Entry 4: A Lesson on Francis Scott Key

A Second Grade Lesson on Francis Scott Key

Francis Scott Key was a lawyer who witnessed the British attach on Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.  The War of 1812 was another battle between the U.S. and England.  This war came after the Revolutionary war.  Fort McHenry weathered the attack for a full day.  After a full day of bombing, Key was surprised that the British were not able to destroy the fort.  As the sun came up the next morning, Key noticed that the large U.S. flag at the fort was being flown. After witnessing the attack, Key wrote the words to a poem, which eventually was set to music, and became The Star-Spangled Banner.  It is now our national anthem.                             (Content) 

Ask students the following questions:  Where have you seen the American flag? (DOK 1) (CC.1.2.2.B) What does the flag mean to you? (DOK 2) Show students a flag and discuss the stars and stripes and what they mean.  (DOK 1) After discussing what the flag means read The Star-Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key, illustrated by Peter Spier. Have students draw conclusions about how they believe Francis Scott Key felt while watching the battle at Fort McHenry.  (DOK 3) (CC.1.5.2.A) Ask students to hypothesize why Key wrote the words he did. (DOK 3)  (CC.8.6.6-8.A)  Read the book another time, as I’m reading the book I will instruct students to create a picture of what they envision Francis Scott Key seeing as he is writing the Star Spangled Banner.  (DOK 4)               (Creative Idea) 

Domains:  1.a, 1.b, 1.c, 1.d, 1.e, 1.f, 2.a, 2.b, 2.c, 2.d, 2.e, 3.a, 3.b, 3.c, 3.e, 4.f

 The creative idea was inspired by a lesson from scholastic.com.  The content on Francis Scott Key came from biography.com.