Would you like to teach the patriotic song "American the Beautiful" in a way that will enrich its meaning to your students for the rest of their lives? Would you like to meet persuasive writing standards at the same time? You can do that with this resource! Your students participate in two activities that examine the origins of the song and asks them to consider if it should replace "The Star-Spangled Banner" as our national anthem. They'll end their exploration with a persuasive writing activit