MAKE QUALITY EDUCATION

Each fall as school resumes, we immediately find ourselves having to teach about the Constitution in order to celebrate Constitution Day. The idea of celebrating a document is a bit difficult for lower elementary students.

So, how can we help younger children understand the impact of the Constitution and also celebrate the day?

I begin by talking about when the pilgrims came to America and why. We discuss becoming a country and having George Washington as our first president. These are concepts that they may have heard about before. Next I address the idea of starting school and how rules are important to keep the school flowing with ease. Then I suggest that a new country would have to have rules also, to keep the peace. With older students (grades 3 and up, I read "The U.S. Constitution" by Norman Pearl) which gives a very basic outline of the Constitution.

With the kindergarten through second graders, I begin by having the younger students recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Then I ask if there are any words in that Pledge that they don't understand? Maybe words like pledge, allegiance, justice, liberty, indivisible? I read "I Pledge Allegiance" by Bill Martin Jr. This book does a great job defining the pledge and I even skip some of the small print.

Finally, I show the children how to draw a flag using a drawing program on the computer. I use KidPix. We look at a flag to find out how many stripes they are and what colors are at the top and bottom of the flag. We use the rectangle tool to draw the red stripes (as the line tool isn't quite thick enough.) We add a blue rectangle in the upper left-hand corner. We stamp on 50 stars, or white dots.

In kindergarten, we type our name on the flag. In first grade we write "I am proud to be an American" and our name. In second grade we add one reason why we are proud to be an American. By third and fourth grades we have multiple reasons as to why we are proud to be an American.

After printing the flags in color, I staple each to a piece of red or blue construction paper and send them back to the classroom to become a bulletin board display for the month of September!

What a great way to start the year! Constitution Day doesn't have to be a painful experience to celebrate with youngsters. More painful is when I sing them the Schoolhouse Rock version of the Preamble! (Check that out too, if you need another lesson to celebrate Constitution Day!)

Play the song, sing together, and look at the flags your class has made!

Kathy Cothran is an elementary media specialist committed to helping teachers turn toys into learning tools. Her vast teaching experience ranges from preschool through Master's level education classes.

For years Kathy has been a "Gadget Girl." She loves technology! Tie that to her extensive teaching background and she has been able to interest, invigorate, and inspire children and teachers to use technology in a rich, exciting manner.

Find out more about Kathy at http://theoriginalgadgetgirl.com

Interested in other ways that toys can become learning tools? Visit http://turningtoysintotools.com

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