Unit Preparation

1)  Read Vivianna Becomes an Arkansan.

2)   Read the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.

3)   Obtain examples or pictures of the United States and the Arkansas state flag.

4)   Review the history and symbolism of the flags.

5)   Familiarize yourself with the structure of your local government (town and county) and with the name of contemporary state and local officials.

6)   Contact a governmental official to visit the class to talk about his or her job and responsibilities.

7)   Visit the Web Site of the Arkansas Secretary of State, www.sos.arkansas.gov.  This site has lots of information about Arkansas and its government including downloadable activity sheets.  Other Web Sites that have useful information are Boys State (www.arlegion.org/boys_state) and Girls State (www.dumas.sesc.k12.ar.us/dhs/ags) , and the Clinton Library (www.clintonlibrary.gov).

8)   For a thorough background in the history of Arkansas politics and governments, read Arkansas Politics and Government. Do the People Rule? by Diane Blair.

9)   As part of your preparation you might want to identify or to obtain a number of items that would be useful as supplementary materials.  These include

      An Arkansas quarter
      An Arkansas state flag
A flag of the United States (In addition to a contemporary flag, older versions with different numbers of stars can also be very helpful)
      Pictures of
            George Washington
            Thomas Jefferson
            Benjamin Franklin
            The U. S. Capital
            The White House
            The Supreme Court Building
A copy of the
            Declaration of Independence
            The U. S. Constitution
            The Arkansas Constitution
            The U. S. Citizenship Test
A map of the contemporary United States
      A map showing the original 13 colonies
      A map of Arkansas
      Lyrics or musical score for
            The various Arkansas State Songs
            God Bless American
            The Star Spangled Banner
Stick-on American and Arkansas flags