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Activity
Library of Congress

Loc: Local Legacies

For Students 9th - 10th
Experience America through its grassroots! Diverse populations lend cultural colorfulness to our country. Read about an International Food Fair in California, Annie Oakley Days in Ohio, and Wabanaki Basketry in Maine. Click on your...
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Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Sheg: Reading Like a Historian: Booker T. Washington vs w.e.b. Du Bois

For Teachers 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read primary source documents to solve a problem surrounding a historical question. This document-based inquiry lesson allows students to read a speech of Booker T. Washington's and a selection...
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Website
University of Maryland

Department of History: Freedmen and Southern Society Project

For Students 9th - 10th
Collection of primary documents that depict the social revolution and drama of the Emancipation in the words of the participants. Includes the voices of liberated slaves and defeated slaveholders, soldiers and civilians, common folk and...
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Handout
Wisconsin Historical Society

[Archived Content]wisconsin Historical Society: Paul Bunyan

For Students 9th - 10th
Many legends live on in Wisconsin (and elsewhere) about Paul Bunyan, a giant of a lumberjack and a folk hero. This article describes how the legends have survived and grown.
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Handout
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Etta Baker

For Students 9th - 10th
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Etta Baker, an American folk musician who influenced the folk music revival of the 1950s and '60s with her mastery of East Coast Piedmont blues, a unique fingerpicking style of...
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Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: Performing Arts Encyclopedia: Shenandoah

For Students 9th - 10th
The Library of Congress provides background information on the origins of the popular folk tune, "Shenandoah."
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Handout
Other

Grandma Moses: Reflections of America

For Students 9th - 10th
An essay about Grandma Moses and her apotheosis as an artist.
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Activity
Library of Congress

Loc: Veterans History Project

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection, sponsored by the Library of Congress, of stories and experiences of veterans "while they are still among us." Students can also interview a veteran using the Project Kit supplied. Choose: How to participate in the Project...
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Handout
Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Aaron Copland

For Students 3rd - 8th
Aaron Copland (1900-1990 CE) was one of the first composers to put jazzy music into symphonic music, Copland was also one of the greatest American composers. Read more about him and his work. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to...
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Lesson Plan
Broward Education Foundation

Broward Education Foundation: The Arts and Crafts of Storytelling [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
In the Arts and Crafts of Storytelling, American folk heroes come to life, help students expand their vocabulary and increase knowledge of figurative language. Students identify figurative language like similes, idioms and hyperboles....
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Website
Other

Mad River Theater Works: The Ballad of John Henry [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Scroll down this study guide to find the lyrics to the Ballad of John Henry, which was collected from individuals in the West Virginia mountains in the 1920's. Discusses the different versions of the song and the history behind it.
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Website
Other

Memory Is a Painter: The Art of Grandma Moses

For Students 9th - 10th
This site has a short biography with three enlargeable images of the work of Grandma Moses.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier

For Students 9th - 10th
At this site from the Library of Congress, you can listen to an 82-year-old Virginia fiddler, Henry Reed, playing tunes recorded in the 1960's. Many of the tunes have been transcribed and the notation can be viewed on line as well. The...
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Unit Plan
Indiana University

Harriet Beecher Stowe Wright Fiction Collection

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Full-text works by Harriet Beecher Stowe can be viewed as facsimiles of the original books, as PDF documents, and as plain text.
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Website
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Harcourt: Biographies: Davy Crockett (In Spanish)

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about one of the most interesting early Americans. From Tennessee to Congress to the Alamo, find out what drove this extraordinary man.
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Handout
Classical Bands

Classicbands: James Taylor

For Students 9th - 10th
Features details on the personal life as well as the professional life of "Sweet Baby James", James Taylor, one of the most popular folk singer/songwriters of the 1970s.
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Lesson Plan
John F. Kennedy Center

The Kennedy Center: Guantanamera, a Poem and a Song

For Teachers 9th - 10th
The folk classic "Guantanamera," takes on added meaning when students learn of its origin. Cuban political activist Jose Marti and controversial American activist Pete Seeger, serve as the basis for a fascinating comparative study....
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Website
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Harcourt: Biographies: Davy Crockett

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about one of the most interesting early Americans. From Tennessee to Congress to the Alamo, find out what drove this extraordinary man.
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Lesson Plan
John F. Kennedy Center

The Kennedy Center: Lesson Plan: Writing Folktales

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
With this lesson plan, students examine the American tradition of folk tales and tall tales, then write and illustrate their own original tale. Provides links to more information, an assessment rubric, extension ideas, and a list of...
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: Popular Culture During the Great Depression

For Students 9th - 10th
A great description of the tension in popular culture during the Great Depression with a focus on tradition abutting modernism in the arts and architecture. Read about the new comic book and radio superheroes, and commonality in American...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Math + Arts: Dance Space

For Students K - 1st
In this lesson, students students explore locomotor and non-locomotor movement and calculate the area needed to perform the African-American dance Zudio.
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Lesson Plan
Cynthia J. O'Hora

Mrs. O's House: Youth Voter Campaign

For Teachers 9th - 10th
The class will hold a registration for voters. Students will consider what makes folks get out and vote, what issues drive them to the polls. A program to get younger, qualified voters to vote is developed by students.
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Website
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Hank Williams

For Students 9th - 10th
Read detailed biographical information on country/blues/folk music star, Hank Williams, a 1987 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Includes an essential songs list.
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Primary
Contemplator

Popular Songs in American History: Turkey in the Straw

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides the lyrics to an early minstrel song that was popular during Andrew Jackson's presidency.

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