July 4, 2008
|
|
Stars and Stripes: The Story of the American Flag
by Sarah L. Thomson
Fireworks, Picnics, and Flags
by James Cross Giblin
|
There are many symbols that represent the United States of America. Some of the most popular are the US flag, the bald eagle, the Washington Monument, the White House, the Liberty Bell, Mount Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, and Uncle Sam.
THE LIBERTY BELL
The Liberty Bell is a huge bronze bell that symbolizes freedom in the United States of America. This historic bell is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The bell was originally cast in 1752 in London, England.
MT. RUSHMORE
Mt. Rushmore National Memorial is a huge mountain sculpture of four U.S. Presidents located near Keystone, in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The Presidents depicted are: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. These four Presidents were chosen to represent the founding, growth and preservation of the United States. Construction began in August of 1927 with about 400 stone workers!
STATUE OF LIBERTY
The Statue of Liberty is a huge sculpture that is located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. This monument was a gift to the USA from the people of France in recognition of the French-American alliance during the American Revolution.
The hollow copper statue was built in France - it was finished in July, 1884. It was brought to the USA in 350 pieces and was re-assembled. There are 354 steps inside the statue and its pedestal. There are 25 viewing windows in the crown.
The seven rays of Liberty's crown symbolize the seven seas and seven continents of the world. Liberty holds a tablet in her left hand that reads "July 4, 1776" (in Roman numerals), Independence Day of the United States of America.
THE WHITE HOUSE
The White House is the official residence of the President of the United States of America, and has been for over 200 years. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., the capital city of the USA.
The White House was originally built from 1792 to 1800. It was burned down by British soldiers during the War of 1812, but was rebuilt from 1815 to 1817.
The first US President to live in the White House was John Adams, the second President of the USA. Adams and his family moved to the White House in 1800.
Making a 5-pointed Star
Create a five-pointed star like Betsy Ross did for the first flag of the United States of America by folding a piece of paper a few times and making one cut.
What You Need:
What You Do:
- Fold an 8 ½ by 10 inch piece of paper in half (cut off the lower inch of a piece of standard typing paper if necessary).
- Fold down the top right corner to the vertical mid-point of the folded paper.
- Fold the top left corner down the newly-created seam.
- Fold again from right to left, forming a triangle.
- Cut the paper along a line from a place near one edge to a place about halfway to the "point".
- Unfold the paper and you have a 5-pointed star!
Write about Independence Day
Write a sentence using each of the following words.
- July
- Fourth
- America
- Fireworks
- Independence
- Freedom
- Soldiers
- People
- Flag
- History
July 11, 2008
|
|
Delivering Your Mail
by Ann Owen
The Post Office Book
by Gail Gibbons
|
What You Need:
- art supplies
- craft materials
- envelopes
- glue
- name tags
- photo or drawing of each child
- shoeboxes
- tape
What You Do:
- Decorate: Have each child decorate the inside of a shoebox. Help children make name tags, and glue them to the edges of their boxes. (They can include photographs or drawings of themselves, too.)
- Send mail: Set aside times for everyone to make cards, postcards, or drawings for each other. Children can also create small gifts with craft materials. Package these treats in envelopes for delivery to homemade mailboxes. (Be sure everyone gets mail!)
- Take It Further: Take a tour of your local post office. Talk about what you see, asking questions like: Where do we put letters to be mailed? Where can we buy stamps?
July 18, 2008
|
|
The Berenstain Bears'
Dollars and Sense
by Stan Berenstain
|
This activity is geared to helping children gain experience in counting, exchanging, and comparing money. Without even knowing it, children participate in an economics activity as they shop in the homemade puppet supply store where they are given one dollar to buyitems to make a paper bag puppet.
What You Need:
- Tag board
- Paper
- Coins (pennies, nickels, dimes, quarter)
- Die (faces marked with 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , and 10 )
- Calculator
- Paper lunch bag
- Items to decorate puppets (feathers, buttons, beads, ribbon, yarn, markers, crayons, tape, staples, glue, etc.)
Comparing Coins
What You Do:
- Money Chart — Divide a 9" x 16" piece of tag board into 4 columns. Label the columns: Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, Quarters. You may use a picture of the coins rather than words.
- Show the children a drawer or bank full of coins. Choose an amount of money and challenge children to find various coin combinations that represent that value.
- Put a nickel and dime in your pocket. Then tell the children that you have fifteen cents in your pocket, but do not disclose the coin combination. Challenge them to determine all of the possible combinations of coins that equal fifteen cents.
- Show the children a chart divided into two columns labeled Group A and Group B.
- Under Group A, place a picture of a quarter, nickel, and penny and under Group B, place pictures of a quarter, nickel, and three pennies.
- Ask the children to determine which group has more money. Challenge the children to find a way of moving one coin so that both sides have an equal value.
- Continue the same procedure using progressively more difficult examples.
Puppet Making
- Give each student a paper lunch bag and tell them that they are going to make a puppet out of the bag.
- Show them a store that you created with different items they can purchase to make their puppets. Some possible items could include feathers, buttons, yarn, and stickers. Crayons, staples, pens, scissors, and tape will be given free of charge.
- Distribute a copy of Activity Sheet: "Puppet Planning" from www.pbs.org to each student. The Activity Sheet shows all of the items from which they can choose as well as the price of each item.
- Tell children that they have exactly one dollar to spend.
- On the Activity Sheet, children plan and record the items that they wish to purchase. There is also a place for children to record the amount of money that they did not spend. Children may use a calculator to do this task.
- After children visit the puppet supply store, they may construct their puppets and then work in groups to present a show or song.
July 25, 2008
|
|
Curious George Goes to the Beach
by Margret Rey
|
Bumble Bees
What You Need:
- Toilet paper tube
- Black and yellow construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Googly eyes
- Yellow pom pom
What You Do:
- Cut strips of black and yellow construction paper.
- Glue strips of paper onto the toilet paper tube. Alternate black and yellow colors.
- Glue yellow pom pom at end of the toilet paper tube.
- Use pipe cleaner to form antennas. Glue to head.
- Trace hands on yellow construction paper to form wings. Glue wings to toilet paper tube.
Fish in a Fish Bowl
What You Need:
- Construction paper
- Posterboard
- Sandwich size resealable bag
- Fish tank gravel or rocks
- Easter grass or real grass
- Stapler
- Glue
- Paper (different colors)
What You Do:
- Cut out two fish bowl shapes from construction paper and two from poster board.
- Staple a plastic bag around the edge of the cut out construction paper fish bowls on all sides except the top. Have the children put a handful of gravel, some Easter grass, and some fish that they drew and cut out inside the bag. Have them arrange the fish the way they want.
- Seal the bag and staple it to the paper. It should be stapled all the way around near the edge of the cut out.
- Now glue the poster board fish bowls on top of the construction paper fish bowls to cover up the staples.
Suggested Song
I’m bringing home my baby bumblebee
Won’t my mommy be so proud of me?
I’m bringing home my baby bumblebee
Ouch...it stung me
I’m squishing up my baby bumblebee
Won’t my mommy be so proud of me?
I’m squishing up my baby bumblebee
Ewe...look at my hands
I’m wiping off my baby bumblebee
Won’t my mommy be so proud of me?
I’m wiping off my baby bumblebee
My hands are all clean
But ewe...look at my pants
I’m washing off my baby bumblebee
Won’t my mommy be so proud of me?
I’m washing off my baby bumblebee
My hands are all clean
My pants are all clean
Guess I just go home and kiss my Mommy!
|
