The Makor Project K–5 Lesson
Vocabulary Card

Words to Know

Three Voices, One Country · Grades 3–5
Bigotry
BIG-uh-tree
Hating or looking down on a whole group of people because of who they are. In 1790, President Washington wrote that the United States gives bigotry “no sanction.”
Sanction
SANK-shun
A yes. Permission or approval. (The word can also mean a punishment, which is confusing, but in Washington’s sentence it means approval.) “To bigotry no sanction” means: the government will not say yes to hate.
Persecution
pur-seh-KYOO-shun
Hurting people, or chasing them out, because of who they are or what they believe. “To persecution no assistance” means: the government will not help anyone do that.
Immigrant
IM-ih-grunt
A person who moves to a new country to live there. Irving Berlin was an immigrant: he came to New York from the Russian Empire in 1893, when he was about five years old.
Colossus
kuh-LOSS-us
A giant statue. The Colossus of Rhodes was a famous giant statue in ancient Greece. Emma Lazarus called her poem “The New Colossus” because the Statue of Liberty is a giant too, but a kind one: a “Mother of Exiles.”
Anthem
AN-thum
A song a country or a group sings to show who they are. “The Star-Spangled Banner” is the official national anthem. “God Bless America” is not official, but many people call it a second anthem.
For families: Ask your child what President Washington promised in 1790, and to whom. Then ask what the Statue of Liberty says in Emma Lazarus’s poem. If your own family came to America from somewhere, tell your child when, and from where, and add your family to the timeline.