America Dreams - Student: Musician

The Library of Congress

	Teachers	Students	Resources

Task	Process	Team Roles	Conclusion

Musician	With your ear for melody you play the music of the American Dream. Write the sheet music or play and record music that characterizes the American Dream from your research. Be sure your group has completed the Getting Ready Activities on searching and document analysis.

Group Tasks
Each team member is responsible for a management task.		Team Manager Research Manager Production Manager Archive Manager

Assessment Questions How will your project be assessed? Identify which of these questions you will use to guide your inquiry:		What is the American Dream? How has the American Dream changed over time? How do diverse cultures view the American Dream? How have significant historical events affected the American Dream? How will new opportunities of the 21st century challenge the American Dream? What makes being a musician an effective medium for exploring the American Dream?

Action Plan Create an action plan and and determine your timeline for completing the project. Include the following information in your Action Plan:
Timeline and Responsibilities		Choose your team management responsibilities and decide each manager's specific responsibilities. How much time do you have? What deadlines do you need to meet? What materials do you need? How do you plan to manage the materials?
Research Strategies		What is your focus for inquiry? Identify your research topic or theme. What questions will focus your research? List a series of genuine questions you intend to answer by your research. What additional information do you need to answer these questions? How will you know you've found what you are looking for? List the type of resources you intend to look for to answer your research questions. What primary resources from American Memory will you search for? How do you know that the examples you've found are valid? Once you have located a few examples of primary sources, what is your criteria for selecting these as evidence? Use the document analysis worksheet.

Tips for Searching the Collections There are many ways to search the American Memory collections. The Learning Page is a good place to start. You may find it helpful to read and practice "Finding Items in American Memory" to learn how to narrow your search idea. Learn to work with keywords and work within a specific collection of resources. Here are a few helpful hints to get you started: Search the collections by type and read the search tips chart Use the search tips list Each collection has a unique set of keywords. Find collections that may be helpful by using the "plain English" themes in the Learning Page Pathfinders. Within each collection, browse the indexes of authors, subjects, and titles. Use the Collection Connections section of the Learning Page to find out more about a specific collection or to see a list of collections with related topics.

Resources
General: To search all text collections, use this link: Manuscript and Broadside Collections/Books and Pamphlets Specific Collections that may be of help: African-American Music, Southern U.S. ~ Recordings ~ 1938-1943 Title: "Now What a Time": Blues, Gospel, and the Fort Valley Music Festivals, 1938-1943 Bernstein, Leonard ~ Multiformat ~ ca. 1920-1989 Title: The Leonard Bernstein Collection, ca. 1920-1989 Civil War Era ~ Band Music ~ Multiformat Title: Band Music from the Civil War Era Copland, Aaron ~ Multiformat ~ 1900-1990 Title: The Aaron Copland Collection, ca. 1900-1990 Folk Fiddle Music, Southern Appalachian ~ Henry Reed ~ Multiformat ~ 1966-1967 Title: Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier: The Henry Reed Collection Folk Music, California ~ Sidney Robertson Cowell ~ Multiformat ~ 1930s Title: California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties. Collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell Folk Music, Dust Bowl ~ Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin ~ Multiformat ~ 1940-1941 Title: Voices from the Dust Bowl: the Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941 Jazz ~ William P. Gottlieb ~ Photographs ~ 1938-1948 Title: William P. Gottlieb: Photographs from the Golden Age of Jazz Sheet Music ~ 1850-1920 Title: Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 Sheet Music ~ 1820-1885 Title: Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885 Song Sheets ~ ca. 1800-1880 Title: America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets

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Last updated 12/19/2002