1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
Nell Bang-Jensen is a teacher and theater artist living in Philadelphia, PA. Her passion for arts education has led her to a variety of roles including developing curriculum for Philadelphia Young Playwrights and teaching at numerous theaters and schools around the city. She works with playwrights from ages four to ninety on developing new work and is especially interested in alternative literacies and theater for social change. A graduate of Swarthmore College, she currently works in the Artistic Department of the Wilma Theater and, in addition to teaching, is a freelance actor and dramaturg. In 2011, Nell was named a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and spent her fellowship year traveling to seven countries studying how people get their names.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Reading: Informational Text
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.5 Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.7 Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).

2. How has the U.S. national anthem evolved over time and what can we learn from this example about the craft of songwriting?
© Richard T. Nowitz/Corbis
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. How has the U.S. national anthem evolved over time and what can we learn from this example about the craft of songwriting?
Built between 1798 and 1803, Fort McHenry once guarded Baltimore Harbor in Maryland. Today, the former U.S. Army post is a national monument and historic shrine.
It was this day, 200 years ago, that lawyer Francis Scott Key, who was aboard a nearby truce ship attempting to negotiate the release of a prisoner of war, saw the U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry, despite a day-long blitz from the British Navy.
Inspired by the sight, Key composed a poem about the scene entitled “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” [sic] which would later be set to the tune of an English drinking song called “To Anacreon in Heaven.” With Scott’s lyric, and a tune in place, our national anthem was born, complete with a new name: “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. How has the U.S. national anthem evolved over time and what can we learn from this example about the craft of songwriting? 1
Web Search
Find the poem that Francis Scott Key wrote after being inspired by the U.S. flag flying over Fort McHenry. What phrases are familiar to you? 2
Video Search
Find a video of the English drinking song “To Anacreon in Heaven”. Does it sound familiar? What parts do you recognize? 3
What is a melody or a tune? What are lyrics? How do you think they work together? 4
What is the purpose of a national anthem? What emotions or ideas do you think people would want to express in one? 5
When did this song officially become the U.S. national anthem? Who was responsible for this?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. How has the U.S. national anthem evolved over time and what can we learn from this example about the craft of songwriting? 5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. How has the U.S. national anthem evolved over time and what can we learn from this example about the craft of songwriting? 1
Web Search
Find the poem that Francis Scott Key wrote after being inspired by the U.S. flag flying over Fort McHenry. What phrases are familiar to you? 2
Video Search
Find a video of the English drinking song “To Anacreon in Heaven”. Does it sound familiar? What parts do you recognize? 3
What is a melody or a tune? What are lyrics? How do you think they work together? 4
What is the purpose of a national anthem? What emotions or ideas do you think people would want to express in one? 5
When did this song officially become the U.S. national anthem? Who was responsible for this?
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. How has the U.S. national anthem evolved over time and what can we learn from this example about the craft of songwriting? 1
Web Search
Find the poem that Francis Scott Key wrote after being inspired by the U.S. flag flying over Fort McHenry. What phrases are familiar to you?
(Possible queries: “Francis Scott Key poem Defence of Fort M’Henry”, “text of Defence of Fort M’Henry”).
From
Students should read the poem (see link above) and think about what parts they recognize from the anthem they’re used to singing. They should be able to identify the first paragraph as the words of the national anthem that is commonly sung today, also known as “The Star Spangled Banner.” Other verses of the poem are sometimes sung as other verses of the anthem as well.

8. How has the U.S. national anthem evolved over time and what can we learn from this example about the craft of songwriting? 2
Video Search
Find a video of the English drinking song “To Anacreon in Heaven”. Does it sound familiar? What parts do you recognize?
(Possible queries: “Bing/Videos: To Anacreon in Heaven, “Bing/Videos: song, To Anacreon in Heaven”).
From
Students should watch a video of people singing this song (see link above) and notice that the tune is familiar, though they’re probably used to hearing different words set to it. “To Anacreon in Heaven” was clearly the inspiration for the tune of the “Star Spangled Banner”, even though the lyrics (and sentiment) are very different.

9. How has the U.S. national anthem evolved over time and what can we learn from this example about the craft of songwriting? 3
Web Search
What is a melody or a tune? What are lyrics? How do you think they work together?
(Possible queries: “music for kids, what is a melody?”, “definition of a lyric”).
From and from
A melody also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. Lyrics are defined as the words of a song.
Knowing these definitions, students should then think about how lyrics and melody work together in a song. They might think about their favorite songs and what they like about them, and how often musicians want to pair a catchy or unusual melody with meaningful lyrics, or try to create a similar mood in the songwriting (i.e. a melody might be uplifting or dark, and the lyrics might reflect this, or maybe, interestingly, play against each other!) Ask them to think about an upbeat song with sad lyrics, or a song with happy lyrics that sounds slow and sad. What do students think makes for a good song?

10. How has the U.S. national anthem evolved over time and what can we learn from this example about the craft of songwriting? 4
Web Search
What is the purpose of a national anthem? What emotions or ideas do you think people would want to express in one?
(Possible queries: “why do countries have national anthems?”, “what is the purpose of a national anthem”).
From
National anthems are used in a wide array of contexts. Certain etiquette may be involved in the playing of a country's anthem. These usually involve military honours, standing up, removing headwear, etc. They are played on national holidays and festivals, and have also come to be closely connected with sporting events. During sporting competitions, such as the Olympic Games, the national anthem of the gold medal winner is played at each medal ceremony; also played before games in many sports leagues, since being adopted in baseball during World War II. When teams from two different nations play each other, the anthems of both nations are played, the host nation's anthem being played last. In some countries, the national anthem is played to students each day at the start of school as an exercise in patriotism. In other countries the anthem may be played in a theatre before a play or in a cinema before a movie.
After reading about the contexts in which the national anthem is commonly played, students should then think about what would make for a strong anthem. Answers may vary. For example, they might think about how the anthem is usually used to inspire patriotism or love for one’s country, and because of this, it might describe a time when the country was particularly strong, or when its citizens’ overcame an obstacle.

11. How has the U.S. national anthem evolved over time and what can we learn from this example about the craft of songwriting? 5
Web Search
When did this song officially become the U.S. national anthem? Who was responsible for this?
(Possible queries: “history of the U.S. national anthem”, “when did the U.S. get a national anthem?”).
From
"The Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889, and by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 which was signed by President Herbert Hoover. Before 1931, other songs served as the hymns of American officialdom. “Hail, Columbia” served this purpose at official functions for most of the 19th century. “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee”, whose melody is identical to “God Save the Queen”, the British national anthem, also served as a de facto anthem. Following the War of 1812 and subsequent American wars, other songs emerged to compete for popularity at public events, among them "The Star-Spangled Banner".

12. How has the U.S. national anthem evolved over time and what can we learn from this example about the craft of songwriting?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question. Students should think about the history of the U.S. national anthem and how it combined Francis Scott Key’s poem with the melody of a popular drinking song in order to find the right balance of a tune and lyrics that would inspire patriotism. Students can also take a step back to think about the role of national anthems in general within societies, the contexts in which they are sung, and their purpose. The lyrics of the “Star Spangled Banner” talk about the U.S. flag still flying after a particularly brutal day in battle, and we can guess that Francis Scott Key was hoping to inspire this kind of dedication and fearlessness in American citizens.