As we get ready for an election year, a patriotic theme is a natural. It’s also a fun way to introduce American History lessons, and a cheerful theme at any time. Read on for ideas for ways to use patriotic songs in art and English lessons.
There are plenty of ready-made decoratives (more at the bottom of the page):
- Stars and Stripes Border
- Patriotic Stars Border
- Patriotic Bunting Scalloped Trimmer
- Carson Dellosa Patriotic Topper features American landmarks.
- North Star’s patriotic border has similar photos.
- Patriotic Symbols Bulletin Board Set coordinates perfectly.
- Red white and blue starburst adds a third dimension.
Slogans can range from “Hooray for America!” to “Showing Our True Colors.”
Bring out some patriotic books:
- We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States is inspiring and informative.
- A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution
- The United States of America: A State-by-State Guide is a great addition to regional studies.
- The Story of “the Star-Spangled Banner”
- Peter Spier’s The Star-Spangled Banner is a great favorite of ours. The illustrations really add depth of meaning to words that kids often don’t get.
- This Land Is Your Land is a beautifully illustrated picture book of Woody Guthrie’s quintessential American song.
You might have noticed quite a few patriotic songs already, but there are more, and they make a great way to do basic language arts instruction. Think of all the topics you can work on with some big charts of those songs:
- rhyme
- rhythm
- spelling
- parts of speech
- synonyms
- antonyms
- symbolism
- similes
- metaphors
Have students think about, discuss, and then illustrate their favorite things about their country. Challenge each student to find a line from one of the patriotic songs you’ve sung that fits his or her picture. Then create a class book of patriotic songs illustrated with student artwork.
We have some lesson plans and classroom activities to learn more about the USA:
