2. IT 725 Foundations of Instructional Technology Fall 1997 Class Project Emporia State University © Copyright 1997

3. Our goal was to interview people of various ages to see how well they knew the Pledge of Allegiance and what the individual words mean.

4. Credits Dr. Dusti Howell, Instructor Cheri Clark, Elementary School Teacher Anna Fox, Educator Char Fraipont, Special Education Teacher Greg Gallup, Graduate Student Diane Gilbert, High School Teacher D’ Anne, Gudeman, Graduate Student Lesle Lietzan, Graduate Student Shane Pierce, Graduate Student Roberta Sheahan, Graphic Designer Thank you for your interest in our project ! © Copyright 1997

6. 1. History - The Right Way 2. Humor - The Wrong Way 3. Levels - Various Age Groups 4. Statistics 5. Interesting Facts 6. View Credits to Exit

7. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag I pledge allegiance to the Flag, of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The original pledge was published in the September 8, 1892, issue of The Youth’s Companion in Boston. For years, the authorship was in dispute between James B. Upham and Francis Bellamy of the magazine’s staff. In 1939, after a study of the controversy, the United States Flag Association decided that authorship be credited to Bellamy. The phrase “under God” was added to the Pledge on June 14, 1954.

8. Origins On September 8, 1892, the Boston-based "The Youth's Companion" magazine published a few words for students to repeat on Columbus Day that year. The author, Francis Bellamy was a Baptist minister and circulation manager of the Companion, the Reader Digest of its day. As chairman of a committee in the National Education Association, Bellamy prepared the program for the public schools celebration for Columbus Day in 1892. He structured this program around a flag-raising ceremony and a flag salute- his Pledge of Allegiance.

9. Copies of the pledge were distributed through thousands of leaflets sent to public schools throughout the country. On October 12, 1892, the quadricentennial of Columbus arrival, more than 12 million children recited the Pledge of Allegiance, thus beginning a required school-day ritual. Changes In 1923, the words the Flag of the United States of America replaced my flag, for the sake of clarity. And in June 1954, at the urging of the Knights of Columbus, Congress added the words, under God. The Pledge was now both a patriotic oath and a public prayer.

10. Official Status It was not until 1942 that Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance. One year later, in June 1943, the Supreme Court ruled that school children could not be forced to recite it. In fact, today only half of our fifty states have laws that encourage the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom.

11. Future Modifications If the Pledge's historical pattern repeats, its words will be modified during the next decade. Below are two possible changes. Some prolife advocates recite a slightly revised Pledge adding "...born and unborn." at the very end. A few liberals recite a slightly revised version of Bellamy's original Pledge: "I pledge allegiance to my Flag, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with equality, liberty and justice for all." Ironically Bellamy, a liberal Christian Socialist, considered including the word "equality" in his original version but knew that his fellow committee members were against equality for women and African Americans.

12. Humor Oh, yeah? A sample of terms from the Pledge of Allegiance as defined by students in a recent survey. Pledge - A wood cleaner Indivisible - Like the angels Liberty - A statue in New York Republic - A store at the mall (Banana...)

13. A first grader came home from school asking questions about a man named Richard Stands. “I never heard of anybody named Richard Stands,” said his mother. “He must be somebody important,” the kid persisted, “because when we salute the Flag, we say, ‘I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for Richard Stands’.”

14. Age Levels: Video of the Pledge Allegiance & the Definitions of Terms Primary Grades K - 2 Intermediate Grades 3 - 5 Middle School Grades 6 - 8 High School Grades 9 - 12 College - Students & Professors

15. Statistics Each age level was tested on two skills: 1. Writing the Pledge of Allegiance 2. Defining the following terms: A. Pledge B. Allegiance C. Republic D. Indivisible E. Justice F. Liberty G. The Primary K-2 (No data available) Intermediate Grades 3-4 Middle School Grades 6-8 High School Grades 9-12 College Students & Professors Note: Spelling was not taken into consideration.

16. Interesting Facts Middle School Students tied College Students at 52% in their ability to successfully write the Pledge of Allegiance while the success rate was only 20% for High School Students. Intermediate Students were within 1 percentage point of writing the Pledge of Allegiance successfully compared to High School Students (21% and 20% respectively). Middle School and High School Students were also tied at 55% in providing bad definitions to the terms. College Students provided bad definitions 60% of the time, which was worse than Middle School and High School.

17. Primary Grades K - 2 I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag...

18. Intermediate Grades 3 - 4 I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag...

19. Intermediate Grades 3 -4 Definitions 1. Pledge: - Swearing to our country - To promise 2. Indivisible: - Working together and helping each other 3. Justice: - Standing up for what you believe in - Good over evil I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag...

20. Middle School Grades 6-8 Definitions... Allegiance - To honor and give faith Liberty - To have Freedom - The Statue of Liberty Justice - To give fair treatment - Tara’s Niece’s Name Republic - A Government Party Indivisible - Can’t see it The - A word you learned as an infant I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag...

21. High School Grades 9-12 Definitions... Pledge - To give honor Justice - The right thing - The right to sue or show up in the court Allegiance - When you are a part of something Republic - A government that consists of both elected and appointed officials Indivisible - Unable to break down and divide - Can always be seen Liberty - To have freedom and rights The - An article I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag...

22. College I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag... Definitions... Pledge - Giving your control to someone else Justice - What you believe in Allegiance - Respect Republic - This is your nation which you stand proud of Indivisible - Can see through the eyes of God Liberty - A person who is liberal to act The - The Flag of the U.S. in which you stand and rise for

23. Statistics of Intermediate Grades 3 - 4 Note: 21 students were interviewed. Note: Spelling was not taken into consideration.

24. Statistics of Middle School Note: 42 students were interviewed. Note: Spelling was not taken into consideration.

25. Statistics of High School Note: 11 students were interviewed. Note: Spelling was not taken into consideration.

26. Statistics of College Students & Professors Professors scored 100% on writing the Pledge and defining the terms so they are not factored into the charts below. Note: 72 students were interviewed. Note: Spelling was not taken into consideration.