Pledge 2.0

Back when our school was on a year-round program, we used to teach in the month of July.  The Fourth of July holiday came right at the beginning of the school year, and I took this as an opportunity to review the Pledge of Allegiance.

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.

I kept the "under God" part, which is often in dispute, mostly because that's how I learned it as a kid and I'm almost hard-wired to say it that way.  My kids have trouble with some of the prepositions, so I have a poster on the wall next to the flag to remind them.  I have them recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day before school starts.  I do this more for educational and classroom control reasons than for patriotic reasons.

First, since we do it first thing in the morning, it signals to kids that school has started and it's time to get ready to learn.  

Second, it means that every day, my kids have to distinguish left from right.  ("Put your right hand over your heart")  You'd be surprised at how many kids forget which is left and which is right.

And third, it's a poem the kids recite every day.  When it comes time to study poetry, I remind them that they've already memorized a poem.

I've recited the Pledge of Allegiance over 1,000 times with my kids.  Yes, it gets kind of dry, but I've found two substitutes.  Both come from Stephen Colbert.

The first is the Pledge of Allegiance for the Confederacy:

I pledge allegiance to a couple of flags of the United-slash-Confederate States of America, and to the Republic for which they stand (or stand against), one Nation (until further notice), indivisible (for the time being), with liberty and justice for all (or y'all).

I suppose the references would probably go over the heads of my fourth graders, but it makes me laugh.  The second is called "Pledge 2.0":

I text allegiance to the flag of the United States of American Apparel,and to the facebook for which it friends, one nation, OMG, indivizzibizzle, with liberty and Jonas for all.

Now that's a Pledge of Allegiance I wouldn't mind reciting a thousand times..