National Symbols

When planning for upcoming topics and units in Social Studies are you thinking about a PBL unit?  Second graders are asked to identify acts of patriotism and symbols of the United States.  Students can be asked to research one of the symbols to learn about the importance of one of the US symbols to share with families at our school that are new to the United States.  The essential question could be Why are these symbols important to Americans? 

Here are some sites to help with research and projects to present their findings to a new family.

1.                      Ben’s Guide to Us Government for Kids:  This is a great site that is provided by the Government Printing Office.  It is divided into age groups for sharing age appropriate resources.  Their goal is to teach how government works, about American symbols, and ways to carry out civic responsibility.  There are great resources in the K-2 section on the American Symbols.  This is a great place to start the research for the national Symbol PBL unit. 

2.                      Brain Pop Jr. and Brain Pop:  Both of these sites and apps have a lot of great videos that introduce many topics.  Brain Pop Jr. has a free video on US Symbols.  Brain Pop Educators section you can find background information and activities for US Symbols. You will also find a matching game for US Symbols on the website.

3.                      Sekai Camera:  With a little Prep work students can go on a virtual scavenger hunt in your school.  You can place digital “post-its” in the air.  Place a picture of each symbol virtually around your school.  Have students find the symbols using the ipad camera.  Have students comment to name the symbol or a reason it is important.  This would be a fun quick check of student learning.

4.                      Find More:  Pinterest, Discovery Education and Teachers Pay Teachers are great resources to find more ideas to implement this unit in your classroom.  During my quick search I found book ideas, writing prompts, craftivities, and videos.  Students could write about being green like the Statue of Liberty or watch a video on Discovery Education.

5.                      Aurasma:  Here’s the project using Augmented Reality.  Have students draw a picture of the symbol they researched.  Students will then record themselves answering the essential question and telling why their symbol is important to Americans.  Put the two together and create an Aura.  Use the pictures as a display and post instructions on how to view the Aura.  Erin Klein has lead many face-to-face and virtual workshops on Aurasma.  She has a free step-by-stepdirections PDF on Teachers pay Teachers.

 I can’t wait to teach this unit in my class in November. What PBL units are you looking forward to teaching?

Have a great weekend!