Process

Part I: Examples of Music & History (A Classroom Quest)
(**Please turn in all of Part I together with all group members names on it.**)

A) In your group, read the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner and research:
  1.      Who wrote the song?
  2.      When did he write it?
  3.      Why did he write it?
B) In your group, pick one of the following songs.  Only one group may have a song from the list below (sign up your
    choice with the teacher).  Read/listen to the lyrics of your song:    
    
     Hail, Columbia (1789) 

     Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

     When Johnny Comes Marching Home

     We're in the Money (1933) by Al Dubin

     Strange Fruit (1939) by Billie Holiday

     A Change Is Gonna Come (1964) by Sam Cooke

     Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation by Tom Paxton (1965)

     War by Edwin Starr (1970)

     Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today) by The Temptations (1970)

     Waiting On The World To Change by John Mayer (2006)

   Answer the following questions about that song:

  1.     What did the composer of the song try to tell their audience?
  2.     What events were taken place in the U.S. when the song was created?
  3.     What type of emotions do you feel through the singers voice/words (happiness, sadness, anger)?
  4.     How do you think the audience was affected by the song?
C) In your group, research two other songs from the historical periods listed below with political/historic messages. 
    Explain:
  1.     Who sings the song?
  2.     What year it was created?
  3.     What events inspired this song?
  4.     What are the lyrics trying to tell their audience?
  5.     How do you think the audience was affected by the song?

Possible events to find songs about can include:

Part II: Creative Expressions (An Individual Quest)
(** Please turn in Part II separately from Part I.  Be sure that if you have a partner that both names are on it.**)

You are to complete this portion of the quest by yourself or with a partner.  Pick an event in history from the following list:
Write a song about that event.  In your song, you can give facts about the event, explain how the event makes you feel, and/or make suggestions to your audience about what they should do about the event.  Your song is to have at least two verses, a chorus, and a bridge.  (For help, go here to learn The Parts of a Song.)

**After you are finished working with your group from Part I (and your partner from Part II), you are to answer the group evaluation questions found on the Evaluation page.  Each student is to turn in the group evaluation individually.**

In order to find all of the information you will need as your quest continues, click: Resources