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American Symbols

posted Aug 11, 2014, 9:21 AM by Quoc-Anh Vuong
Huan worked on this with a newly trained therapist for the first time.
 
thg,
Huong

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elizabeth Vosseller <evosseller@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Aug 11, 2014 at 11:21 AM
Subject: Huan and Meghann on the flag
To: Huong Pham <huongnpham@gmail.com>


WOW!  Huan did soooo well with Meghann!!!!  So happy he is able to carry over his skills with Meghann! 

Huan Vuong
American Symbols
Lesson 1: The Flag
In 1775, the American colonies were flying the British Flag called "The Union Jack" and decided that they needed to fly their own flag.  Benjamin Franklin was the "New Flag" Committee chairman.
He didn't want to totally shut off their connection to England, so he felt the flag should have a smaller Union Jack in one corner, with 6 white stripes alternating with 7 red stripes.  This flag was hoisted on New Years Day (January 1) in 1776 on Prospect Hill near Cambridge, Massachusetts.  It became known as the Grand Union Flag and was the first American flag.
What was the British flag called? UNION JACK
The flag was to have 6 ______ stripes. WHITE
And 7 _____ . RED STRIPES
What holiday was the flag hoisted? NEW YEARS DAY
Where? PROSPECT
But...once the Declaration of Independence was signed this flag became literally history and as they say today, 'not politically correct.'  What to do?  Well it took an act of Congress on 6-14-1777 to pass an official Flag Resolution stating the design of the flag with the red and white strips and the 13 stars in a blue. Now they had problems with just how many points on a star. Some had 5 some had more.  And some of the stars were in rows, some in circles and some were haphazard.  Then they had to argue over which came first...a red stripe or a white stripe?  After a while it became obvious that the flag could be seen from a longer distance better if it had a red stripe first and not a white one.
This flag was considered not _______. POLITICALLY CORRECT
So congress came up with the official Flag ______. RESOLUTION
The new flag would have how many stars? 13
What does HAPHAZARD mean? CRAZY
It was decided that the red stripe would be _____. FIRST
There is no proof that Betsy Ross actually sewed the first flag. Several men approached her for a flag design, but that doesn't mean she sewed it. Betsy suggested a 5 pointed star because she demonstrated how easy they were to make when you fold cloth a certain way and cut. An actual bill for the design of the flag was presented to Congress by Francis Hopkinson (who also is one of the signer's of the Declaration of Independence) asking for payment for designing this flag.  Congress denied his request saying he wasn't the sole designer. Some historians feel the flag was designed by a committee.
There is no proof that ______ sewed the first flag? BETSY ROSS
Betsy was the one who suggested the flag have how many points? FIVE
Who presented a bill to Congress on the design of the flag? FRANCIS HOPKINSON
Did congress ACCEPT or DENY his request? DENY
As America changed, so did the flag.  Every time we got a new state, we also got a new star.  Well, the stars were no problem, but after a while, we were getting over-striped. Imagine today if we had 50 stripes and stars?  So, on January 13, 1794, Congress passed a second flag resolution stating "the flag shall have 15 stripes, alternate red and white with a union of 15 stars, white on blue field." It was the 15 striped flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the "Star Spangled Banner."
When was the 2nd Flag Resolution passed? JANUARY 13 1794
Who wrote the Star Spangled Banner? FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
But, by 1817 the flag was getting bigger and bigger and had 20 stars and stripes. So once again Congress did a Flag Act in 1818 and decided that the flag should have no more than 13 red and white stripes (for the 13 original colonies), and only a NEW STAR would be added every time we got a state, but no more stripes of any color.  
What did the red and white stripes represent? 13 ORIGINAL COLONIES
What did the stars represent? STATES
When would a new star be put on the flag? A NEW STATE
And then came the Civil War!  Many angry Northerners wanted to
remove the stars of the states that had succeeded from the union.  But President Lincoln disagreed and was determined to hold the Union together. From 1861-1865 Union troops marched under a flag with all the stars and stripes.  And in 1863, when West Virginia became a state during the Civil War, they even added it's star.  Well, we all know how the war ended, and eventually both the North and the South were flying the same flag with the same number of stars and stripes.
Which president was determined to hold the union together?PRESIDENT LINCOLN
Which troops marched under the flag with all the stars and stripes?UNION
The Civil War was a war between…. NORTH / SOUTH
Which state became a state during the Civil War? WEST VIRGINIA
Did they add its star? YES
Who won the Civil War? NORTH
On June 14, 1923 men from 68 patriotic groups met in Washington, DC to draw up a set of rules on how to handle the flag.  In 1942, Congress put them all into the official Flag Code.  The flag code is updated when necessary, most recently being 1976.
The patriotic groups met where? WASHINGTON DC
What were the rules for the flag called? FLAG CODE
When was the last time the flag code was updated? 1976
Flag Terms:
Canton - The top inner quarter of the flag or the blue area where the stars are.
Field - The main body of the flag.
Fly - The bottom or length of the flag
Halyard: The rope or cord used to raise and lower the flag.
Hoist - The flag's side or width.
What is the main body of the flag called? FIELD
The side or width of the flag is called the…? HOIST
What is the HALYARD? CORD
What does the HALYARD do? RAISES THE FLAG
What is the blue square where the stars are located called?  CANTON
What is the fly? THE BOTTOM OF FLAG
Do you think the flag is an appropriate symbol for America? YES
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