Happy Birthday "Banner!"

This Sunday, September 14th, marks the 200th birthday of our country's national anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner." Written on September 14th, 1814, by a man named Francis Scott Key, the song describes a particular battle that happened in Baltimore, Maryland during the War of 1812. Key, along with another American man, were aboard a ship in the water near the coast of Baltimore, overlooking Fort McHenry. Throughout the night, as the battle went on, Key describes how the flag continued to wave, standing as a symbol of the United State's victory. While aboard the ship, Key took a letter out of his pocket, and wrote a poem on the back of the paper, which was then turned into the song we know today. 

Unfortunately, many Americans say that they do not know all of the words to "The Star Spangled Banner," so this week, the 2nd graders listened to many different versions of the "Star Spangled Banner," and learned what many of the different words in the song mean. We learned, that once we understood the story behind the song, it was much easier for us to understand and remember the words. 2nd graders also made a book to take home so that they could share the song with their families. Here are the slides that we used (Many thanks to "The Crafty Classroom" blog for the graphics and printables!)