Curated OER
Early Industrialization
Eighth graders analyze primary source documents emphasizing young people in factory labor (mill workers during 1840-1860). They study hours of labor, ages of laborers, reasons for working, and working conditions. They write a poem or song.
Curated OER
Storytellers: Bruce Springsteen
Students use the correct music terminology to evaluate a performance, composition, and arrangement of the song "Blinded by the Light" by Bruce Springsteen and compare it to another version recorded by Manfred Man.
Curated OER
Fires of the 21st Century
Learners explore historical perspectives. In this contemporary history lesson, students listen to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," discuss they lyrics, and add a new verse to the song for the years 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005.
Curated OER
VH1 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll Lesson 3
Young scholars examine female artists who perform in the genres of rhythm & blues, jazz, soul, and hip-hop/rap. They compose lyrics and melody in one of these genres.
Curated OER
Stand Up and Sing: Music and Our Reform History
Students examine events of historical significance in music. In groups, they are given pieces of sheet music and work together to try to determine the social and political conditions of the time based on the lyrics. They write their own...
Curated OER
Jazz Talk
Students analyze the origins of jazz music by examining work songs, spirituals, blues, and gospel songs as well as works of poetry from African American artists. They create their own poems from either the narrative, dramatic, or lyric...
Curated OER
The Hurricane
Students analyze three different ways a story is told, determine truth and fiction in each story, and discover and apply techniques to narrate a good story.
Students listen to Bob Dylan's "The Hurricane" and watch the "R" rated movie,...
Curated OER
Sam Cooke - Lesson 1
Students identify the impact of the social injustices and Civil Rights movement on Cooke's life and career. They create lyrics to a familiar song that express a personal struggle or concern.
Curated OER
Getting Inside The Outsiders Through Music
Learners listen to popular music of the 50's and 60's to make literature connections to The Outsiders. In this popular culture instructional activity, students evaluate and analyze various songs and connect them with the themes in the...
Curated OER
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
"People Everyday" offers class members an opportunity to develop their literacy analysis skills and to develop media literacy. Guided by an included list of discussion questions, groups examaine the word choice, literary devices used,...
Curated OER
Teaching Economics and Rock and Roll: Unemployment
Students explore the consequences of unemployment. In this macroeconomics instructional activity, students listen to the songs “Johnny 99” and “Worried Man.” Students discuss the socioeconomic costs of unemployment as they analyze the...
Curated OER
Corrido of the Uprooted Ones
In this primary source analysis worksheet, students analyze the song "Corrido of the Uprooted Ones." Students respond to 3 short answer questions about the lyrics of the song.
Curated OER
Historical Comparison of Anti-War Music
Students explain that, how in this world of increasing awareness and interdependence, music can act as a magnet to draw people together. They research and compare anti-war songs from many different generations.
Curated OER
And We Were All in One Place: Youth Culture and the Rock Festival
Students explore historical youth culture events. In this youth culture lesson, students discover details regarding the Altamont, Woodstock, and Monterey concerts. Students conduct research that regarding the rock festivals and...
Curated OER
The Element of Color
Eighth graders study and analyze the elements of color by creating an personalized color wheel. Emphasis is placed on constructive criticism of student work by others for assessment. Students create short poems for their color wheel...
Curated OER
Black and Blue: Jazz in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
Students analyze the impact of jazz on the novel, "Invisible Man," by Ralph Ellison. They read and discuss excerpts of the novel, write an essay on the influence of jazz on Ralph Ellison as a writer, and view video excerpts on jazz...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Folklore in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
Learners define folklore, folk groups, tradition, and oral narrative. They identify traditional elements in Their Eyes Were Watching God Analyze and understand the role of traditional folkways and folk speech in the overall literary...
Curated OER
International Curiosity and National Pride
Students investigate the national, local, and ethnic traits of the Bulgarian culture. They discuss patriotic American songs, analyze a map, play a '20 Questions' game about Bulgaria, read a letter, and identify American culture...
Curated OER
Know Thyself: Reflections of the Adolescent Identity Crisis in Rock and Roll
Twelfth graders define themselves through music. In this psychology instructional activity, 12th graders identify James Marcia's 4 states of identity and identify songs that reflect each of the states.
Curated OER
Vitamin A
Young scholars explore non-locomotor movements and instrument improvisation creating accompaniments to the song "Vitamin A" in this elementary-level General Music lesson. The lesson nutrition messages links and student challenges for...
National Park Service
The Poet's Toolbox
If you need a lesson for your poetry unit, use two poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Rain in Summer" and "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp") and a resource on Elements of Poetry. The lesson plan guides you through activities...
Curated OER
Words/Music/Images: Interpretation and Meaning A Motivational Activity
Students explore popular music in its historical context. In this music lesson, students examine the lyrics, musicical arrangement, and video imagery of selected songs to interpret the messages and themes of the songs.
Curated OER
The Star Spangled Banner
Young scholars perform Star Spangled Banner, and analyze purpose and meaning of patriotic songs.
Curated OER
Using Cross-Genre Comparisons to Find the Message in Hip-Hop
Students analyze two cross -genre songs written in the early 1980s for lyrical content and social commentary. They consider the artistic merit of hip hop music in today's culture.