American Symbols
The purpose of this page is to provide resources for kindergarten teachers and students about the American Symbols.
1. The Statue of Liberty: The meaning and use of a National Symbol
http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=313
This website would be useful for the teacher to receive good knowledge about the statue of liberty to be able to offer to the students. There are not many pictures, it is more textual information. The bottom of the website offers lessons plans for teachers and also suggested activities.
2. Symbols of American Pride
http://www.bcpl.net/~sullivan/modules/citizen/
This website is a useful tool for teachers looking for activities to do with their classes on the topics of the American Symbols. The site is set up to explain the situation of a parade that your class will be involved in, and each group or individual student, must create a hate to represent one of the following American Symbols that the teacher provides for them on a list. Each student will then have the opportunity to explain to their classmates about why they chose the symbol they did, and offer factual information about it to the class.
3. White House Facts
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/facts.html
This website is a great source for teachers looking for not only basic information about the White House to share with their students, but also very interesting facts about the White House as well. It shares information such as, the number of rooms, the number of fire places, and also about the kitchen staff. This website also offers information and facts about how many cans of paint it took to cover the White House and many different first time occurrences of our past presidents.
4. The Pledge of Allegiance
http://www.homeofheroes.com/hallofheroes/1st_floor/flag/1bfc_pledge.html
This website is really cool, because it lists the whole process of what became the pledge of allegiance. Students may only think what it currently is, is how it was always recited, and this website reveals the changes that have been made to it over time. It also has a section on this page that in great detail explains what each phrase of the pledge of allegiance means. If the teacher was well educated about this topic, they could pass on this information to their students and better help them understand what exactly it is that they are reciting.
5. States and Capitals
This website is fairly basic, but allows teachers to pick the states they want to teach their students about. Once they have selected that, they will be directed to the state of their choice where they will learn all kinds of different facts about that state, including information about that state’s particular flag. Pictures of the state flags are provided as well.
1. Kidport Kindergarten Social Studies: Symbols of America
http://www.kidport.com/gradeK/SocialStudies/AmericanSymbols.htm
This website is very easy to maneuver for students. Not only does it list the American Symbols, it also displays a picture of them. It allows students to test their knowledge of the symbols. If they guess wrong, the website will immediately correct them. I know this website is current because the date at the bottom is up to 2006.
2. Symbols of the USA
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/symbols/
This website is very user friends and has pictures of the symbols that can be clicked on and it will pull up very useful information on the topic selected. It offers print out of the symbols that the students can print off. Those print offs can be used a number of ways, one of those being coloring. The website is copyrighted through 2007.
3. A to Z Kids Stuff: Symbols of the USA
http://www.atozkidsstuff.com/symbols.html
This website offers information on several symbols of the USA. The links are easy for students to find depending on the specific symbol they are looking for. One unique feature of this site is that it offers the lyrics to the songs that students learn about our country such as America the Beautiful and The Star – Spangled Banner. This website also gives activity options for the students to engage themselves in to learn more about the symbols.
4. White House Kids Homepage
http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/
This website is designed to explain the functions and procedures of the White House in a way that kids can relate too. It offers interesting information about the White House and events that take place there that kids would find cool, like the tee-ball games that take place on the south lawns during the summers. This website even lets you know about the pets that the president owns. There are quizzes you can take, and you can also see photos and videos about the White House. This site also has an online video tour for students to view in the inside of the White House right from their computer.
5. Washington, D.C. Memorials and Landmarks
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0772993.html
This website offers many links for the students to go off and “explore”, however it also offers basic factual information about several symbols of American History. Some of those include: the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. The page was last updated in 2006, and the website offers a way to contact them if questions arrive.