Signs, Songs, and Symbols of America SUMMARY This book gives students information about cultural icons of the United States, including Uncle Sam, the bald eagle, and the Stars and Stripes. Students will learn more about the creation, meaning, and importance of these symbols of freedom and how they are used in our society. LESSON VOCABULARY crown models tablet unforgettable liberty symbol torch unveiled INTRODUCE THE BOOK INTRODUCE THE TITLE AND AUTHOR Discuss with students the title and the author of Signs, Songs, and Symbols of America. Ask students if they recognize any of the cover photographs, and if they know how each one relates to the title. BUILD BACKGROUND Discuss with students what American signs, symbols, or songs they already know and why each one represents something about America. Ask students why they think a country needs symbols. PREVIEW/USE TEXT FEATURES Suggest students look at the captions and the subheads in the book. Ask students how they think these elements help organize the book and help them understand the main idea of the book. 3.6.1 MAIN IDEA TEXT STRUCTURE READ THE BOOK SET PURPOSE Have students set a purpose for reading Signs, Songs, and Symbols of America. Students’ curiosity about symbols should guide this purpose. STRATEGY SUPPORT: TEXT STRUCTURE Have students do a text feature search. Hand out graphic organizers with the subheads: title, heads, pictures, maps, photographs, bold print, captions, graphs. Ask students to list the text features they find in the book. Then ask students to write how these external features fit into the internal structure of the book. When students are finished reading, suggest they use their graphic organizers to help them write summaries of the selection. COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS PAGE 4 What is the main idea of this page and what are two supporting details? (The main idea is that America has many symbols. The supporting details are that the flag is one symbol and the bald eagle is another.)