Don't Forget Memorial Day!

Each year it seems that the end of the year comes fast.  Between EOY assessments, profile cards, student portfolios, cume folders, teacher observations, PDPs, IEPs, EOY celebrations/graduations, field days, and so much more, I felt that Memorial Day somehow would get lost in the shuffle. I certainly want to celebrate all that my kiddos have achieved so far in their learning careers but I also want them to have gratitude for those men and women who help make it possible.  I started thinking what can we do to honor those soldiers who have laid their lives on the line so that we could be free to help our littles learn.  So each year we read, study, craft, and give for our soldiers. 
We start with reading. I have found several books to read about Memorial Day that are easy for my kiddos to understand. Below are some of my favorites.

Next we study. We spend alot of time researching on line. There are several links on You Tube that are age appropriate on this topic (but be sure to preview them first).  Here is one that is great because it describes the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day (if the link didn't work, here is the actual code:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWD4Oy6fKlo). You tube also has several of the stories that I mentioned above being read aloud by famous people.  The kiddos always love hearing and seeing stories on the big screen!

Then we craft and write! I always want to get the kiddos perspective on how they would behave if they ran into a solider out in public (or maybe they have one at home). It amazes me that some of them do know how to show respect to a soldier! That's where we talk about the salute and discuss ways to show respect with kindness, words, and actions. Then we begin our crafting fun. Here our some pics of the AWESOME job they did!

The kiddos really learn a lot about Soldiers, Veterans, and Respect in this unit.  If you are interested, you kind find it in my TpT store for only $1.50! Just click Memorial Day!