Teaching American symbols is always a favorite first grade social studies unit! There are so many interesting symbols and landmarks for students to learn about. It’s a great unit for helping students understand the history of our country and develop a greater sense of patriotism.
I’ve created a United States Symbols Resource that makes teaching these lessons easy! It includes a PowerPoint and matching student booklet to help students learn about 11 important American symbols and landmarks.
American Symbols and Landmarks
In this unit, students learn about 11 well-known United States symbols and important landmarks:
- U.S. Flag
- Pledge of Allegiance
- Bald Eagle
- Liberty Bell
- Statue of Liberty
- Washington Monument
- Lincoln Memorial
- White House
- Jefferson Memorial
- U.S. Capitol Building
- Mount Rushmore
Each symbol has four PowerPoint slides and matching pages in a printable student book. The slides include beautiful photographs of each American symbol, interesting facts, and two short informational passages written with young learners in mind.
I love using photographs when teaching social studies! It’s one thing to tell students about the Statue of Liberty, but it’s so much more interesting when they can actually see what it looks like from different angles and perspectives. The photographs help deepen students’ understanding of the symbols.
Teaching About American Symbols
One of the things I love about this resource is how the PowerPoint and student booklet work together! Students can follow along in their own book as you teach each lesson.
Each lesson begins with a question to get students thinking about the symbol. When studying the Statue of Liberty, students are asked, “Would you want to climb the 354 steps to look out of the statue’s crown?” When learning about the bald eagle, they’re asked, “Have you ever seen a bald eagle?” These questions help students make personal connections to the symbols and spark their curiosity.
Next, students learn some “quick facts” about the symbol. These facts help students identify important information to remember and provide an easy way to review the symbol on subsequent days. Students also have a chance to color a picture of the symbol and read a caption with an interesting or unusual fact.
Now it’s time to read the first passage! This passage gives students some historical information about the symbol, how and why it was chosen, where the landmarks are located, how and when they were built, and information about the people they honor.
Each American symbol also includes a second passage. This passage focuses more on the symbols today including visiting the landmarks. Students learn about some of the interesting things they would see if they visited these locations.
Finally, students draw their own picture of the symbol and write three facts they learned. This section is like an “exit ticket” built right into the booklet! This is such an important part of the lesson, students have a chance to think about what they’ve learned and put it into their own words.
When you’ve finished learning about all 11 United States symbols, students have their own little book filled with information about each American symbol and landmark!
More United States Symbols Activities
If you’re looking for another fun way to teach American symbols, you might also like my United States Symbols Lapbook! This is a hands-on project where students create little foldables and activities about different American symbols.
One of my favorite parts is the map activity where students connect the symbols to their locations in the United States. It’s another great way for students to organize information and show what they’ve learned.
You could use the lapbook as an alternative to the student booklet or use all of the resources together to create an even more in-depth unit! You can read more about the activities in my United States Symbols Lapbook blog post.
Ready to Teach American Symbols?
Whether you’re teaching American symbols as part of your regular social studies lessons or planning activities around a patriotic holiday, this resource makes it easy to introduce important symbols and landmarks to your first graders. The PowerPoint provides the information and photographs for your lessons, while the matching booklet gives students a chance to follow along and show what they’ve learned.
And the best part? You won’t have to spend hours searching for information about each symbol or creating activities to go along with your lessons. It’s all ready for you!
Take a closer look at the United States Symbols PowerPoint and Student Booklet on TPT!
