Title:
Veterans’ Day
Type
of teaching unit: Lesson Plan
Grade
Level (s): 3rd, 4th
Time
Frame: 3 days
TEACHER
INFORMATION:
Name: Kevin Van Ness
School:
Email
Address: lebnme1@yahoo.com
Lesson
plan description and rationale:
The
children will understand the importance of celebrating Veterans’ Day and understand
the reason we recognize veterans on Veterans’ Day. Understanding the importance
of Veterans’ Day helps children to become better citizens, become more patriotic,
and develop a beginning understanding of whom we are and what we
stand for in the
State
Standard(s):
16.B.1b
(US) Explain why individuals, groups, issues and events are
celebrated with local, state or national holidays or days of recognition (e.g.,
Lincoln's Birthday, Martin Luther King's Birthday, Pulaski Day, Fourth of
July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Veterans' Day, Thanksgiving).
The
children will be able to produce a web about our first amendment rights.
As the children analyze primary resource photos of veterans they will be able
to conclude that veterans protect our way of living and our beliefs.
1.
(1st day) To begin the lesson, we
will be watching a short movie about the Bill of Rights.
The movie comes from the website www.brainpop.com. The movie contains information that explains
why the Bill of Rights was written and what freedoms are guaranteed as a result
of the Bill of Rights.
2.
As a class, we will use kidspirations
to develop a web focusing on the freedoms the Bill of Rights guarantees.
We will limit our web to the first amendment which guarantees religious
freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom of assembly.
3.
(2nd day) On the second day, we
will be writing a narrative paper. Before they begin the writing, we will brainstorm
about who protects the rights given to us by the Bill of Rights.
Lead the children to understand that it is ultimately our armed services
that guarantee our rights will not be taken away by others.
Explain to the children that “veteran” is another name for the armed
services. View the photos of the veterans. As the children
view the photos remind them to think about who it is that protects our freedoms.
After the photos have been viewed by the children, the children will
write how the photos made them feel and what might have happened if our veterans
did not fight and die for us.
The
children will begin writing the narrative paper. The focus of the narrative paper will be to
write about a child who looses a freedom given to him/her by the Bill of Rights
because no one was there to make sure the right was “protected.”
4.
(3rd day)
On this day the children will write a letter to a Veteran thanking
a veteran for his/her services of protecting our freedoms and through prompting,
also write what might happen if a veteran was not there to protect our rights.
Review with the children what some of the rights are that they may want to
thank a Veteran for protecting.
Evaluation:
The
narrative paper and a copy of their letter to a veteran will be collected. In the narrative paper, the children should
have written about at least one of the freedoms we have and how a person’s
life would be without that freedom. Illinois writing rubric
veterans,
patriotism, war
Other
Resources:
BRAIN
POP
Keith, Toby. “American Soldier.” SHOCK’N Y’ALL. Stroud, James. and Keith, Toby. 2003.