Over 400,000 people moved their families in search of a better life in the American West during the Westward Expansion. The pioneers made room for musical instruments with their guns, food, and tools, while taking only the minimal necessities that would fit into modest wagons. During what seemed like an interminable dusty journey, music was often the sole source of light and happiness for these exhausted travelers. This book examines the roles of music in the Westward Expansion and the diverse cultural landscape of the Old West, including northern Cheyenne courtship flute makers, fiddle-playing explorers, dancing fur trappers, hymn-singing missionaries, frontier flutists, girls with guitars, wagon-driving balladeers, poetic cowboys, singing farmers, musical miners, and preaching songsters.

WHAT IT IS: This fun and hilarious musical play helps you teach the standards while bringing your classroom to life! Easy-to-do play comes with script, audio CD, and teacher's guide. NO music or drama experience is required¿you don't have to sing or play a note! Go big and perform on stage, keep it simple with a classroom performance, or simply do reader's theater in class. No fancy sets, costumes, or performance spaces are needed, so it's all up to you! Flexible casting for 8-40 students and permission to edit the script and songs make it easy to tailor the play to the needs of your class and community. Your purchase of one copy per teacher includes permission to photocopy the script for students. /// WHAT IT TEACHES: "The Incredible Westward Movement" is all about the rush west and Manifest Destiny, including the Louisiana Purchase, Oregon Trail, California Gold Rush, Trail of Tears, and Transcontinental Railroad. 25 minutes; grades 2-6. /// SYNOPSIS: Follow the exciting adventures of Delivery Girl as she races across the country desperately trying to deliver packages to Americans who keep "movin' West." She'll meet Daniel Boone, James Monroe and Thomas Jefferson, Sacajawea, 49ers, and even prairie children working the land. /// WHAT IT DOES: "The Incredible Westward Movement" is a great complement to your curriculum resources in social studies. And, like all Bad Wolf Press plays, this show can be used to improve reading comprehension, vocabulary, performance and speaking skills, class camaraderie and teamwork, and school engagement and parental involvement¿all while enabling students to be part of a truly fun and creative experience they will never forget!

"Describes the opposing viewpoints of the American Indians and settlers during the Westward Expansion"--Provided by publisher.

This title is an exploration of how the American West, both as physical space and inspiration, animated American music. The book is a comprehensive illumination of what the West meant and still means to composers living and writing long after the close of the frontier.