Flat Aubrey wanted to learn about historical events and facts of the United States. Most historical museums were a long distance to drive and she didn't want to search the web. A personal learning experience as a visit to a historical site was just what she had wanted. Aubrey listed places she knew of on a piece of paper, and she had marked out all that were not up to her liking. The newest historical site wasn't far from her house in Oakman, AL, which was the Veteran's Memorial. Aubrey had thought that place would be interesting because it had the Statue of Liberty, monuments of wars, and lists of local veterans, which were important parts of history. Therefore, Flat Aubrey had chosen the Veteran's Memorial to learn about the local veterans and more historical events.
The memorial site was outdoors and close to the main road of Oakman. Weather conditions had slowed down, so it was warm in the high sixty degree weather. The monument by the entrance with, "The Brave Who Gave", written across the top stood out to her. It wasn't because the monument was close to the entrance, but the meaning of the words grabbed her attention. Flat Aubrey had thought about the men and women dying only to serve and protect our country. The thought of the soldiers that didn't return to their families had made her sad and realize one must be brave to be a soldier. The depressing thoughts had left her mind as the large monuments of the rights of Americans emerged into her sight. The monuments entailed the Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom From Want, and Freedom From Fear. Aubrey noticed the familiar initials of a president on one of them and above it a quote. The initials belonged to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As for the quote, it was by far his most famous one, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.", and it was inscribed in the Freedom From Fear monument. Flat Aubrey knew he led our country during the Great Depression, and that he was the only handicapped president. His quote inscribed on a monument meant he had done great things and he must have been a successful leader. Flat Aubrey's mind had wondered about the wars the United States were apart of and how the President of the United States impacted them. That information would have to wait until another time, so she read the war monuments. Those monuments listed the wars of WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Under the wars, were the names of veterans that fought in the them, and on the back of the monuments were quotes. Aubrey's favorite quote was the one on the WWII monument. It said, "Look at these names. It's easy to see they gave their all for us to be free." At her feet, there were bricks with the local veteran's names on them and under the names were their military branch and service dates. The bricks made up the entire floor of the memorial site; therefore, the amount of local veterans were overwhelmingly large. Veterans lived all across the town and Aubrey had never known. Later, Aubrey walked over to a monument she was familiar with. It was the Statue of Liberty, which still stands as a symbol of our country's friendship with other nations, freedom from oppression, hope, and liberty for American citizens. The monument seemed identical to the one in New York, except it was a smaller version. Flat Aubrey had never seen the original statue in person, but one day she hoped to. The memorial site impressed Aubrey. The ongoing lists of names, quotes, and monuments led Flat Aubrey to the decision to always give soldiers the upmost respect they deserve. The site had amazed her by the historical information it held of the local veterans and the United States. The Veteran's Memorial contained meaningful quotes, names of veterans, monumental events, which all played a part in history. The memorial site held more than enough historical value to educate Flat Aubrey and change her perception of soldiers and our country.
Here is an educational app, US History Timeline I would use after visiting the Veteran's Memorial. It gives a list of important events of the United States history. This particular app is absolutely free, which most teachers would find as a must have. As for the learning curve, this app would be easy to navigate and master, by the category options at the bottom of the screen. The categories are specific, such as people, events, world, territories, and etc. Students could benefit from this app, because of its broad range of information. The topics are touched on briefly, that way students would not be overwhelmed with the in depth topics. Obviously, the app connects to Social Studies which could lead to objectives such as, "Students will be able to identify cause and effect of events in history." However, a problem that would more than likely arise from this app is the simple summaries of the topics may not be sufficient. For a solution, I would have the students research the incorrect or simple information on the internet or revert to their textbook. Then, in a whole group discussion, we would address the information on the Promethean board.
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