River Songs Project

Overview
This thematic project focuses on river songs--tales of the navigational trails in the six southeastern states.

Project Summary
Rivers have frequently been the topic of music in the southeastern U.S. Some songs tell of those who traveled these water trails, some are about the river itself, while some spin tales of events related to the river. Others touch our emotions with stories of sorrow and woe or of joy and happiness. Still, other pieces of music ignore lyrics and bring the spirit of the river to the listener simply by the tempo and the instruments used. This online thematic project provides classes an opportunity to conduct research on the rivers used as themes in selected music of the southeast and to share their research either via a tour guide script or a campaign pamphlet.

Students in this project will use information located at http://members.aol.com/Mmcbs/music_frame.html, www.pbs.org/riverofsong/music, and http://memory.loc.gov as the main information sources to develop their products. For researching the historical, nature, social, and economical facts/events connected with the rivers, students should use these and other online materials as well as print sources.

A confirmation e-mail will be sent to participating classes.

Grade Level - 4-12

Project Objectives
This thematic project focuses on river songs--tales of the navigational trails in the six southeastern states.

Subjects
Fine Arts, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Technology

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