The Star- Spangled Banner An Integrated Social Studies Lesson Plan MUSIC405- Music for Elementary Teachers Kansas State University

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1 The Star- Spangled Banner An Integrated Social Studies Lesson Plan MUSIC405- Music for Elementary Teachers Kansas State University Name: Jessica Leichter Length of Lesson (minutes): 30 Lesson Title: The Star- Spangled Banner Grade Level: 2nd Subject: Music Standards: MU:Pr4.3.2a Demonstrate understanding of expressive qualities (such as dynamics and tempo) and how creators use them to convey expressive intent : (K) The student recognizes the importance of the Declaration of Independence and the Star Spangled Banner. Objectives: Given the lyrics of The Star- Spangled Banner, the students will be able to identify at least 2 adjectives to describe the melody. After a lesson on Francis Scott Key, the students will be able to explain, in 2-4 sentences, why they think he decided to write The Star- Spangled Banner. Discussion Questions: Do you know what a national anthem is? Why does America have one? What is melody? What is the melody of The Star- Spangled Banner? When is The Star- Spangled Banner usually sung? How does it make you feel? How does it make others feel? Why do you think Francis Scott Key wrote The Star- Spangled Banner? Why do you think Francis Scott Key chose to write The Star- Spangled Banner to this particular melody? Materials: The Star- Spangled Banner Lyrics Star- Spangled Banner and the War of 1812 article Music recording of The Star- Spangled Banner The Star- Spangled Banner writing response pages

2 Background for Teachers: Have a thorough knowledge of the lyrics and tune of The Star- Spangled Banner Know about Francis Scott Key and what inspired him to write The Star- Spangled Banner Beginning of the Lesson: 1. Ask the students whether they know what a national anthem is and why America has one 2. Tell the students that they are going to listen to the first verse of The Star- Spangled Banner. Tell the students that there are actually 4 verses, but only the first one is traditionally sung Middle of Lesson: 1. Review with students the vocabulary in The Star- Spangled Banner and be sure to define any words with which the class may be unfamiliar. 2. Ask the students to define melody. Write this on the board as a reminder. 3. Ask students to describe the melody of The Star- Spangled Banner. Have students list adjectives to describe it (e.g.: fast, slow, loud, strong, etc.). 4. Ask the class why they think Francis Scott Key chose to have this song sung to this melody. Why is this melody appropriate? 5. Ask students to brainstorm occasions when The Star- Spangled Banner is usually sung and how it makes them feel when they hear it. 6. Explain to students that because this is such an important song in the United States, it s important to know what it s significance is and how/why it was written. They will be focusing on the events that inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star- Spangled Banner. 7. Pass out the Star Spangled Banner and the War of 1812 articles to each student 8. Read the handout aloud and discuss with the class. 9. After reading the handout, ask the class why they think most influenced Francis Scott Key to write The Star- Spangled Banner End of the Lesson: 1. Instruct students to write 2-4 sentences on why they think Francis Scott Key decided to write The Star- Spangled Banner on scratch paper 2. Help them revise their writing, and once they have revised the writing, give them a final writing response page. 3. Have each student copy his or her sentences onto the final writing response page. Call on a few students to share.

3 Assessment: The assessment for this lesson is both the responses received during class discussions and the The Star- Spangled Banner writing assignment. Adaptions/Extensions: ELL students should be encouraged to research the history of their native countries national anthems as well as the United States national anthem beforehand. Hearing impaired students could be taught how to sign The Star- Spangled Banner Rationale: This is an important lesson for students to have because national anthems are a very important tradition to each country. Especially in America, The Star- Spangled Banner is played very frequently at events, so it is important for students to know the importance of this historic song. Next Steps/Connections to Other Subjects: This lesson is obviously connected to Social Studies through the history of The Star- Spangled Banner, but it is also connected to ELA due to its writing component and integration of the 5 traits of writing.

4 Full Lyrics to The Star-Spangled Banner Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight s last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe s haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning s first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream: 'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave O er the land of the free and the home of the brave. And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle s confusion, A home and a country should leave us no more! Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O er the land of the free and the home of the brave. O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the war s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav n rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: In God is our trust. And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

5 Star-Spangled Banner and the War of MAKING THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER In June 1813, Major George Armistead arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, to take command of Fort McHenry. Armistead commissioned Mary Pickersgill, a Baltimore flag maker, to sew two flags for the fort. She was hired under a government contract and was assisted by her daughter, two nieces, and an indentured African-American girl. The larger of these two flags would become known as the Star-Spangled Banner. The Star- Spangled Banner s impressive scale (about one-fourth the size of a modern basketball court) reflects its purpose as a garrison flag. It was intended to fly from a flagpole about ninety feet high and be visible from great distances. Pickersgill spent between six and eight weeks making the flags, and they were delivered to Fort McHenry on August 19, The government paid $ for the garrison flag and $ for the storm flag. The garrison flag would soon after be raised at Fort McHenry and ultimately find a permanent home at the Smithsonian Institution s National Museum of American History. The whereabouts of the storm flag are not known. THE BATTLE OF BALTIMORE At 6:30 AM on September 13, 1814, Britain s ships began a 25-hour attack of Fort McHenry. Rockets whistled through the air and burst into flame wherever they struck. Mortars fired 10- and 13-inch bombshells that exploded overhead in showers of fiery shrapnel. Major Armistead, ordered his men to return fire, but their guns couldn t reach the enemy s ships. When British ships advanced on the afternoon of the 13th, however, American gunners badly damaged them, forcing them to pull back out of range. All through the night, Armistead s men continued to hold the fort, refusing to surrender. That night British attempts at a diversionary attack also failed, and by dawn they had given up hope of taking the city. At 7:30 on the morning of September 14, Admiral Cochrane called an end to the bombardment, and the British fleet withdrew. The successful defense of Baltimore marked a turning point in the War of 1812.

6 Because the British attack had coincided with a heavy rainstorm, Fort McHenry had flown its smaller storm flag throughout the battle. But at dawn, as the British began to retreat, Major Armistead ordered his men to lower the storm flag and replace it with the great garrison flag. As they raised the flag, the troops fired their guns and played Yankee Doodle in celebration of their victory. Waving proudly over the fort, the banner could be seen for miles around as far away as a ship anchored eight miles down the river, where an American lawyer named Francis Scott Key had spent an anxious night watching and hoping for a sign that the city and the nation might be saved. THE INSPIRATION OF FRANCIS SCOTT KEY A lawyer named Francis Scott Key was asked to help secure the release of a civilian prisoner. They were successful; however, the British feared that Key and Skinner would divulge their plans for attacking Baltimore, and so they detained the two men aboard a ship for the duration of the battle. Key thus became an eyewitness to the bombardment of Fort McHenry. When he saw by the dawn s early light of September 14, 1814, that the American flag soared above the fort, Key knew that Fort McHenry had not surrendered. Moved by the sight, he began to compose a poem on the back of a letter he was carrying. On September 16, Key and his companions were taken back to Baltimore and released. Key took a room in the Indian Queen Hotel and spent the night revising and copying out the four verses he had written about America s victory. First titled The Defense of Fort McHenry, the poem was sung to the 18th-century British melody Anacreon in Heaven a tune Key had in mind when he penned his poem. Copies of the song were distributed to every man at the fort and around Baltimore. The first documented public performance of the words and music together took place at the Holliday Street Theatre in Baltimore on October 19, A music store subsequently published the words and music under the title The Star- Spangled Banner. During the 19 th century, The Star-Spangled Banner became one of the nation s best-loved patriotic songs. It gained special significance during the Civil War, a time when many Americans turned to music to express their feelings for the flag and the ideals and values it represented. By the 1890s, the military had adopted the song for ceremonial purposes, requiring it to be played at the raising and lowering of the colors. In 1917, both the army and the navy designated the song the national anthem for ceremonial purposes. Meanwhile, patriotic organizations had launched a campaign to have Congress recognize The Star-Spangled Banner as the U.S. national anthem. After several decades of attempts, a bill making The Star-Spangled Banner our official national anthem was finally passed by Congress and signed into law by President Herbert Hoover on March 3, 1931.

7 The Star-Spangled Banner The Star-Spangled Banner