Juneteenth

  

Juneteenth (or June 19th), is a day to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. Although President Lincoln, signed the Emancipation Proclamation, on January 1, 1863, it would take until 1862, and the 13 Amendment(1865) for many enslaved people would learn that slavery had been abolished. On June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Texas learned that they were free people. A celebration started in the Texas with prayers, dancing and cookouts that continues to this day. Also known as Black Independence Day or Freedom Day, a number of states, including Oregon, Washington, Virginia, Texas, Pennsylvania and New York, have made it a state holiday. Last year,Congress voted to make Juneteeth a federal holiday. The day after the bill was passed, President Joe Biden signed the bill into law. It is the first new national holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was declared in 1983.

Learn more:

https://www.ducksters.com/holidays/juneteenth.php

https://historyforkids.org/juneteenth-facts-information-for-kids/

https://royalcoastreview.com/2021/06/juneteenth-a-new-us-public-holiday-to-celebrate-the-end-of-slavery/

Illustration from pixabay.com/CNN

Flag Day is Coming!

 

FREE DOWNLOAD: Click Here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Flag-Factoids-8156239

Fun Flag Facts:

1. A vexillologist is someone that studies flags! 

2. Most flags have the colors red and white. 

3. Only Vatican City and the country of Switzerland have square flags.

4. Most world flags are rectangle in shape. The flag of the country of Nepal is the only one which is not rectangular or square in shape.

5. When Sir Edmond Hillary and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, summited Mt. Everest, the Union Jack, the flag of Great Britain, was placed.

6.The idea of a National Flag Day,a day to honor our flag, was started by Bernard J. Cigrand, in 1885.  

7. There are currently 6 American flags on the moon.  

8. The country of Bhutan has a white dragon on its flag.

9. “From Old Saxon," Fflaken" , meaning “to fly or to float in the air”, is where the word FLAG originated.

10.The largest American Flag is called the Superflag. It weighs 3000 pounds and is the size of 2.8 football fields.

11. A WHITE flag is the symbol of a truce or ceasefire.

12.The last of the 50 stars represents the state of Hawaii.

Extension Activities:

1. https://www.factmonster.com/take-quiz/usflag
Take this Flag quiz

2. Pretend you are an American flag on the moon or in a town, or on a mountain top. What do you hear, see, feel, etc. as you wave in the air? Remember...on the moon, there is no atmosphere so the flag wouldn’t wave!

3. Write a haiku to describe the American flag. A haiku has 3 lines(5-7-5 syllables per line). Use descriptive words. Sentence structure isn’t necessary. To check syllables, place your hand under your chin. Each time the chin drops is a syllable. For example: elephant. Three drops = 3 syllables.

4. Illustrate one of the factoids. Write a sentence to go with your drawing.

5. Read about the history of Flag Day: https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/flag-day. Write a paragraph explaining the history of Flag Day, including 3 facts learned from the reading.

Check out my Flag Webquest!  

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Our-American-Flag-A-Webquest-Extension-Activities-726295

Learn about the History of the Star Spangled Banner and Francis Scott Key:  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Francis-Scott-KeyThe-Star-Spangled-BannerA-Webquest-1401231

Gail