NAfME Teaching with Primary Sources Curriculum Units for the 2014 Music Standards 

In this unit, students will use recordings and other resources held by the Library of Congress to

  • analyze slavery as a motivation for spirituals.
  • analyze how spirituals influenced the music’s tonality and harmonic structure.
  • analyze how slaves expressed forbidden feelings and desires.
  • make connections to original melodies and techniques.
  • inquire about the tone, audience, speaker, occasion, purpose, and subject to inform their performance practice.
  • create a log of what is aesthetically pleasing.
  • identify ways that they might use protest songs in our current culture.  he SOAPSTone Model of inquiry.
Image of Hilton at Long Beach. 2026 Biennial NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education Conference. Early bird deadline August 12. Hotel block rate good through September 7. Register today.

Category

  • Ensembles
  • Standards

Resource Type

  • Classroom Resource
  • Curriculum
  • Publication
  • Teaching Guide
  • Teaching Tip / Idea

Specialties

  • Choral
  • Vocal

Year Added

2018

Explore More

Now available online: the latest issue of Music Educators Journal. Cover art for June 2026 issue.
Image of Hilton at Long Beach. September 30-October 3. 2026 Biennial NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education Conference. Early bird deadline August 12. Hotel block rate good through September 7. Logos for Society for Research in Music Education and Society for Music Teacher Education.
Read the June Teaching Music magazine. Cover art for June 2026 issue of Teaching Music