Source: School Library Media Activities Monthly, (6:9, May 1990)

Grade Levels: 4, 5

Subject(s):

• Social Studies/State History
• Information Literacy

Curriculum (subject area) Objectives:
The activity may be used in connection with a social studies unit on U.S. geography.

Resources:
Books and materials about each state in the United States
Card or automated catalog

Instructional Roles:
The library media specialist may work with the classroom teacher to introduce students to the use of the card catalog to locate resources about states in the United States.

Activity and Procedures for Completion :
The library media specialist may introduce the students to the idea of a motto. Sample mottos may be read to the students and they may discuss the definition of "motto." Dictionary definitions may be introduced. Several examples may be projected, using an overhead projector, to show that a motto is a brief statement of a rule to live by or a goal or ideal of a club, nation, state, etc. The library media specialist may explain that the students will solve the mystery of which motto belongs to which state (and the District of Columbia), using the card catalog as a resource. (Note: Other resources may be used to find the mottos, and this activity may be easily adapted as an introduction to encyclopedias or almanacs.) The library media specialist may give the students a list of mottos of each of the states, with the states unidentified. The students must help the library media specialist identify the states corresponding to each motto. Each student must select a state (or several states). The library media specialist may discuss how to locate a book about a particular state using the card catalog. Filing rules of the card catalog may be reviewed if it is a manual catalog. If an automated catalog is available, the students may try searching for the state name. The library media specialist may show the students a samplecatalog card for a state book. Specific parts of the card should be pointed out so that the students may decide if the book is likely to contain relevant information. The library media specialist may also show the students the classification numbers corresponding with the material on states as well as the physical location of the classification sections. Students may begin their search. When they find a card, they may write down the classificationnumber on a slip of paper and then locate the book on the shelf. Students may use the table of contents or index to locate the motto of the state, look at the worksheet to find the motto, and write the name of the state, the book title, and the call number beside the motto. They may add this information to a master transparency.

Motto
State
Call No.

"Eureka" (I have found it)
I direct (Dirigo)
Liberty and Independence
North to the future
To the stars through adversity (Ad astra per aspera)
Justice for all (Justitia omnibus)
United we stand, divided we fall
He who transported still sustains (Qui transtulit sustinet)
Our liberties we prize and our rights we will defend
Let the people rule (Regnat populus)
The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness (Ua mau ke ea o kaaina i ke pono)
Gold and silver (Oro y plata)
State sovereignty-national unity
It grows as it goes (Crescit eundo)
If you are looking for a beautiful peninsula, look around you (Si quaerispeninsulam amoenam
circumspice)
God enriches (Ditat deus)
In God we trust
Equality before the law
Star of the north (L'etoile du nord)
All for our country
Mountaineers are always free-(Montanii semper liberi)
Agriculture and commerce
 Under God the people rule
By the word we seek peace, but peace only under liberty (Ense petit placidamsub libertate quietem)
Liberty and prosperity
Virtue and arms (Virtute et armis)
With God, all things are possible
The crossroads of America
Live free or die
To be rather than to seem (Esse quam videri)
May it last forever (Esto perpetua)
Thus always to tyrants (Sic semper tyrannis)
Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable
Nothing without providence (nil sine numine)
Hope
Freedom and unity
Union, justice, confidence
The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law (Salus populi supremalex esto)
While I breathe I hope (Dum spiro spere)
Equal rights
Higher (Excelsior)
The Union
Friendship
Industry
Forward
By and by (Alki)
Work overcomes all obstacles (Labor omnia vincit)
We dare defend our rights
Wisdom, justice, moderation
Manly deeds, womanly words (Fatti maschii, parole femine)
Virtue, liberty and independence

Evaluation :
The student will use the card catalog to locate information about state mottos.

Follow-Up:
The students may:

 
• Illustrate the motto of the state which they chose.
• Speculate about the history of the motto and use library media resources to verify their speculations.
• Identify the most common words in the mottos of the states, find definitions in a dictionary, and discuss why these words are important.
• Use a similar process to find state songs, birds, slogans, emblems, etc.