Description
What our Statue of Liberty lesson plan includes
Lesson Objectives and Overview: Statue of Liberty teaches students the history, significance, and continued importance of the Statue of Liberty. They will also learn related vocabulary to build upon their knowledge. At the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify and describe the Statue of Liberty and its significance and the symbolism as it relates to the world today and in the past. This lesson is for students in 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade.
Classroom Procedure
Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the orange box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand. The supplies you will need are colored pencils and the handouts. To prepare for this lesson ahead of time, you can gather the supplies and copy the handouts.
Options for Lesson
Included with this lesson is an “Options for Lesson” section that lists a number of suggestions for activities to add to the lesson or substitutions for the ones already in the lesson. One optional adjustment to the lesson activity is to transfer the image onto construction paper and enlarge it. You can also give your students some ideas for words to use for the activity. As an additional activity, you can have students draw that statue using images from the Internet or other photos. You can also give your students clay or other supplies to create a 3D model of the statue, either on their own or with a partner. Finally, your students can decide on a symbol that they can use to represent your class and can create a 2D or 3D model of that symbol.
Teacher Notes
The teacher notes page includes a paragraph with additional guidelines and things to think about as you begin to plan your lesson. This page also includes lines that you can use to add your own notes as you’re preparing for this lesson.
STATUE OF LIBERTY LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES
What are Symbols?
The Statue of Liberty lesson plan includes three pages of content. The lesson begins by talking about symbols, which are objects or names that stand for something else. Schools often have mascots, which are a type of symbol for the school. Sports teams also have mascots that they use to symbolize their team. Many different things can be symbols, like flags, figures, drawings, signs, and more. Some symbols for the United States include the American flag, Bald Eagles, and the White House. When someone sees these symbols, they will think of the United States.
We see symbols everywhere. Countries have flags, companies have logos, and math problems use symbols to tell you when to add or subtract. Weather reports use symbols to signal whether it will be sunny, raining, or cloudy. Street signs use symbols as well.
One of the main symbols of the United States is the Statue of Liberty. This statue is 151 feet and 1 inch tall and lives on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. This is one of the most recognizable symbols in the whole world!
Origins of Lady Liberty
The official name for the Statue of Liberty is “Liberty Englihtening the World,” but we also call it Lady Liberty or Mother of Exiles. Exiles are refugees or other people who have left another country because of danger and in search of freedom.
A French sculptor named Frederic Bartholdi designed the statue, helped raise money for it, and picked the New York Harbor as its location. A French anti-slavery activist named Edouard de Laboulaye came up with the original idea, and the interior was build by the same person who later built the Eiffel Tower in France, Gustave Eiffel.
France gave the United States the Statue of Liberty as a gift, announced in 1875. They officially gave it to the United States in 1886 for the celebration of the United States’ 100th year. The statue took several years to complete, and they built it in pieces. They built the arm and torch in 1876 and displayed them in Philadelphia. Next, they built the head and put it on display in France for the World’s Fair in Paris in 1878.
Once they completed all of the pieces, in 1885, they shipped everything to the United States. They completed construction in 1886. At 305 tall, the statue is about the same height as a 30-story building! The head is 17 feet tall, the nose is 4.5 feet long, the right arm is 42 feet long, and the index finger is eight feet long. The statue used to be brown, but has turned green over time because they made it out of copper. It is a very recognizable symbol around the world.
The Statue of Liberty’s Symbolism
The Statue of Liberty represents many things, such as freedom, liberty, and democracy. They modeled the statue after Libertas, a Roman goddess whose name means liberty and freedom. To people from other countries, the statue reminds them that you can find freedom in the United States.
Specific parts of the statue symbolize different things. For example, the broken chains at the feet of the statue represent the end of tyranny. This means that the government won’t take away people’s freedom. The torch represents the values of liberty and the spread of those values to the whole world, and it always remains lit. The seven spikes of her crown represent the seven seas and continents in the world, and also looks like rays of light. Finally, the tablet in her left hand represents the law, and has the Roman Numerals for July 4, 1776 on it.
Ellis Island is near the statue and was the place where, between 1892 and 1954, millions of immigrants entered the United States. The Statue of Liberty welcomed those people to the country. Today, tourists visit the statue from all over the world. More than 4 million people visit every year, and about 240 people climb the 354 steps to the top of the statue every day.
Other Interesting Facts
The statue weighs around 225 tons and cost $500,000 to build. It used to be the tallest building in New York City. They used to let 12 people into the torch at a time, but they closed it to the public. There is a replica statue in Paris, France. Grover Cleveland was the President when they built the statue in 1886.
The Statue of Liberty is a symbol for both the people of the United States and people around the world. It symbolizes freedom and liberty for all people.
Key Terms
Here is a list of the vocabulary words students will learn in this lesson plan:
- Symbol: An object or name that stands for something else
- Statue of Liberty: Represents freedom and liberty
- Lady Liberty: Another name often used for the Statue of Liberty
- Mother of Exiles: Another name for the Statue of Liberty
- Exile: A refugee or person who is seeking freedom
- Frederic Bartholdi: The French sculptor and designer of the statue
- Edouard de Laboulaye: A French anti-slavery activist who came up with the idea for the statute
- Gustave Eiffel: The man who build the inside of the Statue Liberty
- Libertas: A Roman Goddess whose name means liberty and freedom
- Broken chains: A symbol that represents the end of tyranny
- Tyranny: Cruel government rules and conditions
- Torch: A symbol that represents the spread of values related to liberty
- Spikes of the crown: A symbol that represents the seven seas and continents
- Tablet: A symbol that represents the law
- July 4, 1776: The day that the United States became independent
STATUE OF LIBERTY LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS
The Statue of Liberty lesson plan includes three worksheets: an activity worksheet, a practice worksheet, and a homework assignment. You can refer to the guide on the classroom procedure page to determine when to hand out each worksheet.
COLORING ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
For the activity worksheet, students will color in the picture of the Statue of Liberty and write a word for each of the letters from the word freedom related to something that they do that makes them feel free. For example, the letter “E” could be “Eating my favorite foods.” They can also add other images related to their Freedom list.
MATCHING PRACTICE WORKSHEET
The practice worksheet asks students to match definitions to the correct people, terms, and symbols. They will also fill in the blanks in several statements about the Statue of Liberty.
STATUE OF LIBERTY HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
For the homework assignment, students will answer questions about the lesson material. They will also design and draw a symbol that would represent their family, with the help of a parent or another adult. They will also write down what their symbol represents.
Worksheet Answer Keys
This lesson plan includes answer keys for the practice worksheet and the homework assignment. If you choose to administer the lesson pages to your students via PDF, you will need to save a new file that omits these pages. Otherwise, you can simply print out the applicable pages and keep these as reference for yourself when grading assignments.
