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! 

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!

 

 

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

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!)

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!

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!

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!

Thank You Veterans Writing Paper

This one is free!

How do you celebrate Patriotic Days?

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.

 

 

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:

      

Here's one of my favorite Schoolhouse Rock Videos!

Here's a Constitution Trivia Boom Learning Activity:

US Constitution Fun Facts

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.

Patriotic Holidays!

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

USA Themed Writing Paper

What are your ideas for fun on Constitution Day?

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 title for an affiliate link to Amazon!)

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.)

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.

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!)

Don't forget patriotic music! 

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.

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!

Still looking for ideas to celebrate the USA?  Check out this blog post from Memorial Day last year: Memorial Day: A Day to Remember! 

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

Happy Presidents Day!

Wow, I just survived Day 100 and Valentine's Day on the same day. (We had a blast, but boy, am I run down!)

Monday is Presidents Day! I plan on spending most of next week celebrating our presidents as well as our country! 

If you've been following my blog, you know I have a strong sense of patriotism, and feel children should take pride in their country. I also LOVE teaching social studies and mapping skills.

Here's a fun resource that I made that includes 3 fact mini-books. One is on George Washington, another is on Abraham Lincoln. Plus, it's been updated to include President Joe Biden! It also has a mapping activity, finding places related to these presidents. Click the image for the resource.

President's Day Mini-Books and Mapping 

Here's another resource to review the difference between most of the patriotic holidays we have throughout the year: Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, and Veterans Day.  I don't know about you, but my little second-graders struggle to remember which one is which! 

Patriotic Holidays

Of course, you'll be needing brain breaks! Here's one more fun resource!

Patriotic Brain Breaks

 

Looking for some books to read?  Here are some fun ones! (These are Amazon affiliate links, which means you'll help me earn credit at Amazon, but at no cost to you!)

Who Was George Washington?

A Picture Book of George Washington

Who Was Abraham Lincoln?

Just in Time Abraham Lincoln

The Everything Kids' Presidents Book: Puzzles, Games, and Trivia - for Hours of Presidential Fun

Basher History: US Presidents: Oval Office All-Stars

So You Want to be President: The Revised and Updated Version

Have Fun with the Presidents: Activities, Projects, and Fascinating Facts

Here's a fun collection of Presidents Day Activities. It includes a compare and contrast activity comparing the 2 different presidents. There is also a game to practice syllables, a graphing activity, a mapping activity, and an opinion writing activity. Click the image or click here for the link!

 

Mapping, Comparing, Syllables, and Opinion Writing with a President Theme!

If you're looking for more, I do have a whole USA Bundle that includes the above items and several others here (at a HUGE discount, of course!

 USA Bundle.

 

Here are a couple of related blog posts that might interest you:

• Learning About the USA
• 5 Patriotic Options for Veterans Day or any Patriotic Holiday 
• Hooray for the USA 
• What Would You Do if You Were President?
  

If you have the day off, have a great one!  (Be sure to thank George, Abe, and the rest for the day off!)

A Couple of Dollar Deals for Veterans Day

Somehow Halloween is over, we have Veterans Day in less than a week! 

I've rounded up a couple of fun deals to share with you!

Here's a collection of paper for writing thank you letters to veterans!  After a lesson or two on what veterans are and how they help us, I find letter writing to be a nice way to culminate the activities.

Thank You Veterans!

 

I've noticed my little second graders often confuse the different patriotic holidays, so I made this resource to help them keep track of President's Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, and Veterans Day. It's really helped them keep track of which holiday is which!

Patriotic Holidays!

Hope your students end up with a good understanding of Veterans Day!