The Banjo in Virginia exhibit has been produced by Ferrum College’s Blue Ridge Institute & Museum, the State Center for Blue Ridge Folklore, with support funding from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy. Developed in 2000, the exhibit is traveling to museums in Virginia through 2001.

To increase the educational value of the museum experience, we have attempted to create activities which you and your learners will find interesting and meaningful as you come to The Banjo in Virginia exhibit. We know that you have many responsibilities and that you feel pressure to work constantly and well to have your learners understand and use the concepts contained in the Virginia Standards of Learning. With that challenge in mind, we have created activities which are directly linked with and are intended to enhance the understanding of SOL content at each grade level.

The materials are organized as follows:

• For each grade level there are suggestions of activities or concepts helpful for learners to grasp prior to the visit.
• Next, there are activities to be completed by the learner during the visit. You will want to preview these with the students prior to the visit so that they will have a focus for their attention and understand how best to collect information you will want them to use in after-visit activities and analyses.
• There are follow-up activities or suggestions for ways to use, analyze, and present the information that was gleaned from the interaction with the exhibit.
• There are lists of the SOLs which are directly addressed by the activities suggested. These are identified by subject area and by number.
• At the end of the grade level activities there are additional content-specific ideas that may be developed to reinforce specific grade-level SOLs.
• A list of questions is included for your use in developing individualized or group projects or to develop focus questions to be answered during the visit. This list is not directly SOL or grade related.

These materials are intended to serve you as suggestions. It is expected that you will adapt them to the needs of your individual learners and to the location in your year plan at which you make your visit. We have enjoyed thinking about the activities and hope that you find them useful.

• Why would banjo skills be mentioned in runaway slave notices?
• How many different names or spellings do you find for the banjo?
• Why was the early Southern dance music provided by black men?
• How many different kinds of materials were used in making banjos?
• Can you make up a song that might be accompanied on a banjo, weaving into it stories from your family such as songs written in the 1800s?
• What are the differences between an early banjo and the frame banjo? How did this impact the banjo's popularity?
• Can you find the names for five different types of banjo?
• What is the style of banjo most often played today?

• What characterizes a “mountain banjo?”

• A “mountain banjo” from the Allegheny region?

• A “mountain banjo” from the Blue Ridge region?

• What kinds of “found” objects served as metal rims for banjos?

• What kinds of decorations often appear on banjos?

Kindergarten SOL Questions
First-Grade SOL Questions
Second-Grade SOL Questions
Third-Grade SOL Questions
Fourth-Grade SOL Questions
Fifth-Grade SOL Questions
Sixth-Grade SOL Questions

RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS AVAILABLE AT THE BLUE RIDGE INSTITUTE

• Historical photographs of banjo players.
• Recordings of banjo playing.
• Names of living bluegrass or old-time banjo players in Virginia.
• A gallery guide for The Banjo in Virginia exhibit.

For information about these materials, contact:

The Blue Ridge Institute & Museum, Route 40 West, P. O. Box 1000, Ferrum College, Ferrum, Virginia 24088, bri@ferrum.edu, 540-365-4416.