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Educational Resources for Teachers
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International Music Hall, Radio City, New York, 1932
Photo by Samuel H. Gottscho. Gottscho-Schleisner Collection (Library of Congress)
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Welcome to New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music, an exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program and brought to you by your state humanities council. These materials and activities were compiled to help your students observe, encounter, participate, and learn about American roots music during their visit to the exhibition.
Lesson Plans
The lesson plans that accompany New Harmonies will help you create a meaningful experience for your students. Each lesson includes Pre-visit, Visit, and Post-visit activities, designed for grades 4-8 and another set for 9-12. All the lessons can be adapted for younger or older audiences, so evaluate each lesson before selecting activities for your students.
The lesson plans meet objectives in the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. The New Harmonies lesson activities promote critical thinking by engaging students in examining real issues in your community and analyzing primary historic documents.
The Pre-visit step is designed to be simple, to introduce the students to the exhibit topic, and to be easy to implement. This step is intended to stimulate the students’ curiosity in the exhibit topic and help students gather information for use in visit and post-visit activities. Prior to your arrival at the museum, please check with your local host organization to find out more information on the exhibition and logistical details for your visit.
The Visit step is focused on information gathering. This is a time for the students to explore and read the exhibit content, enjoy audio samples, and utilize interactive components. The activity worksheets included in this section will help students gather enough information to apply their knowledge in a later classroom activity. With all activities and worksheets, students can work individually or in groups.
The Post-visit step consists of ideas and activities to implement after your return to the classroom. The post-visit step involves higher-level thinking skills such as interpretation, synthesis, thinking hypothetically, and/or expressing judgment. Through these experiences, students will gain a deeper understanding of the topic "American roots music."
While it’s desirable to participate in the pre-visit, visit, and post-visit steps, it’s certainly not required. In fact, each individual lesson will provide your students with thought-provoking questions and activities. You can easily customize lessons or even develop your own methods of exploring roots music!
Please share with us your opinions about the effectiveness of these educational activities for New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music. Please take a few minutes to complete the evaluation form and mail it to MoMS-SITES at P.O. Box 37012, MRC 941, Washington, DC 20013-7012.
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New Harmonies has been made possible in Russell, Kansas by the Kansas Humanities Council.
New Harmonies is part of Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and the Federation o State Humanities Councils. Support for Museum on Main Street has been providedby the United States Congress.
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