1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
Ja'Dell Davis is a Los Angeles native who currently divides her time between New York City and Madison, Wisconsin. She is currently a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, pursing a PhD in Sociology. Ja’Dell previously taught high school in Philadelphia public schools, and implemented college access and academic enrichment programming in Chester, Pennsylvania and New York City in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood. Ja’Dell received her B.A. from Swarthmore College with a special major in History and Educational Studies, and a minor in Black Studies. She completed her M.S.Ed in Secondary School Education at the University of Pennsylvania.  In addition to her studies and work in the education field, Ja’Dell is a dancer, musician, avid people watcher, and Scrabble enthusiast.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Reading: Informational Text
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.1Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.2Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.5Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to the development of the ideas.

2. What details of the story of the defense of Fort McHenry can you identify in the U.S. National Anthem?
© Richard T. Nowitz/Corbis
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. What details of the story of the defense of Fort McHenry can you identify in the U.S. National Anthem?
Built between 1798 and 1803, Fort McHenry once guarded Baltimore Harbor in Maryland. Today, the former U.S. Army post is a national monument and historic shrine.
It was this day, 200 years ago, that lawyer Francis Scott Key, who was aboard a nearby truce ship attempting to negotiate the release of a prisoner of war, saw the U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry, despite a day-long blitz from the British Navy.
Inspired by the sight, Key composed a poem about the scene entitled “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” [sic] which would later be set to the tune of an English drinking song called “To Anacreon in Heaven.” With Scott’s lyric, and a tune in place, our national anthem was born, complete with a new name: “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. What details of the story of the defense of Fort McHenry can you identify in the U.S. National Anthem? 1
Thinking
Have you ever sung the U.S. National Anthem? Where do you usually hear this song? Do you know the lyrics? Try to recite them in your group without looking up they lyrics! 2
Web Search
Find the lyrics for the U.S. National Anthem. How many verses are there? Do you recognize the story of the defense of Fort McHenry in these other lyrics as well? 3
Web Search/
Find lyrics (from the first/main verse) that point to a battle being fought. 4
Web Search/Thinking
Find lyrics (from the first/main verse) that point to the flag “still flying over Fort McHenry, despite a day-long blitz from the British Navy.” 5
If you could choose another national anthem for the United States, which song would you choose? Which lyrics would make it appropriate for the U.S. national anthem? Why?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. What details of the story of the defense of Fort McHenry can you identify in the U.S. National Anthem? 5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. What details of the story of the defense of Fort McHenry can you identify in the U.S. National Anthem? 1
Thinking
Have you ever sung the U.S. National Anthem? Where do you usually hear this song? Do you know the lyrics? Try to recite them in your group without looking up they lyrics! 2
Web Search
Find the lyrics for the U.S. National Anthem. How many verses are there? Do you recognize the story of the defense of Fort McHenry in these other lyrics as well? 3
Web Search/
Find lyrics (from the first/main verse) that point to a battle being fought. 4
Web Search/Thinking
Find lyrics (from the first/main verse) that point to the flag “still flying over Fort McHenry, despite a day-long blitz from the British Navy.” 5
If you could choose another national anthem for the United States, which song would you choose? Which lyrics would make it appropriate for the U.S. national anthem? Why?
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. What details of the story of the defense of Fort McHenry can you identify in the U.S. National Anthem? 1
Thinking
Have you ever sung the U.S. National Anthem? Where do you usually hear this song? Do you know the lyrics? Try to recite them in your group without looking up they lyrics!
Students should discuss their familiarity with the U.S. National Anthem and try to recite (or sing) the lyrics if possible.

8. What details of the story of the defense of Fort McHenry can you identify in the U.S. National Anthem? 2
Web Search
Find the lyrics for the U.S. National Anthem. How many verses are there? Do you recognize the story of the defense of Fort McHenry in these other lyrics as well?
(Possible queries: “Star Spangled Banner lyrics” “American national anthem lyrics” “US national anthem lyrics”)
From USA Flag Site ( (MANY sites can provide this info). Students should examine the lyrics and pull out the story of Fort McHenry:
Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream: 'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion, A home and a country should leave us no more! Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the war's desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

9. What details of the story of the defense of Fort McHenry can you identify in the U.S. National Anthem? 3
Web Search/Thinking
Find lyrics (from the first/main verse) that point to a battle being fought.
(Possible queries: “Star Spangled Banner lyrics” “American national anthem lyrics” “US national anthem lyrics”)
From USA Flag Site ( (MANY sites can provide this info):
Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Students should be able to pull out lyrics such as “perilous fight” and “And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air” to indicate a battle

10. What details of the story of the defense of Fort McHenry can you identify in the U.S. National Anthem? 4
Web Search/Thinking
Find lyrics (from the first/main verse) that point to the flag “still flying over Fort McHenry, despite a day-long blitz from the British Navy.”
(Possible queries: “Star Spangled Banner lyrics” “American national anthem lyrics” “US national anthem lyrics”)
From USA Flag Site ( (MANY sites can provide this info):
Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Students should pull out lyrics such as “Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there” and, even as posed as a question, “Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

11. What details of the story of the defense of Fort McHenry can you identify in the U.S. National Anthem? 5
Thinking
If you could choose another national anthem for the United States, which song would you choose? Which lyrics would make it appropriate for the U.S. national anthem? Why?
Students should list alternative national anthems for the United States and say why they believe this song to be appropriate.

12. What details of the story of the defense of Fort McHenry can you identify in the U.S. National Anthem?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question.