Curated OER
Interpreting Lyrics With Pictures
Students interpret the lyrics of a selected song through the use of photos and a presentation program. They search for photos on Pics4Learning to illustrate their interpretation of the song. Photos are downloaded to a folder on their...
Curated OER
Our Town: Using Song Lyrics in the Classroom
Bruce Springsteen’s “My Hometown” and Billy Joel’s “Allentown” motivate young lyricists to craft poems about their own home town. Groups compare the two songs, identifying details, symbols, and conflicts. Individuals then picture a place...
Curated OER
Lecture 6 - Oral Interpretation - Verse
Students discuss how oral interpretation varies with prose and poetry. They select a piece of prose or poetry to present to the class, and then assess each other on the organization and delivery of their speech as well as on their...
Curated OER
Poets Got Them Blues
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...
Curated OER
Sk8er Boi (Skater Boy)
Pupils listen to and analyze the lyrics for Avril Lavigne's song, Sk8er Boi. They discuss and interpret the vocabulary, phrasal verbs, and various grammar structures used in the lyrics.
Curated OER
Poetry in Music
Sixth graders look at poetry in music. In this language arts lesson plan, 6th graders listen to and read the lyrics of songs to find the poetic aspects of them. They focus on similes and metaphors and write their own songs lyrics.
Curated OER
Our Town
With the songs "My Hometown" by Bruce Springsteen and "Allentown" by Billy Joel, learners examine external versus internal conflict. When they have finished the first part of the lesson, they create their own poem (or song) about the...
Smithsonian Institution
Water/Ways: The Poetry of Science
Water is the source of life. It appears in poetry in both peaceful and torrential descriptions; it appears in earth science in its liquid, gaseous, and solid states. Combine these interpretations of our planet's most precious and...
Curated OER
What Does This Song Really Say?
Students investigate communication by analyzing lyrics from a song. In this music arts lesson, students discuss slavery, the Underground Railroad and African American traditions while listening to a song called "This Train." Students...
Curated OER
The National Anthem
In this National Anthem worksheet, students read the lyrics to the National Anthem and describe them in their own words. They draw a picture to match their explanation.
Curated OER
Individuality: India Arie Music Video
Students examine individuality. In this music video lesson, students listen to music by India Arie to determine how music shapes our ideas of what normal is as well as how music is a form of poetry. Activities are related to Stargirl.
Curated OER
Lost Lyrics of Love, Lust, and Losers
Twelfth graders explore the connection between poetry and the "real world". They are reminded of the elements used in poetic interpretation, and use them to analyze various texts.
Prestwick House
The Poetry of Bob Dylan
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...
Curated OER
Define My Own Destiny: Using Arrested Development and Lauryn Hill to Teach Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun
Literary themes don't just belong to literature. High schoolers listen to the lyrics of modern songs by Arrested Development, Lauryn Hill, and others to enhance their study and to connect to characters, conflicts, and themes of Lorraine...
Curated OER
Foreign Language Lip-Sync Karaoke Contest
Teach your class about foreign language through transcribing lyrics. They will transcribe the lyrics of a song in a foreign language and use the lyrics to create a cloze activity as they listen and speak the language with their...
Curated OER
Screening Coleridge’s Fantasies: Using Popular Music as a Bridge to Literacy
Twelfth graders use music to aid them in interpreting poetry. In this poetry lesson, 12th graders analyze the lyrics, figurative language, and literary devices of selected music. Students compare the music to the poetry of Samuel...
Curated OER
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Eleventh graders discover the thematic connections between classical literary and popular song lyrics. In this English instructional activity, 11th graders research a specific topic to be presented to the class. Students analyze song...
Curated OER
Rock and Poetry: A Thematic Project
Students explore poetry. In this literature lesson, students examine music and lyrics by Natalie Merchant in order to make the transition to analyzing poetry by Keats and Wordsworth.
Curated OER
Introduction to Poetry Lesson Plan
Analyze poetry in a group setting. Middle and high schoolers read lyrics to a Tom Petty song and free write about the song's tone, setting, and speaker. They then complete the same activity in a group setting using seven poems. The...
Trinity University Digital Commons
Romanticism: Past and Present
With its focus on nature, individualism, imagination, and rejection of traditional authority, Romanticism has great appeal to young high schoolers. After examining classic paintings and poems as well as current works, class members...
Curated OER
Under Joni Mitchell's Influence
Students view the AMERICAN MASTERS entitled Joni Mitchell: Woman of Heart and Mind, examine the concept of influence, and explore how Joni Mitchell and her work have influenced others. Students read, interpret, and analyze her lyrics by...
Curated OER
You Kiss By the Book
High schoolers explore Shakespeare's use of poetic conventions, examine the first meeting between Romeo and Juliet and gain experience in close readng and the interpretation of verse structure and imagery.
Curated OER
Romeo and Juliet Project: A Perfect Album Side
In this Romeo and Juliet worksheet, students combine music, lyrics, and drama to analyze Romeo and Juliet. Students select music to fit the theme, mood, and feeling of each act and research the lyrics. Students compose an essay about why...
Curated OER
Slices of American Pie: The 1960s Through Music
Eleventh graders examine political, cultural, and social movements through music. In this 1960s American history lesson, 11th graders explore the music of the decade in order to better understand the complexity of the time period....