If you are looking for informational text that support Common Core and cross-disciplinary instruction linking the arts (music, specifically) and history, read on!

Whether you are a general music teacher or a classroom teacher with a passion for integrating music, the Library of Congress Online Collections and Presentations offer a rich array of online materials that can serve as informational text supporting student learning.

Audio recordings, playlists, printed music, biographies of musical giants can serve as vehicles for enhancing student interaction with complex text.    And they can all accessible on the Library of Congress web site.  Below are a few online resources that can serve as text supporting social studies, general music, and music-integrated instruction around the broad topic of Patriotism.  These resources align the following literacy-based goals:

Artisticallyliteratecitizensknow and understand artworkfrom varied historicalperiodsand  cultures, andactivelyseek and appreciate diverse formsand genresofartwork ofenduring quality/significance (National Core Arts Standards Lifelong Goal)

Students who are college and career read value evidence: Students cite specific evidence when offering an oral or written interpretation of a text. They use relevant evidence when supporting their own points in writing and speaking, making their reasoning clear to the reader or listener, and they constructively evaluate others’ use of evidence.

Students who are college and career ready build strong content knowledge: Students establish a base of knowledge across a wide range of subject matter by engaging with works of quality and substance. They become proficient in new areas through research and study. They read purposefully and listen attentively to gain both general knowledge and discipline-specific expertise. They refine and share their knowledge through writing and speaking. (Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects, K-12)

The Song and Poetry Analysis Tools- Lyrical Legacy includes a printable analysis tool entitled,  Thinking About Songs as Historical Artifacts.  This resource is designed to help students learn to think like composers and like historians. This teacher resource includes discussion questions such as Who was the piece written for? What was the purpose of the piece? What topic or concern of the era does the piece represent? What does the piece reveal about the artist and the artist’s viewpoint? Do you agree with this viewpoint? Additional questions can be devised that focus on the composer’s choices related to vocabulary and processes associated with the music elements.

The Teachers Guide Sheet Music Analysis is another tool that teachers may find useful in guiding student content investigations associated with patriotic themes.   Using selected sheet music as primary sources, students can use this analysis tool to respond to sample questions related to three processes: Observing, Reflecting, and Questioning.  Depending on the instructional focus, information from the cover designs, lyrics, and printed music can provide opportunities for student investigations. The tool includes follow-up ideas at Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced levels that may be adapted for classroom use.

The Songs of America Presentation is a multimedia resource that allows students to explore American history as documented in the work of some of our country's greatest composers and performers. With over 80,000 online items, teachers and students can “listen to digitized recordings, watch performances of artists interpreting and commenting on American song, and view sheet music, manuscripts, and historic copyright submissions online”. The site also includes biographies, essays and curated content, interactive maps, a timeline and teaching resources offering context and expert analysis to the source material.”   Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in such rich informational text resources enhances students learning in both general music and music-integrated classrooms.  Another use of the presentation resources aligns well with music tasks associated with listening, analyzing, and responding to music.  Today’s students are familiar with the concept of cover versions or cover performances.  Where else can you find a recording of the familiar patriotic “anthem,” The Stars and Stripes Forever performed by a traditional concert band, a piano/banjo duo, and marimba band?  General music teachers may design analysis tools to compare/contrast versions of this and other recorded American songs using the music elements.

The Performing Arts Encyclopediaprovides information about the Library's sheet music, audio recordings, sheet music, films, photographs, and other materials.  A search of primary resources associated with The March King: John Philip Sousa, reveals online presentation of selected music manuscripts/scores, photographs, printed music, historical recordings of the Sousa Band, copies of programs and press clippings, and more from the Sousa Collection at the Library of Congress.  Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from the Sousa collection support both common core and arts literacy goals.  The Performing Arts Encyclopedia, as well as the resources listed above provides a rich array of digitized informational text resources that can bring America’s history and patriotic musical heritage alive for today’s 21^st Century learners.