Pledge of Allegiance
Schoolwide / Social Studies
Nation, Liberty, Justice, Equality, Promise
Have a short, genuine discussion about the following questions.
 What does it mean to promise something?
 How does promising something feel the same and different from telling someone
you will do something? (OR why is the word promise so important?)
 What do you see someone doing when he or she is fulfilling a promise?
Distribute written copies of the Pledge and ask students to circle the commas and put a
box around the periods (5 commas and 1 period). Count the words (31 words). Read
the Pledge aloud. Have students number the commas (1-5) on their text.
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Share as you are inclined: The original Pledge of Allegiance was written for a popular
children’s magazine by author and minister Francis Bellamy in 1892. Bellamy’s original
pledge read as follows: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it
stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” It was seen as a call for
unity and wholeness after the bitter divisions of the Civil War. It was also intended to be
easily memorized and quick to recite. The phrases “of the United States of America”
and “under God” were added later.
Provide definitions/mine students for meanings of the following words: pledge, united,
liberty, equality, justice, allegiance, republic, nation, indivisible. Have students note the
meaning of words that they don’t know on their text.
Have students reread the Pledge silently. Then create a class “translation” of the Pledge
on the whiteboard: take a few minutes for partner groups of two or three students to
“translate” one phrase of the text, as if they were making it understandable for younger
children.
Divide the phrases as follows:
1. (title) The Pledge of Allegiance
2. I pledge allegiance
3. to the flag of the United States of America
4. and to the republic
5. for which it stands
6. one nation under God
7. indivisible
8. with liberty and justice for all
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 What do you think is the most important word in the Pledge? (take a
moment for students to each write their word, and then proceed with
round-robin response)
 Why is that word most important? (spontaneous discussion)
 The phrase “one nation under God” was not in the original version. Why
do you think it was added to the Pledge?
 Our class wrote a translation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Do you think it
would be better to recite the translation or the Pledge itself?
 The original author of the Pledge (Francis Bellamy) considered including
the word equality somewhere in the Pledge. What do you think about
that?
 Is there liberty and justice in our country?
 Take a moment to have students write their response to the following
question before sharing: What do you now believe to be the most
important word in the Pledge?
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Take a few minutes to write down something that you thought, said, or heard that helps
you remember what people are promising when they recite the Pledge.
After reading and discussing the Pledge of Allegiance, write a two-sentence annotation
in which you explain what people are promising when they recite the Pledge of
Allegiance.
(LDC Task#:
14 Informational/Explanatory )
Ask students to restate the requirements of the task to a partner. Have a group
discussion about what the writing task is asking. Make and post a class list of words that
it will be important to include in their writing when explaining the meaning of the
promises in the Pledge.
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As needed, provide sentence stems for the two-sentence writing. Tell students how
many of the words in the posted class list you will require them to include in their writing.
Support students in putting their ideas into sentences.
Group students and have them read their sentences aloud to a partner. During or after
they read, they should revise (add/subtract) as they think appropriate. The listener
should say back one thing heard. Rotate roles.
Have students check papers for spelling and punctuation.
Post student papers in the hallway and set up a system for adults in the building to write
feedback (perhaps on sticky notes).
Wendy Ikoku
Providence Spring Elementary School
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