Our National Anthem, according to 8th graders
Before teaching the War of 1812 and the genesis of the US National Anthem, I gave my 8th grade American history students a pretest.
Although young, my students have already heard the song dozens if not hundreds of times at assemblies, sporting events, etc.
Students could earn extra credit by…
- Naming the song (25% correctly wrote “Star Spangled Banner”)
- Identifying the author of the lyrics (0% named Francis Scott Key)
- Writing the lyrics (see below)
- Explaining what the lyrics meant (0%, because see below)
Here is how one 8th grader began:
Azaming grace fall now for me
He was among the 40% of my students who knew zero lines to the National Anthem. Most of the others just left their papers blank. At least that kid wrote a line from a song. (More or less. OK, less.)
About 60% of my students jotted down at least one recognizable line of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Here’s the breakdown:
25% wrote 1 recognizable line
20% wrote 2 recognizable lines
15% wrote 3–5 recognizable lines.
