O Say Can You Sequence?

Grades 2-4 by Kathryn S. Gallagher PS13Q

book cover
The Greatest Flag That Ever Flew details the creation of “The Star Spangled Banner” through the eyes of Caroline Pickersgill, daughter of flag maker Mary Pickersgill. Students will sequence this key event in American history, and give voice to Grace Wisher, a young apprentice largely lost to history.
Goals and Objectives

  • Students will learn to sequence the events that led to the creation of the flag.
  • Students will learn how the flag that inspired The Star Spangled Banner was created.

Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.4.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences CCSS.ELA.Literacy.W.4.3.B Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations
Materials:
The Greatest Flag That Ever Flew by Rebecca C. Jones
Lesson Plan: O Say Can You Sequence pd
Comic Cells: Sequence Cells
Grace Wisher Worksheet: put grace in sequence
Day One: When we sequence, we put things in order.  Each day, we sequence: we get ready for school in a certain sequence, and eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in sequence.  We even sequence the days of our week, Sunday through Saturday. Good readers and writers sequence events in a story or text.  Sequencing helps us to remember the important events in a text, and understand what the main idea of the story is.
Pre-reading: 1) Teacher will ask students to look at the cover of the book.  What do they think the book might be about?  Why do they think that? 2) Teacher will explain that at one time, flags were sewn together by people, not machines.  Flags took a lot of time and effort to make.
During Reading: Teacher may wish to sequence events during reading on chart paper or smart board.  As an alternative, students may use individual sequencing organizers.
Post-reading     Teacher will use google maps to show the distance between Caroline’s house (844 East Pratt Street, Baltimore MD 21202) and Fort McHenry.
Activity: Students will receive one of two graphic organizers (attached).  Option one allows students to complete the graphic organizer independently.  Option two provides sentence starters for those students who may need additional support.  A sample response sheet is included, but teacher should use their professional judgment when reviewing answers.
Day Two: Teacher will review key scenes from The Greatest Flag That Ever Flew.  Teacher will show students pages 10-12 from the story.  Teacher will ask students to identify the characters on those pages.  Teacher will explain to students that one character, Grace Wisher, was left out of the story. (Teacher will review attached Grace Wisher information with class).
Activity: Grace Wisher was not included in The Greatest Flag That Ever Flew.  Today, students will add her to the story.  Using the attached sheet, students will illustrate Grace Wisher helping to sew the flag.  They will use the lines provided to create several lines of dialogue for Grace.
Resources Flag House: www.flaghouse.org
Fort McHenry: www.nps.gov/fomc
 
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About the Author:  Kathryn Gallagher is an elementary level teacher with the New York City Department of Education. She enjoys finding creative ways to teach social studies in the classroom. Kathryn also enjoys writing about herself in the third person.  She can be reached at kgallagher906@gmail.com
About Banner Moments Made available as part of the 2014 Banner Moments K-12 Institute—a project of the American Music Institute of the University of Michigan and the Star Spangled Music Foundation, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities