Francis Scott Key

OBJECTIVES:

The students will:

1. create a timeline summarizing the life of Francis Scott Key.

2. write a newspaper interview or article describing the events that led to the writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

MATERIALS: "Francis Scott Key" handout

ACTIVITIES:

1. Distribute the "Francis Scott Key" handout to the students. Have the students create a timeline showing the stated and implied dates and events of Key's life.

2. Using the information from the timeline and the handout, have the students imagine that they are newspaper reporters in 1814. They are to conduct an interview, complete with questions and answers, with Key. The interview should provide information regarding how Key came to be involved in the attack of Fort McHenry and why he was moved to write the poem that became the "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Ask the students to use their interviews to write a newspaper article that details the events that were covered in the interview. Be sure to review the five W's with the class. They should be able to include them in their newspaper articles.

Lesson #9: Francis Scott Key

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