Hang a Flag Mural

Return to Remembering September 11

Brief Description

What better way to greet visitors to your school (or to your Town Hall) than with a student-created flag mural?

Objectives

Students create a mural that expresses their feelings and patriotism to honor the memory of those who gave their lives on September 11, 2001.

Keywords

hero, September, attack, memorial, flag, mural, diversity

Materials Needed

See individual activities below; each activity requires different materials.

Lesson Plan

Following are a handful of ideas for creating a mural to honor the anniversary of September 11. The mural will help students revisit their feelings and keep alive the patriotic feelings stimulated by the events of 9/11.

To make a mural flag that approximates the dimensions of a U.S. flag, you will need

• Seven stripes of mural paper 5 inches wide and 72 inches long.
• Six stripes of mural paper 5 inches wide and 126 inches long.
• A blue background that measures 35 inches wide and 54 inches long.
• Stars to paste on the blue background; see directions for cutting stars at How to Cut a 5-Pointed Star in One Snip.
• A picture or print of a flag (or this alternate flag image) to serve as a model for arranging stripes.

Mural Ideas

Give a Hand to the United States
Organize students into five groups. Cut all stripes listed above from white mural paper. Provide two of the groups with two 5- by 72-inch stripes; provide each of the other three groups with one 5- by 126-inch stripe. You might take this activity outdoors; students should dress in their "painting clothes." Provide a tray of red finger paints for each group. Let students take turns placing the palms of their hands lightly upon the paint and then pressing their hands onto the white stripe. When dry, tape the back of each "hand-painted" stripe to one of the unpainted white stripes. Be sure a red stripe appears at the top and bottom of your flag mural. Now attach to the upper-left corner of the flag blue construction paper that measures 35 inches wide and 54 inches long. Attach cut stars. (Alternate plan: Students might paint blue handprints on white to create the blue background, or they might use white handprints on a blue background to represent stars.)

Celebrating Diversity
Cut from red paper four stripes that are 5- by 72-inches and three that are 5- by 126-inches. Cut from white paper three stripes that are 5- x 72-inches and three stripes that are 5- by 126 inches. Then have students find and cut out from magazines and Internet sources pictures of people of all races and creeds. Attach those pictures to the red stripes to create a collage effect. Piece together your flag mural, which will stand as a symbol of American diversity.

September 11: In Our Own Words
Cut stripes as in the previous activity. Pose a question to students and let them write their responses on the white stripes of the flag. (The white stripes might actually be made from white-lined writing paper.) Students might draft their responses or essays before posting them on the flag. Following are a few questions that might serve as prompts for this writing activity:

• What is an American?
• Where were you when you learned of the attack on the United States, and what were your first reactions to it?
• Why is remembering 9/11 important?
• Did September 11 change the United States forever?

To motivate student thinking and writing, teachers of students in grades six through 12 might use this lesson from the New York Times Learning Network: Another Day That Will Live in Infamy.

Remembering 9-11
Cut stripes as in the previous two activities. Collect newspaper headlines about the attack on the United States from actual newspapers or from Internet news sites. Cut a variety of headlines and/or news articles, and create a collage of headlines on the white stripes of the flag.

Assessment

Assessment varies depending on the activity selected and the age level of students.

Lesson Plan Source

Education World

Submitted By

Gary Hopkins

See more lessons at September 11: Lessons and Resources for Classroom Teachers. Click to return to the Remembering September 11 lesson plan page.