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Showing posts with label patriotism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label patriotism. Show all posts

Show Your Patriotism!

I'm sitting here watching the annual 4th of July Boston Pops Concert and swelling with pride for my country. 


It seems these concerts just keep getting better and better! Back in the old days, we used to drive down to Boston, spend all day saving our spots on the Esplanade, then watch the concert live. The traffic and crowds never bothered us, it was always worth it! 

Happy Independence Day! This post has a patriotic brain breaks resource that can be used for any USA holiday!


Nowadays I sit in my living room and watch it on TV. It's not quite as exciting as watching it live, but it sure is more convenient!

In honor of the holiday, I've created some brain breaks with a patriotic theme.

Research tells us that moving aides learning by bringing oxygen to the brain! I do love to include anything the kids are learning as brain breaks. I usually manage to include seasonal or holiday brain breaks when I can. These Patriotic Brain Breaks can be used for any Patriotic holiday: Constitution Day, Veterans Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, or Independence Day!
 
Happy Independence Day! This post has a patriotic brain breaks resource that can be used for any USA holiday!
 

See the image or see here to download this fun resource: Patriotic Brain Breaks!


Happy Independence Day! This post has a patriotic brain breaks resource that can be used for any USA holiday!

5 Patriotic Options for Veterans Day or Any Patriotic Holiday

We spent a lot of time the last couple of days talking about what a veteran is, and why it's important to honor them. 

 
(I always like my kids to know WHY we get a day off!) True, they're due for a break (as well as the teachers! We survived a marathon day of teaching and parent teacher conferences this week, we deserve a day off to recover!)
Five Patriotic Options for Veterans Day (or any Patriotic Holiday): Books, videos, music, and other resources to help students learn about Veterans Day!

1.  First of all, there are books! I absolutely love to introduce concepts to the children through quality literature! I admit. The Wall gets me choked up every time I read it. As I read it yesterday, the children were totally silent. (My group is NEVER totally silent!) It affected them deeply.

    


     


2.  Next, I like to show some videos. I try to time it so we watch a video on Thursday during snack time, since Thursday is popcorn day in our school. It just seems appropriate! Here is a patriotic video that is great, and the kids really take to it!

 
3.  I play music frequently through the school day. I make sure I have music playing in the morning as the children arrive, but I also make sure they hear music at different times of the day. Sometimes it's soft background music, and sometimes it's lively, fun music. Both kinds of music have their place. Here are a couple that I love!

      

   
4.  I did this Veterans True or False activity with my students on Thursday, and it was awesome! Interestingly, our assistant principal came in while we were playing the game, and told the students he was a veteran. My students broke out into applause! (I was so proud!) Of course, most of my little boys went nuts when they found out he drove a tank! Click the image or click HERE for the link!

Five Patriotic Options for Veterans Day (or any Patriotic Holiday): Books, videos, music, and other resources to help students learn about Veterans Day!


Got active students? After the kiddos have read this text, they can have a blast moving around to answer the questions to Reading Comprehension for Active Learners: Freedom isn't Free!
Five Patriotic Options for Veterans Day (or any Patriotic Holiday): Books, videos, music, and other resources to help students learn about Veterans Day!


5.  Here's a freebie that I did with my students on Friday.  They wrote thank you letters to Veterans! Their notes were heartwarming and proud to me they really understood how lucky we are to be Americans, and have these wonderful people risking their lives for our freedom!


Five Patriotic Options for Veterans Day (or any Patriotic Holiday): Books, videos, music, and other resources to help students learn about Veterans Day!
This one is free!

How do you celebrate Patriotic Days?





















Five Patriotic Options for Veterans Day (or any Patriotic Holiday): Books, videos, music, and other resources to help students learn about Veterans Day!


Fun for Constitution Day

I love going all out for Constitution Day!


My students wear red, white, and blue, and the whole school recites the pledge together, outdoors at the flagpole.
 
Fun for Constitution Day - This post has suggestions, ideas, and 3 resources for Constitution Day and other USA Patriotic holidays.
 
We have 1700s USA flags for the kids to color, and copies of the school promise to sign with a quill pen. Sometimes even George Washington and Benjamin Franklin stop by the classrooms with a little skit about the signing of the Constitution.

Of course, I might read a book or two:

Fun for Constitution Day - This post has suggestions, ideas, and 3 resources for Constitution Day and other USA Patriotic holidays.      Fun for Constitution Day - This post has suggestions, ideas, and 3 resources for Constitution Day and other USA Patriotic holidays.

Here's one of my favorite Schoolhouse Rock Videos!

Here's a Constitution Trivia Boom Learning Activity:

Fun for Constitution Day - This post has suggestions, ideas, and 3 freebies for Constitution Day and other USA Patriotic holidays.


And, of course, I have a couple more Patriotic resources:

Here's an explanation of 6 USA holidays, and some suggestions on celebrating our country.

Fun for Constitution Day - This post has suggestions, ideas, and 3 resources for Constitution Day and other USA Patriotic holidays.

Patriotic Holidays!

Here's another fun resource: a variety of writing paper with a USA theme:

Fun for Constitution Day - This post has suggestions, ideas, and 3 resources for Constitution Day and other USA Patriotic holidays.

Fun for Constitution Day - This post has suggestions, ideas, and 3 resources for Constitution Day and other USA Patriotic holidays.

What are your ideas for fun on Constitution Day?

Fun for Constitution Day - This post has suggestions, ideas, and 3 resources for Constitution Day and other USA Patriotic holidays.

Hooray for the USA!

We have three patriotic holidays coming up! Yep, that's 3!  

We have Memorial Day at the end of May.



We have Flag Day on June 14th. We have Independence Day on July 4th.


I know there are some teachers out there who will be out of school by Memorial Day. My district gets out just a short week before Independence Day. 

But it's a great opportunity to teach our kids something about our country!


I find literature, the arts, and music are a great way for children to learn any subject, especially social studies!  Here are some of the books I use. (Click any image for an affiliate link to Amazon!)


Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!
Coming to America by Betsy Maestro is a great book to show how most Americans came from other countries.  (I often read this one around St. Patrick's Day, as this holiday celebrates Irish-Americans, and gets conversations started about our ancestry.)
Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!
How Many Days to America by Eve Bunting tells the story of people escaping a harsh life and coming to America for freedom.  It's done with Eve Bunting's child-friendly language, but also touches their hearts, as many of Eve Bunting's stories do.  Although it's subtitled "A Thanksgiving Story,"  it's very appropriate for any day you want to show the children the risks people take to live in America.  It's a great conversation starter to remind children (and ourselves) of the freedoms we have in our country, that people don't have in others.
Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!
Speaking of Eve Bunting, The Wall is one of my very favorite books for children. Although I do have trouble getting through this story without tears, it's a nice book to read around Memorial Day or Veterans Day, when we are thinking about those who fight for our freedom, and those that don't come home. (I think this one really gets to me because of the time period... I was "coming of age" during the Vietnam War. Yes, I went to demonstrations and everything, I'm THAT old!)

Here are some informational books that are helpful:


















Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!   Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!   Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!
  I always want to remind my students about how beautiful our country is.  Picture books are great to help with that concept!  Here are a couple to help:
Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!      Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!

Here are a couple more books that have loads of fun activities to share and celebrate our country!
     
Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!      Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!
No USA celebration is complete without patriotic music!
Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!
This CD has a huge collection of historical USA songs and patriotic songs.  Plus, it has the split track for opportunities for the kids to sing with accompaniment!  
Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!    
Here's another collection of classic patriotic songs!  This is nice to have if you want to play a patriotic song in the morning to follow the Pledge of Allegiance.  

Here's a nice You tube video to America the Beautiful.

Of course, after all that learning about America, the children will need to do some writing.  Check out this dollar deal! Click the image or click here: USA-Themed Writing Paper.

Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!

Here's a reading activity that can be used for Memorial Day, Veterans Day, or any patriotic holiday: Freedom Isn't Free - About the USA for Active Learners!

Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!



Still looking for ideas to celebrate the USA?  Check out this blog post from Memorial Day last year: Memorial Day: A Day to Remember
Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!

Want a resource with plenty of ideas for patriotic holidays? Try this bundle with several different resources! Learning About the USA!

Hooray for the USA! This post has ideas, book suggestions, videos, and resources to help you celebrate patriotic holidays in the classroom!



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