Teach American Transcontinental Railroad History for Middle School with classroom-ready lessons. Season 2 of My Music with Rhiannon Giddens features Pulitzer Prize and Grammy winner Rhiannon Giddens hosting a series of musical performance and conversation with multicultural musicians in the Silkroad Ensemble’s American Railroad project. The project presents a musical exploration of the cultures that were first connected by the building of America’s Transcontinental Railroad. We offer an Instructional Guide for teachers with 11 lessons based on this Silkroad Ensemble project plus a Student Guide for learners.
Get the teacher and student guides now from the My Music with Rhiannon Giddens / Teaching the American Railroad page in the Journeys in Film Resource Library — or keep reading to learn more!
American Transcontinental Railroad History for Middle School FAQ
Why use My Music with Rhiannon Giddens to Teach American Transcontinental Railroad History
My Music with Rhiannon Giddens brings US history alive to explore the development of the Transcontinental Railroad during western expansion in the United States. The series also deepens understanding and connection and can build community around the cultures that were first connected by the building of America’s Transcontinental Railroad.
About the American Railroad Instructional Guide for Teachers
The American Railroad Instructional Guide brings accurate historical information regarding the development of the Transcontinental Railroad. The guide address the impact of the railroad’s progress on individuals and groups vital to the success of this national endeavor. The lessons also present realistic experiences, many of which have been overlooked and misrepresented.
The American Railroad Unit is standard-based, with an emphasis on ELA and Social Science for middle school students. The Enduring Understanding – Students understand that progress has varying impacts on the people and cultures it touches – is the foundation that unifies each lesson. Each lesson, then, is designed to be integral to the unit outcome and relies upon the previous lesson(s), ensuring clarity of the day’s learning and the instructional journey.
Each lesson relies on key reading, critical thinking, processing, collaboration, communication, creativity, and reflection. Every lesson contains a student handout and a teacher key.
About the American Railroad Student Guide
The American Railroad Student Guide features printable student handouts for all 11 lessons. Each lesson includes a Share Out, a Daily Learning Target, a detailed Reading Process, and Discussion Questions. They also include related primary sources, terms to know, worksheets and activities.
Who Should Teach American Transcontinental Railroad History
These resources are designed specifically for grades 6 to 8, and may be adaptable to other grades.
What Classes Can I Teach American Transcontinental Railroad History In
These resources may be useful for classes in Asian American History, Black History, Geography, History, Indigenous History / Native American History, Social Studies and U.S. History.
What Cultures Does The American Railroad Instructional Guide Explore
The lessons in The American Railroad Instructional Guide explore the profound yet often-overlooked contributions of Indigenous and African Americans, as well as Chinese, Irish, Japanese, and other immigrant communities, to the construction of the U.S. Transcontinental Railroad and connecting railways across North America.
Where Can I Get These Guides
Get your free copy of these teaching resources from the My Music with Rhiannon Giddens / Teaching the American Railroad page in the Journeys in Film Resource Library and learn more about teaching with this powerful and inspiring series.
Where Can I Watch This Series
Get the latest information on where to watch from the My Music with Rhiannon Giddens listing in the Journeys in Film Resource Library.
Where Can I Get More Related Resources
The American Railroad Instructional Guide makes a perfect pairing with the Learning Guides designed for individual episodes of My Music with Rhiannon Giddens Season Two. Guides are available for Episode 1 with Chinese pipa master Wu Man, Episode 2 with Celtic harpist Maeve Gilchrist, Episode 3 with Black American musician Mazz Swift, and Episode 6 with Native American vocalist and lap steel guitarist Pura Fé. These Learning Guides and related Extension Activities are available from the My Music with Rhiannon Giddens / Teaching the American Railroad page in the Journeys in Film Resource Library.
We also offer educational resources for teaching with The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silkroad Ensemble. This vibrant documentary presents artists from around the world in collaboration. It’s a great tool for teaching about world music, world instruments and world cultures, that complements the cultural and musical explorations of My Music with Rhiannon Giddens.
If you’re teaching Middle School Geography, History and Social Studies, we also recommend: Children of Heaven (Iran), Like Stars on Earth (India), Please Vote for Me (China), The Cup (Tibet), The Way Home (South Korea), Wadjda (Saudi Arabia), and Whale Rider (Aotearoa / New Zealand).
Our Windows and Mirrors Media Literacy Activity gives students a way to consider if the perspectives of underrepresented and marginalized people are included in their media diets.
How Can I Learn More about Teaching with this Series
Learn more about teaching with our full collection of Learning Guides and teaching resources for this series in our My Music with Rhiannon Giddens Teaching Resources FAQ.
How Can I Do Professional Development Related to this Series
Silkroad Ensemble members will be participating in our free professional development webinar Teaching with Primary Sources: Cultural Products as Historical Narrative on January 27, 2026. Learn more and register for the series: Stories That Connect: Using Film and Primary Sources to Build Belonging
What if I’m New to Teaching With Film
Check out our Teacher Toolbox to make teaching with film fun, easy and effective.
About Rhiannon Giddens
Rhiannon Giddens has made a singular, iconic career out of stretching her brand of folk music, with its miles-deep historical roots and contemporary sensibilities, into just about every field imaginable. A two-time GRAMMY Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning singer and instrumentalist, MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient, and composer of opera, ballet, and film, Giddens has centered her work around the mission of lifting up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been overlooked or erased, and advocating for a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins through art.
About My Music with Rhiannon Giddens Season 2
Pulitzer Prize and Grammy winner Rhiannon Giddens hosts a half-hour series of musical performance and conversation with multicultural musicians in the Silkroad Ensemble’s American Railroad project. The outstanding guest artists of the series are innovative and accomplished musicians and storytellers who have forged unconventional paths to find their voices.
About the American Railroad Project
Just as the ancient Silk Road facilitated cultural exchange between Asia and Europe, the railroad transformed the American landscape—both uniting and dividing the people whose lives it touched. While these laborers played a fundamental role in one of the 19th century’s most significant technological and economic achievements, their stories have too often been erased from history. At the same time, the railways had a devastating impact on Indigenous communities, displacing people from their ancestral lands. Originally conceived by Silkroad’s Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens, the American Railroad project sheds light on the history and experience of these peoples.
About the Silkroad Ensemble
Yo-Yo Ma conceived Silkroad in 1998 as a reminder that even as rapid globalization resulted in division, it brought extraordinary possibilities for working together. Seeking to understand this dynamic, he recognized the historical Silk Road as a model for cultural collaboration – for the exchange of ideas, tradition, and innovation across borders. In a groundbreaking experiment, he brought together musicians from the lands of the Silk Road to co-create a new artistic idiom: a musical language founded in difference, a metaphor for the benefits of a more connected world.
Journeys in Film is pleased to offer educational resources for two Silkroad Projects: My Music with Rhiannon Giddens Season Two / American Railroad and The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silkroad Ensemble for grades 6-12.
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My Music with Rhiannon Giddens / Teaching the American Railroad
