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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Compare and Contrast Poems vs. Lyrics

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Combine your pupils' love of music with their growing knowledge of poetry! First, have them bring in their favorite songs for a discussion on word choice and literary devices. Then, use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Breaking the Code: Actions and Songs of Protest

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Ezell Blair, Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil changed history. Their sit-in at the lunch counter of the Woolworths in Greensboro, North Carolina on February 1, 1960 became a model for the nonviolent protests that...
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Curated OER

Music: "Hearing Between The Lines"

For Teachers 7th - 12th
The class listens to and reads lyrics from popular songs that explore themes of self-esteem, body image, and eating disorders. The song interpretations will serve as a jumping-off point to deeper discussion on the issues, culminating in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Imagine Poetry & Mural Lesson

For Teachers 2nd - 12th
Readers of all ages can work together in groups to create original poetry on the theme of "Imagine," inspired by John Lennon's classic song. They also create a mural to illustrate their poetry. A beautiful lesson, inspired by a beautiful...
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Lesson Plan
Film English

Two Fingers

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Ask your class to think about how song lyrics can go with a video and more with a well-sequenced lesson plan that focuses on the song "Two Fingers" by Jake Bugg. Class members work together to make predictions about the content of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Living in the Limelight The Universal Dream"

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students, using Leo's Lyrics, investigate common themes in popular music. They create a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that analyzes their findings along with a 200 word paragraph stating their observations, conclusions and hypotheses about...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Is Perception Reality? Writing Paradoxes in Poetry

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Explore the paradox of the universe - or, at least, of popular music - with this lesson. Using the songs "Inaudible Melodies" by Jack Johnson and "She" by Green Day, your class will complete a graphic organizer to help them understand...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

With Your Own Two Hands: Are You Changing the World or "Waiting for the World to Change"?

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Can your pupils change the world? Explore this question with Ben Harper's song "With My Own Two Hands" and John Mayer's "Waiting for the World to Change." After listening to the songs, they discuss the tools at their disposal for...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Songs of the Civil War

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Young scholars investigate music of the Civil War era and explore how music can be used to arouse and express emotion. They identify a rhythmical musical pattern and match lyrics to it.
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Lesson Plan
EBSCO Industries

Music and Poetry

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
Song lyrics, like poems, are meant to be heard. After examining the literary devices in several poems, scholars examine the lyrics of popular songs and identify the sound devices and the figurative language writers use to create the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Are Your Favorite Rockstars Poets?

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders decide if the song lyrics that they listen to, could be considered a sonnet or a poem. They are invited to explore lyrics and their meaning. Students write a persuading argument on whatever they decide, but it must be...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "In cold spring air" by Reginald Gibbons

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Reginald Gibbons' poem "In cold spring air" provides learners with a chance to develop their noticing skills. As a warm-up, class members watch Paul McCartney's video singing "Blackbird" and note words and phrases that stand out. They...
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Analyzing Media Messages

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Telling young people to just say no can be difficult in a world that inundates them with messages to just say yes. A instructional activity on media messages encourages teenagers to analyze song lyrics and advertisements that mention...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Anonymous Patriots: Songs of the Revolution

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Give your class a deeper understanding of the context and meaning behind early American song lyrics. By reading the lyrics to "Yankee Doodle" and  "Revolutionary Tea," high schoolers will practice analysis by examining the structure and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poets Got Them Blues

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Contemplate what music learners listen to and why they listen. Can they find poetry within music lyrics? Specifically hone in on blues lyrics and ruminate upon the social issues prevalent in the themes. Particular song lyrics coincide...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Getting the Meaning in Pop Music

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Critical thinkers compare the impact of visual versus aural perception in how they comprehend artistic intent. They consider the meaning of a set of pop lyrics first by reading them, then by listening to them orally, and finally viewing...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nos Creemos Americanos: Braceros in History and Song

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Mexican folk songs offer an authentic look at WWII immigrant workers. This study of the U.S. Bracero Program sets historians up with context information so they can write their own corrido. The class reviews themes and formulas of...
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Lesson Plan
Prestwick House

The Poetry of Bob Dylan

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Bob Dylan's selection as the 2016 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first songwriter ever to receive the honor, has focused the attention of a new generation on the work of the legendary artist. Class members analyze the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

25 Greatest Protest Songs - Lesson 3

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze the lyrics of protest songs as a catalyst for social change. They discuss the influence of music on behavior and explain the use of music as a means of self-expression.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Breaking the Code: Actions and Songs of Protest

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students listen to and discuss the purpose of protest music. They analyze an editorial cartoon related to Jim Crow and read questions from the literacy tests given to African-Americans. They work together to write a song about the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Uncle Sam's Got Himself in a Terrible Jam": Protest Music and the Vietnam War

For Teachers 8th - Higher Ed
"And it's one, two, three...what are we fighting for?" Use music to assess the climate of protest during the Vietnam War, listening to and analyzing Country Joe MacDonald's "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag" (lyrics included)....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who Fought for the Union?

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Learners read New York Times articles, letters, and listen to songs written from a soldier's perspective during the Civil War in order to understand who was fighting in the Union Army. This is a great lesson, complete with weblinks,...
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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

The Vocal Blues: Created in the Deep South of the U.S.

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Bring the sounds of the deep South vocal blues to the classroom with a Smithsonian Folkways lesson. In preparation, scholars listen to and count the 12 bar blues patterns in several works and identify the I, II, IV, and V chords as well...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sing Away Songs

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students research the history of Bryce Canyon National Park. They identify geological features of the Park while examining its recreational activities. They work together to write lyrics to a song about the Park.

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