Music and History

Personally, I can't think of a better way to learn about American History than by using music of the times. I have done this with many different parts of American History. I just recently did this with the Vietnam War. I introduced the material by handing out the lyrics to Blowin in the Wind, Born in the USA, Travelin Soldier, Draft Dodger Rag, Fortunate Son, For What it's Worth, Ohio, Master's of War, What's Goin On and Fightin Side of Me. By going through the lyrics and listening to the songs the students get a great picture of the time. The students enjoy the lyrics and then I have them put their own spin on the songs. What would they do different with the music? What did they like? I also like having them find songs from today that would match up with the music. Another new twist on this is having them create YouTube videos with the songs, lyrics, and pictures to publish for the classmates to see. Enjoy!