This collection will look at how jazz and blues developed from the 1920s, to the Great Depression and beyond.

This lesson pairs well with a literature unit on the Great Depression novel No Promises in the Wind. In this story, a young teenage boy who is an improvisational pianist eventually composes and plays music which comes from his experiences of being homeless.

Students will do a whole group See / Think / Wonder on Lily Furedi's Subway. As the discussion revolves around the variety of people in the scene, they may begin to focus on the musician with the violin case who is the figure of the center of the painting.

The discussion can than transfer tot he music of the times. Students will then listen to each of the pieces in the collection while writing down the mood, tone and images that they see in their mind's eye as they listen. (The chart is included). The class can then discuss themes of hope, desperation, loneliness, etc...

Student can then write their own lyrics to their own blues composition and share with the class.