American Symbols and Monuments

Okay, so I know it's totally against blog etiquette to post twice in one day, make that night. However, considering I've been gone for so long, I knew you would forgive me.

So, we have been studying American symbols in our class. Let me tell you I searched high and low on Pinterest looking for some good stuff. Not so much. I will be the first to admit that I love Teachers Pay Teachers, and it comes close to Pinterest when I rank my addictive habits. I hope one day to have the talents those teachers have. But, it's hard times in our house- saving every last penny to finish our adoption- so I just couldn't spend a dime on there for these social studies lessons.

To make a long story short (too late!), I made my own tree map for the kids. I'm attaching it here for you and I hope you love it. I totally made this last minute and sent it on to my team. That's when sweet Miss T said, "Nicole, you should totally put your stuff on TPT!" I thought to myself, "Yeah, right!" However, that's when I got to thinking about my precious little blog that has been neglected for too long.

So here you go, a tree map for American symbols and buildings that stand for the U.S. I printed this on long, legal sized paper. If you have older kids, or students with really neat, tiny handwriting, you can probably use regular sized paper.

American Symbols and Monuments

Just so you know, these are the websites I used in my class to go over each one. I envisioned setting up four laptop stations in my classroom, one for each of the symbols, but then I woke up to reality. My school doesn't have that kind of technology! Hopefully yours does and you can just post these sites around the room and let your kids do a little American scavenger hunt. Again, this was just supplemental to the literature and social studies textbooks, but WaY more fun to explore this way.

Introduction: Brain Pop, Jr. American Symbols

U.S. Flag

Eagle This one is super cool, but doesn't really explain why it's a symbol, sorry!

Liberty Bell

Statue of Liberty National Geographic Kids

Let me know what you think!

Some of the clipart is from Teacher Created Resources. Seriously, I love this clipart. You can buy it here. You won't be disappointed!