Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Spoken Word Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars examine the spoken work poetry of Abiodun Oyewole. They discuss the West African Griot tradition, listen to spoken word poetry, write and perform a poem, and watch a video excerpt of a poetry workshop.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Rhythms

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers combine elements of music with poetry.  In this creative writing lesson, students examine poems from a variety of authors with varying writing styles.  High schoolers explore the different elements of poetry,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz Talk

For Teachers 6th - 8th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Langston Hughes and the Blues

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students explore the connections between Langson Hughes and blues music. For this African American culture lesson, students compare and contrast blues music with poetry and short stories by Langston Hughes.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Last Meow

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the popular culture phenomenon of the musical 'Cats' and the T.S. Eliot poems that were its inspiration. They write original poems about animals, and read them aloud to their peers.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Living Environment

For Teachers 2nd
In this reading comprehension lesson, 2nd graders have the choice between musical, kinesthetic, logical mathematical and verbal linguistic options to display their knowledge. Students can write a song, perform a play, construct a model...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Community and Culture

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders explore the rise of jazz music. In this Duke Ellington lesson, 4th graders watch video segments regarding Ellington's life and showcasing a performance of Ellington and his band. Students discuss the rhythm...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Connections

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders create a musical composition, a drawing, or a 3D structure to show how math connects to other subjects. In this math and other subjects lesson plan, 5th graders present their presentations to the class and explain the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heaven or Ground Hog Day?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discover the ideas of enlightenment by reading historical poetry. In this philosophical lesson, students read poems by Sir Walter Scott and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer while discussing the themes of the writing with classmates....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock & Roll through Literary Terms: An Upbeat Lyrical Adventure

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Learners participate in a variety of activities surrounding Rock & Roll music, lyrics, drama and visual art and how they all help demonstrate examples of literary terms. They use Rock & Roll as an effective aid to stimulate their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Other Poetic Types

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Rather than a lesson, this resource is a list of poetic forms and young poets are encouraged to try their hand at composing poems of various types.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Seven Jumps

For Teachers K - 5th
Your young poets will jump at the chance to demonstrate their understanding of stanzas. Cue up “Seven Jumps,” a track on Michael Herman’s CD, International Folk Dances. Class members move to the music of each stanza and freeze when a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Music Be the Food Of Love": Found Poetry with Shakespeare and Hip Hop

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students create found poetry using lines from hip hop songs and Shakespeare's plays. They try to rewrite the words to music so that more people can explain Shakespeare's plays. They discuss the results of the activity.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dance: Sharp and Smooth Energy Qualities

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students use different qualities of movement to express themselves. In this lesson plan on movement, students use different qualities of energy and then use their experience as an inspiration for writing poetry.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry through Jazz, Rap, and Hip Hop

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students explore poetry through jazz, rap, and hip hop music. They discover the common threads that run through the poetry and music. Students design their own lyrics to a jazz, rap, or hip hop selection and share their songs with the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Set a Poem to Music

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Young scholars consider the role of rhythm and meter in poetry. In this integrated arts activity, students discuss the attributes of poetry and use their music skills to set picture book poetry to music by creating "singable" poems.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tone Poem Composing Project

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students explore role of music in storytelling by watching and discussing effect music has on perception of scene from movie, and using Sibelius program to compose single excerpt of music, considering dynamics, timbre, and articulation,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Electronic Poetry Project

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students create a digital project to go with a poem. In this technology lesson, students pick a poem and create images to go with it. They make background music for the narration of their poem and attach it to a PowerPoint...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Poetry: Family and Traditions

For Teachers K - 3rd
Learners are introduced to the elements of African-American poetry. As a class, they are read different types of poems to discover there are different styles of poems and practice rhyming words. They share information on their family...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry in Music

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders look at poetry in music. In this language arts instructional activity, 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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Musical Imagery

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students experience musical imagery. They link this musical concept to literary imagery to gain an understanding of the use of imagery in both genres. After listening to a varriety of sounds, students will compose and perform a melody.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Poetry: Songs of Protest and Pride

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students are introduced to various time periods in history in which African Americans wrote songs and poetry to cope. In groups, they travel between different stations to listen or read poems and music from the Civil War period, Civil...
Lesson Plan
Huntington Library

The Poetry and Prose of Langston Hughes

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders discover the poetry of Langston Hughes. In this social issues lesson plan, 11th graders experience the views of Langston Hughes. Students read Hughes' poetry and discuss the basic theme. Students evaluate the political,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music Education, The Blues

For Teachers Pre-K - 6th
This lesson examines both the content and form of lyrics in blues songs. In addition to highlighting the basic musical form of a blues song, it also addresses the use of floating verses in blues music, both within the context of the...

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