Lesson Plan: The Star Spangled Banner

As June 14th is Flag Day here in the United States, I thought it would be fun to share a lesson plan that I wrote that focuses on the American national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner. The lesson focuses on the artistic interpretation of the anthem and asks students to watch two performances of the Star Spangled Banner and then compare and contrast those performances. It’s a simple activity that can be done at almost any grade level. I hope that you can use it today in your classrooms!

Star Spangled Banner - Compare & Contrast

The Star Spangled Banner is the official National anthem of the United States of America.

Here is a link to the historical background to the music and the events that inspired it: http://amhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/

Here is a link to the Smithsonian Institute website on the Star Spangled Banner: https://www.si.edu/exhibitions/star-spangled-banner-flag-inspired-national-anthem-event-event-exhib-227

The national anthem is performed quite frequently, at sporting events, ceremonies, graduations, etc. In this assessment, you will watch two performances of the Star Spangled Banner; one performed by the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Kurt Masur, and a more recent performance given by Beyonce at President Obama Inauguration in January 2012. You will then answer the given question. Good luck!

New York Philharmonic performing the Star Spangled Banner under the direction of Kurt Masur.

Beyonce performing the Star Spangled Banner at the Obama Inauguration, January 2012.

After exploring the online resources and the two contrasting performances of the anthem, here is the prompt that you will give the students:

Now that you have viewed the two performances of the Star Spangled Banner, compare and contract the two performances. What is the same? What is different? Which performance do you like best, and why?

Be sure to use as much music vocabulary as you can when describing the performances. Also, make sure you watch each performance in its entirety before responding.

There it is - simple lesson about a song that your students have probably heard countless times. I hope that you find it useful!

Happy Flag Day!