars and stripes on our flag?
In the United States we have broken up where we live into different parts (Hold up a
photo that shows the states) into areas we call states. Right now we live in the state of
Utah. How many states are there, does anyone know? So these 50 stars represents the 50
states
Before we had the 50 states though the country was split into 13 areas called colonies.
So these stripes represent how the United States used to be, and the stars represent how
it is now

READ: The Pledge of Allegiance

Now we are going to read a story so everyone gather to the carpet and stay focussed
(Do Not read all the pages skip over pages: 6, 7, 11)
Will discuss the under god phrase thats on pages 14 and 15
if you do not believe in god or feel uncomfortable you do not have to say this part of the
pledge
America honors personal freedoms and beliefs, that means that you do not have to say
anything that you do not want too
this is a safe space and students we respect EVERYONE in here
SmartBoard: Pledge of Allegiance
Go Back to your seats
Pass out the blank flag page (this is the flag with the Pledge of Allegiance broken up and written
on every other stripe. Students will be writing down the translation sentences on the stripes that
are in between)

look up here
So these are the words of the Pledge of Allegiance (motion to the smartboard)
Which words stand out to you, are there any you don't understand?
Who wants to come up and underline a word they don't know
pick on 3 or 4 people
when students underline the word say it out loud so students know how it is pronounced
Pull out the sentence strips
so we are going to do what the book did, these sentence strips are going to help us make sense
of the words that we do not know
The Pledge of Allegiance is already written on the board, each strip essentially explains one part
of the Pledge. So what students need to do is place it under the part of the pledge it represents.
Take each strip, discuss it, and then ask them if they know where it goes, allow a student to then
place it under the proper sentence on the board (make sure they know that this is not
ACTUALLY part of the pledge, it's just to help them make sense of the meaning behind it)
Then place a the picture or symbol up on the board that goes along with that phrase
Once we decide where this strip goes, write it down on your paper underneath the correct line,
remember to capitalize Pledge and Allegiance
Students who need additional accommodations will have the translations already written on
their worksheet and will use a colored marker to properly trace the words (students have been
working on movement, because they haven't been taught how to write their letters properly so
this is a great exercise). These students may also draw pictures next to the translations to help
them remember the meaning.

Classroom Pledge Activity:

Everyone come to the carpet we are going to do something pretty exciting

We are going to be creating our own class pledge!
DEBRIEF:
Lets look at last weeks vocabulary word responsibility
(write it on the board)
What does it mean to be responsible?
Means making good decisions and caring for others
you are in charge of something it is your duty
ex. Ian said last week that it is his responsibility to walk the dog
So he's doing something that he knows is important and that he should do
When we work together and become responsible for each other it creates a safe space
and we can have fun in the classroom
So this is what we are going to do, I want to hear your ideas! What do you think we should
pledge or promise to do for each other in the classroom?
(Compile a list on the board and then we will choose the ones we want )(we will eventually
vote on 7 of them)
We will start with we pledge to...
Examples:
be considerate of other peoples feelings
share learning materials and space
be a good listener while others are talking

Have a positive attitude

always stay on task
(TA pass out stars, students go back to your desk)
You are going to neatly write your name on your star, and color something on it that represents
you. Signing this means that you will try your hardest to accomplish these things during class
and hopefully outside of class. Keeping these things in mind can help us become better people
and be kinder towards one another. (Students who struggle to write their name can simply color
something that represents who they are)
(collect stars)
Tonight I am going to write these down on our flag and hang it over my desk so you can be
reminded of it every day!