When the kids came into class, Ms. Gilmour laughed because they were all wearing some red, white and blue, She asked, “Why are you wearing patriotic colors?” Tanner replied, “I knew that we would be talking about the 4th of July holiday coming up.” “We all got together and decided it would be fun to show our patriotism by wearing the colors of our flag,” explained Nicole.
Ms. Gilmour said, “Well, you have all certainly shown your patriotism. I’m very proud of you for thinking to do this.” She then continued, “Do you wear patriotic colors on July 4th?” Some answered that they did and others said they didn’t. Rudy offered, “I haven’t done that yet, but I think it is a good idea.” Truman the dragon added, “Green is my favorite color, but I’m willing to add some red, white or blue to show my patriotism.”
Ms. Gilmour then asked the kids, “What other ways can we show our patriotism?” All hands went up. She asked Carmen what she thought. Carmen replied, “We can fly our flag.” All the kids agreed that was a good idea. Stephen added, “We can go to the 4th of July parade.” Everyone agreed that was fun to do.
Tanner was looking at Ms. Gilmour and asked, “Last year and the year before we learned a patriotic poem and performed it at the parade.” She said, “I remember that. Did you enjoy that?” Truman spoke up and said, “That was a lot of fun. Can we do it again?” Ms. Gilmour said, “Sure.”
She then asked, “Who remembers the special guest who came and told us a lot of information about our flag?” Almost everyone remembered, but Rudy was first to answer. “Proud Patriotic Paul,” he said. Everyone high-fived Rudy.
Nicole stood up and paraded around the room. The kids all looked at her and asked, “What are you doing?” She replied, “At my school we have a lot of ways to celebrate the 4th of July. We plan our own school parade. In art class, we make patriotic posters to hang in the classrooms and hallways. We review a lot of history that tells us about the founding of our country.” Ms. Gilmour said, “That’s great, Nicole. Do all the students like to do that? Nicole replied, “Yes, everyone is excited about it.”
Tanner added, “I took the poem we learned here, Proud Patriotic Paul’s ‘Freedom,’ to my school last year so we could learn it there. We made it into a rap and performed it for the other students.” Truman gave Tanner a thumbs-up and said, “What a great idea. I’m going to do that also.”
The kids were excited to go back to their schools and encourage their friends to be more patriotic. Ms. Gilmour then suggested that they make it a Cool Kind Kid Challenge™ to be more patriotic, show more gratitude for our freedom, to attend patriotic events, and to thank veterans for the freedom we have today.
Proud Patriotic
Paul’s Poem —“Freedom”
Freedom for me
Freedom for you
Available to all
In the red, white and blue
Respect our flag
Our country, too
And each person here
So they’ll respect you
Take care of our land
Water, trees and shore
If we don’t do that
They will be no more
Show that you care
Be grateful, too
For all that we have
In the red, white and blue
