Focus Questions
This resource was designed to prompt deeper reflection, focus reading, and support learning. Discuss these questions with colleagues who might stimulate new ideas and insights.
- What do you think makes integration between subjects meaningful to students and educators?
- In what way is puppet theater advantageous for shy children or for a class that has many English language learners? How does puppetry help students “walk in another’s shoes”?
- The pre-industrial world of colonial America and the Revolutionary War can be difficult for modern students to relate to. How might including songs from the eras being studied in history lessons help students to envision the lives and perceptions of people who lived during that time?
Additional Resources
- Recognizing Our Individuality (PPT)
- Country Music (PPT)
- The Great Global Convergence, 1400-1800 CE
- U.S. History and Historical Documents
- 2014 United States History Assessment
- K-2 Puppetry Lessons
- A River Ran Wild (Lesson Plan from Scholastic)
- Amish Barn Raising time-lapse video (1 min.)
- Amish Barn Raising Builds Barn in a Day (Description and 3:30 min. video)
- Witness (1985 movie) – “Building the Barn” scene (5 min. video dramatization)
- Daejeon Handbell Choir
- Popular-8 Note Songs with Musical Notation You Can Color
- Kid-Friendly Venn Diagram Explanation (3:31 min.)
- 2-Circle Venn Diagram Template
- The Music Instinct: Science and Song (PBS video – 1 hour and 53:30 min.)
- Primate Chatter Mimics Speech
- Railroad Gandydancer Work Song (1:31 min)
- Spirit of ’76
- Fife & Drum Music of the American Revolution (8:50 min. video)
- Role of Fife, Drum, Bugle in Revolution
- “I Hear America Singing” Walt Whitman poem
- British Invented Yankee Doodle (2:24 min)
- Liberty Song (2:22 min. video)
- Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier (3 min. video)
- Introduction to the Erhu
- What are violin strings made of? (5 min.)
- Fiddle in Roots Music
- Banjo in Roots Music
- Guitar in Roots Music
- Renaissance Lute (3:47 min. video)
- The Appalachians: Scotch-Irish (31 min.)
- Woodie Guthrie
- American Roots Music Documentary (1 hour and 6 min.)
- Prelude to the Boston Massacre (3 min.)
- Paul Revere’s Engraving of Boston Massacre
- John Adams Defending British Soldiers Involved in Boston Massacre (5:28 min. video)
- John Adams’s Summation (3:05 min.)
- Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (5:19 min.)
- Paul Revere’s Ride (poem)
- What Really Happened on Paul Revere’s Ride (5:47 min.)
- Truth About Paul Revere (2:38 min. video)
- Lexington and Concord – Shot Heard Around the World (6: 41 min. video):
- Ben & Me, part 1 (10:23 min video)
- Ben & Me, part 2 (10:46 min video)