Proud to be an American!

In the next two weeks we have to dates on the calendar that I absolutely love!  Our fine country observes Patriots Day on September 11 and Constitution Day on September 17.

I love to teach students about this activity, although, breaking it down isn't easy.  I've come up with a few ways that makes learning about Patriot Day and Constitution Day fun and gives them the gist of each day.


 For Patriot Day we'll talk about the Twin Towers.  (It's hard to believe that students in my class weren't even alive when this happened!)  I always share where I was at and how I felt.  We talk about how they experience changes due to the September 11 attack whenever they go to the airport.  Each student creates a heart flag.  Students color the heart flag and stick the Pledge of Allegiance to the back.  (I've also used it for our Veteran's Day Ceremony by printing it out on cardstock and gluing a popsicle stick to it to create a patriotic fan.) This year I'm thinking of using the heart flag to create a hanging garland by taping student flags to yarn and hanging them around your classroom.

 

I also have 3 patriotic border writing pages that allow me to tailor my activity to letter writing, poetry or reflective response.  My students will also enjoy coloring in the patriotic border.

My students have fun creating shutterfold books so I've come up with a few different ideas for students to create shutterfold books for Constitution Day.  First students can glue the preamble to the front of the shutterfold book and then glue in their timeline activity to the inside.

 

How do you teach your students about Patriot's Day and Constitution Day?  You can find these activities at my TpT site