Memorial Day Lesson Plan: Civic Ideas and Practices

Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8

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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Memorial Day, and supports the standard of analyzing holidays and symbols of our nation. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Ask students:

Who do you think we honor on Memorial Day?
Why might we honor them?

Step 2: BUILD BACKGROUND

Read the description on the Memorial Day topic page.
Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
Have students read one of the following Related Reading articles: “Way Back When,” “Real Life,” or “In-Depth” Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: ENGAGE
Students express what they learned about Memorial Day while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

Make-a-Movie: Produce a newscast that answers this question: How did Memorial Day become a federal holiday? (Essential Literacy Skill: Summarize key details)
Make-a-Map: Make a concept map analyzing how the observance of Memorial Day has changed over time. (Essential Literacy Skill: Determine central ideas)
Creative Coding: Code a flag to honor Americans killed in combat. (Essential Literacy Skill: Make logical inferences from explicit details)