Curated OER
Pop Tops
Get your class primed for a comparative analysis lesson with this activity. They compare and contrast their music preferences to those of their classmates. After reading an article, they identify current trends in popular music, analyze...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Strange Fruit: Lynching in America
To continue their study of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the beginning of the civil rights movement, class members watch the YouTube video of Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit" as an introduction to an examination of...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Immigrant Discrimination
For a class learning about Chinese and Irish immigration in America, here's a great starting lesson plan. It has your critical thinkers examining song lyrics, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and a political cartoon, and finally...
Curated OER
Life Reflections in Songwriting and Poetry
Learners analyze, discuss and compare sources of inspiration, use of words and imagery, and other differences in writing styles between two featured songwriters. This is an introductory instructional activity to a creative project unit.
Curated OER
Popular Culture & Diversity
The topic of cultural diversity is explored with the use of pop songs and lyrics. As a way to celebrate Harmony Day, small groups read, reflect, and present their opinions on how the lyrics they analyzed have expressed a statement of...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Songwriting Skill - Choosing a Tone: Jordan Pruitt - “One Love”
"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...
Curated OER
Problems Over the Border
Discuss the issue of illegal Mexican immigration and its effects on the Mexican people. Play the song "Migra" by Carlos Santana, and have learners analyze the lyrics to help gain an awareness of the difficulties Mexicans face. This is...
Curated OER
A Call for Change
"Come gather round people, wherever you roam..." Bring the voice of Bob Dylan to your class with this lesson plan, which takes Dylan's song "The Times They Are A-Changing" and analyzes both the message and voice in the lyrics. Your class...
Curated OER
Learning the Blues
Young scholars take a virtual field trip to Memphis, Tennessee in their study of the blues, its characterisitics, founding fathers, and histororical influence on modern music. They compose blues lyrics that reflect present-day attitudes...
San Francisco Symphony
Ballads for Americans
"Ballad for Americans" was a song written for performers participating in the Federal Arts Project, during The Depression. Learners will analyze the lyrics of the song and then create informational posters about other Federal Works...
Curated OER
True Spin: Music
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...
Curated OER
Formal versus Informal Language
Engage in an activity that focuses on the concepts of formal and informal language use. Middle and high schoolers compare and contrast each style by using a Venn diagram that includes some examples. They read and hear a passage of lyrics...
Curated OER
Nos Creemos Americanos: Braceros in History and Song
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...
PBS
Myth of the West: Lonely But Free I’ll Be Found
Tumbling tumbleweeds! Scholars work with video clips, primary and secondary documents, and song lyrics to uncover life in the Old West. They examine song's lyrics to uncover myths told in the 1930s about life in the Wild West.
Curated OER
Color My World Grey and Blue
Can colors help to convey a mood in writing? Explore this question with your class using the songs "Grey Street" by the Dave Matthews Band and "Blu is a Mood" by Blu Cantrell. After analyzing the effect of the color words in these songs...
Curated OER
Excerpt from E.D. Morel's The Black Man's Burden (1920)
The included excerpt would be a perfect contrary follow-up to reading, Rudyard Kipling's White Man's Burden. Journalist E.D. Morel composed the statement against imperialism in 1920. Black Man's Burden is a wonderful primary source...
Johnny Mercer Foundation
The American Musical
General music students learn about the history of popular American music by creating and performing a one-act musical. After researching and creating an American Musical timeline, class members write a song with lyrics using Jam Studio,...
Little Kids Rock
The Influence of Latin Music in Postwar New York City
Music has often been called the international language that transcends cultures and regions. Scholars analyze the impact of Latin American music on New York City culture in the years following World War II. They research music, video,...
Curated OER
Civil Rights Violations In America, A Historical Review
Learners analyze an event where a person or groups of people were singled out because of their race, religion, nationality or sexuality. They interpret the song "Scarecrow" by Melissa Etheridge and apply the lyrics to the events they...
Curated OER
The Quatrain
Learners analyze the quatrain structure and rhyming in the song, "Puddles". They use this format to create their own quatrain lyrics for a song then they share their song ang revise it.
Curated OER
Soul Legend Wilson Pickett
Students analyze the lyrics to the soul music of Wilson Pickett as a step towards the exploration of the life and talents of the man. The language and expressions utilized in a descriptive article about the composer form the basis of the...
Curated OER
Defining Voice of the Punk Years
Students analyze the music of The Clash and have extensive and intensive practice in reading and listening skills.
Curated OER
SATIRE AND POLITICS
Students, after analyzing a satiric song written during the Prohibition era, illustrate how humor can be utilized as a political tool by writing satiric lyrics on a current political issue at the front of the news world today. They...
Curated OER
Who Fought for the Union?
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 plan, complete with weblinks,...