The Flag That Inspired a Song
A large flag flew over Fort McHenry as the sun came up. One man saw it and had an idea for a poem.
His name was Francis Scott Key. On the morning of September 14, 1814, he looked toward the fort in Baltimore, Maryland.
The fort had been bombarded. That means it had been fired on. Key saw that the large American flag was still flying above it.
The flag was very big. It was a garrison flag, a large flag flown at a fort. Its size helped people see it from far away.
The flag had 15 stars and 15 stripes. Each star and stripe stood for a state in the United States at that time.
The flag we see today looks different. It has 50 stars, one for each state. It has 13 stripes for the first 13 states.
Seeing the flag gave Key an idea. He wrote a poem about what he had seen. His words were later set to music.
The song became known as “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Many years later, it became the national anthem of the United States. A national anthem is a song that stands for a country.
Today, the old flag is kept in a museum. It helps people remember the morning Key saw it flying over Fort McHenry.
- poem:
- A piece of writing that uses words in a special way.
- stripes:
- Long bands of color.
- state:
- One part of a country, such as Maryland.
- museum:
- A place where things are kept and shown to people.
- remember:
- To keep something in your mind or think of it again.
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Main Idea
Identify the central idea and explain how important details develop it.
Context Clues
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Summarize
Select, organize, and restate the most important information without adding opinion.
Purpose
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Vocabulary
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Writing Prompts
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Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 1Who saw the flag over Fort McHenry?
- 2Where was Fort McHenry?
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About this explanatory article passage for Lower Elementary
“The Flag That Inspired a Song” is a explanatory article reading passage about American history, written for Lower Elementary. It takes about 1 minute to read (217 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.