EDSITEment - Lesson Plan

A symbol stands for an idea. The Statue of Liberty stands in Upper New York Bay, a universal symbol of freedom. Originally conceived as an emblem of the friendship between the people of France and the U.S. and a sign of their mutual desire for liberty, over the years the Statue has become much more. It is the Mother of Exiles, greeting millions of immigrants and embodying hope and opportunity for those seeking a better life in America. It stirs the desire for freedom in people all over the world. It represents the United States itself.

How was the Statue of Liberty designed to be a symbol? How have circumstances enhanced its meaning? Help clarify the nature of symbols for your students as they study the Statue of Liberty, complete research on a national symbol, and use their research to communicate a message of their own.

Learning Objectives

After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to:

Identify symbols used to depict Americans' shared values, principles and beliefs, and explain their meaning.
List specific symbols in the design of the Statue of Liberty.
Use a symbol to communicate an idea.

Guiding Questions:

What is a symbol? What are some of our national symbols? How do specific meanings get attached to a symbol? How can a symbol be used to communicate an idea?

Preparing to Teach this Lesson

Review the lessons in this unit and select archival materials to use for your classroom discussions. Bookmark them, if practical; download and print out the selected documents and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing.

Obtain information on the many symbols built in to the Statue of Liberty through an interactive activity on The National Park Service website, a link from the EDSITEment resource The Internet Public Library.

Gather the necessary materials for the poster-making project in Lesson 6. If your school has an art teacher, consult with her/him about poster making. The poster project can be directed by the art teacher, if you prefer.

The Digital Classroom National Archives and Records Administration, available through EDSITEment, offers a series of worksheets for analyzing primary source documents, including written documents and photographs, that you may wish to use or adapt to help students in reviewing the materials presented in this unit.

Suggested Activities

Lesson 1: Isn't It Symbolic?
Lesson 2: A Mighty Woman with a Torch
Lesson 3: Built-In Symbols
Lesson 4: Using the Symbol
Lesson 5: Choose a Symbol, Any Symbol
Lesson 6: Create a Symbol
Lesson 7: The United States Symbol
Extending the Lesson

Lesson 1 Isn't It Symbolic?

As a class, review what a symbol is and identify examples of symbols in the classroom. Explain to students that a symbol brings to mind an idea. Over the years, a symbol tends to take on a meaning related to its history, function or appearance. For example, Bartholdi, the designer of the Statue of Liberty, knew that for most people chains represent tyranny; likewise, a broken chain symbolizes freedom. These associations were built in to the Statue during its creation.

Ideas can also be gradually transferred to an object over time. In this way, an object can take on new, sometimes unintended meanings. As millions of immigrants found themselves welcomed to America by the Statue of Liberty, it became associated with their struggle for freedom and desire for a better life. In 1989, Chinese students demonstrating in Tianemen Square made a model of the Statue of Liberty to symbolize their revolution. When you see the Statue of Liberty, you may simply see one of the largest statues ever built, or you may associate it with universal qualities of freedom or democracy, or you may have personal feelings about it based on your own experiences.

If possible, give students the opportunity to explore an interactive lesson on symbols, available on the EDSITEment-reviewed website The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Explore and Learn. If access to technology is limited, adapt the lesson for direct instruction by downloading and duplicating the image of one or both statues; then use the museum activity as a guide to your discussion.

Larger images of the statues referenced in this lesson are also available:

Have students brainstorm what they already know about the Statue of Liberty. Write all ideas on the chalkboard or a large piece of paper. With the brainstormed ideas displayed, encourage further discussion with these questions:

The class is now ready to take a detailed look at the Statue, beginning with its symbol-packed design. Divide the class into five groups. Have each group look closely at one of the following images of the statue from the EDSITEment resource American Memory and record the details each group member observes:

Using the Symbol

Now your students will look at some examples of how the Statue of Liberty has been used for its symbolism. As a class, analyze one or all of the archival materials listed below. (Note: The first item, Emma Lazarus's famous poem, "The New Colossus," contains difficult language that will probably require teacher direction; the remaining items are digital images of photographs, posters and song sheets.) As students review the items, they should ask: Why did the creator choose to use the Statue of Liberty as a symbol? What message does the Statue of Liberty communicate in each instance?

Poetry

In this lesson, students will work in small groups to research another familiar symbol of the U.S. Their goal is to understand the history of the symbol and to gain an appreciation for its significance. Have each group choose a symbol (some examples are listed below) and locate information about it online or in the library. To get started, students can peruse the following resources available through EDSITEment. All are general in nature and searchable, except for The Internet Public Library, which is organized as a directory.

Continuing to work in small groups, students will now create a poster that conveys a message using the national symbol they researched in Lesson 5. Each group will share its poster, clarifying its message and the reason behind the choice of symbol and design. In preparing to create their posters, the students should become familiar with some of the design principles illustrated by the following posters:

As a culminating activity, assess students' understanding of symbols and their use in depicting Americans' shared values, principles and beliefs with a brief writing assignment. Ask students to list some American symbols and what they represent. Then, have students select a symbol that they believe to be the symbol of the U.S. and explain their choice.

As a follow-up to this lesson, ask students to make note of any movies, books, magazines, documentaries, etc., they see that include some reference to the Statue of Liberty (or any other symbol discussed in the lesson). Have them explain to the class the feelings the reference intended to conjure.

Extending the Lesson

Students interested in the construction of the Statue of Liberty should be fascinated by the 230 photos available through the EDSITEment resource American Memory's Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record. These pictures reveal the interior structure of the statue and the restoration that was completed in 1986.

Emma Lazarus's poem, "The New Colossus," alludes to the Colossus of Rhodes. Lazarus's allusion to the ancient wonder adds information to the poem, which begins by telling the reader that although the statues are similar (almost exactly the same height, for example), there are important differences. In this way, Lazarus transfers ideas one associates with the Colossus of Rhodes to the Statue of Liberty. Students might be interested in learning more about the Colossus of Rhodes and sharing with the class the ways in which it compares with and contrasts from the Statue of Liberty.

If your school has a music teacher, he or she may be able to help the students learn one of the songs from the sheet music in Lesson 4. The EDSITEment resource American Memory contains a searchable collection of many digitized versions of sheet music from various periods.

Students may be interested in learning more about the creation of the Statue of Liberty. Both the initial construction and restoration of the Statue of Liberty involved public fundraising. One significant chapter in the history of the Statue was the difficulty experienced in raising funds for the American commitment to build the pedestal. Though the statue was intended to be dedicated in 1876 to celebrate the Centennial, its dedication was delayed, partially because of a lack of funds. The newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer is credited with using the power of the press to motivate the American public.

On the EDSITEment resource American Memory, students can read about one fundraiser in which small replicas of the statue were sold for a dollar. Search by title for "The Great Statue of Liberty and the Pedestal Fund. [Manufacturer and builder / Volume 17, Issue 6, June 1885]." Students can also read a contemporary account of the dedication ceremony by searching for "The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals: The Inauguration of Bartholdi's Liberty Statue. [Manufacturer and builder / Volume 18, Issue 11, November 1886]."

A detailed account of the statue's origins, as well as information about the centennial restoration of the statue and the many individuals associated with the Statue of Liberty are accessible through The National Park Service website, a link from the EDSITEment resource The Internet Public Library.

Understanding the statue's history requires reviewing the history of the relationship between France and the U.S., beginning with the American Revolution. More information on this relationship can be found at Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids, a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website The Internet Public Library.

The Statue of Liberty is closely linked to the history of immigrants who entered America through Ellis Island, a fruitful topic for student research. The EDSITEment resource American Memory features a lesson on immigration (with information for the teacher).

For more information on Ellis Island, visit these links from the EDSITEment resource The Internet Public Library:
- National Park Service
Students might also be interested in viewing and analyzing the film "An American Tail," which features an immigration storyline and images of the Statue of Liberty.

Students with access to technology can search the websites listed below for examples of the use of other national symbols in photos and posters.

Selected EDSITEment Websites

American Memory http://memory.loc.gov/

America's Library
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/

American Verse Project http://www.hti.umich.edu/english/amverse/

The Digital Classroom National Archives and Records Administration http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/index.html

History Matters http://historymatters.gmu.edu/

The Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org

Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids, Grades 3-5
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/symbols/index.html

Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids, Grades K-2
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/k-2/symbols/ladyliberty.html

Department of Veteran Affairs Home Page
http://www.va.gov/index.htm

Celebrating America's Freedoms
http://www1.va.gov/opa/feature/celebrate/index.asp

The National Park Service Statue of Liberty Page
http://www.nps.gov/stli/

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Explore and Learn http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/index.asp

Other Resources

Recommended readings from American Memory

Brill, Marlene Targ. "Building the Capital City." N.Y.: Children's Press, 1996.
D'Alelio, Jane. "I Know That Building!" Washington, D.C.: The Preservation Press, 1989.
Fradin, Dennis Brindell. "From Sea to Shining Sea: Washington, D.C." Chicago: Children's Press, 1992.
Lawlor, Veronica, ed. "I Was Dreaming to Come to America: Memories from the Ellis Island Oral History Project." N.Y.: Viking, 1995.
Quiri, Patricia Ryon. "The White House." N.Y.: Franklin Watts, 1996.
Reynolds, Patrick M. "A Cartoon History of the District of Columbia." Willow Street, Pa.: The Red Rose Studio, 1995.
Sandler, Martin W. "Immigrants. A Library of Congress Book." N.Y.: HarperCollins, 1995.
Schackburg, Richard. "Yankee Doodle." N.Y.: Half Moon Books, 1994.
Spier, Peter. "The Star-Spangled Banner." N.Y.: Dell, 1973.
Young, Robert. "A Personal Tour of Monticello." Minneapolis: Lerner, 1999.

Recommended reading from Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site, a link from The Internet Public Library

Hesse, Karen. "Letters from Rifka." Reprint edition: Puffin, November 1993.