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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lyrics Analysis Guide

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Assist your learners as they unravel the wonders of lyric analysis. This resource breaks down the analysis process by hook, verse, and chorus. Each is briefly defined and is used to look at any song's lyrics in a systematic way.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching Peace through Literature and Song

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Negative effects of bullying come to light through listening to the book Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco. Class members identify philanthropic acts portrayed in the story and make illustrations to connect them to their own...
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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
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

Listen Up: Antigone Rising

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Upper graders listen to and watch a documentary about an all female group Antigone Rising. They discuss how females are portrayed in the rock world, the type of music they play, their song lyrics, and what they note in the documentary....
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Magical Musical Tour: Using Music Lyrics to Teach Literary Elements

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
While music lyrics are often used to teach literary elements, the richness of this resource comes from the wealth of exercises, activities, and support materials provided in the packet.  Although designed for gifted learners, the...
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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

25 Greatest Protest Songs - Lesson 3

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers 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
PBS

Hidden Messages in Spirituals

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Slaves laboring in the cotton fields of the old South singing joyously may have convinced overseers that their workforce was happy and content, but in truth, these spirituals contained secret codes. After viewing a short video about...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Variations of Pain

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars listen to the song :King of Pain" by the Police. They identify different instrumentation and different rhythmic accompaniments to the opening vocal phrase and explore the text in-depth, discussing the various poetic...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

All Along the Watchtower Questions

For Students 9th - Higher Ed
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 5 short answer and essay questions based on the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower."
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: American Idyll

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Using the painting, Childhood Idyll for inspiration, learners reflect on things that are idealized. They focus in on pop music and pop idols, write a song, and perform it in front of the class, American Idol style.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

True Spin: Music

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Upper graders take a critical look at art criticism, music, and politics. They watch one segment of "True Spin," produced by VH1 music television and then discuss myths that relate to art and music. Several modern songs are analyzed...
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Unit Plan
Johnny Mercer Foundation

Project-Based Songwriting

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Project-based learning in a music theory class? Take note. Young songwriters compose, record, copyright, and promote their original songs. They even design their own CD cover.
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

The Freedom Riders and the Popular Music of the Civil Rights Movement

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s marched to its own beat—literally. Using songs from the era, as well as other primary sources such as King's "I Have a Dream" speech, class members analyze lyrics to discover how music and protest...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Character Development Through Song

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students use songs to analyze their sense of identity and self-worth. In groups, they discuss and explore their own character development and discover how far they have come in recent years. They also identify the positive and negative...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music and Lyrics

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders analyze lyrics from songs from a variety of genres. In this musical analysis lesson, 8th graders write an essay about their life plans in which they discuss the lyrics of U2's song, "One." They tell how the writings of Dr....
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Lesson Plan
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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Songwriting Skill - Choosing a Tone: Jordan Pruitt - “One Love”

For Teachers 5th - 10th
"Tone means attitude." Or so says this resource that uses Jordan Pruitt's "One Love" to model for songwriters how to develop an attitude in their lyrics. Class members engage in a number of exercises designed to give them direct and...
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Lesson Plan
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Hold McDougal

Songwriting Skill - Finding Your Style: Elisa Victoria - “No Surprise”

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Hip Hop? Country? Punk? R and B? So many styles. Young song writers consider the emotional effects of various style options before selecting the style best suited to the emotions they want to express in their song. The sixth in a...
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Lesson Plan
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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Songwriting Skill - Elaboration: Jesse McCartney - “How Do You Sleep?”

For Teachers 5th - 10th
The practice of developing lyrics by elaborating with sensory details and examples continues in the third lesson on songwriting. This time class members examine Jesse McCartney's "How Do You Sleep?" Using procedures established in the...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Henry David Thoreau and Linda Ronstadt? Ann Tyler and Pete Townshend? Joyce Carol Oates and Pearl Jam? This richly detailed plan pairs classic literature with contemporary music and asks learners to analyze how the theme of conformity is...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

And You Don't Stop - 30 Years of Hip-Hop, Episode 2, Lesson 1

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discuss Public Enemy's lyrics and compare and contrast them with songs popular during the Civil Rights Movement. They write their own rap song that expresses feelings of oppression or freedom from oppression.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Getting Inside The Outsiders Through Music

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students listen to popular music of the 50's and 60's to make literature connections to The Outsiders. In this popular culture lesson plan, students evaluate and analyze various songs and connect them with the themes in the literature...
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Lesson Plan
Concordia College Archives

History and Musical Aesthetics

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
What are the musical elements that characterize a school's fight song or its alma mater? Class members listen to examples of fight songs and alma maters from various schools, play a listening game, and then create a list of the...

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