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Lesson Plan
PBS

Breaking the Code: Actions and Songs of Protest

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Ezell Blair, Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil changed history. Their sit-in at the lunch counter of the Woolworths in Greensboro, North Carolina on February 1, 1960 became a model for the nonviolent protests that...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

25 Greatest Protest Songs

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pupils 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 historical record.
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Activity
National Constitution Center

Born in the U.S.A: Music as Political Protest

For Students 10th - 12th Standards
Though often used in shows of patriotism, Bruce Springsteen's 1985 song "Born in the U.S.A." is critical of America's role in the Vietnam war and its treatment of American veterans. High schoolers analyze the song's lyrics in an activity...
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Unit Plan
Simon & Schuster

Classroom Activities for Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
An 11-page packet contains three activities designed for readers of Henry David Thoreau's Walden and Civil Disobedience. In one exercise, groups debate whether Thoreau would today be considered liberal or conservative. For another,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rockin’ the World: Rock and Roll and Social Protest in 20th Century America

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students explore protest songs. For this interdisciplinary lesson, students examine issues-based music by summarizing lyrics and revealing inferences, generalizations, conclusions, and points of view found in the songs.
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Lesson Plan
Prestwick House

The Poetry of Bob Dylan

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Poetry: Songs of Protest and Pride

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars 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,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Freedom, Power and the People

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students analyze how social change has affected artistic expression and popular culture. the explain the influence of media on contemporary American culture.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Song for Today - Lesson 3

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars analyze musical and topical elements in popular songs and compose song as a classroom effort. They write a short paragraph evaluating the effectiveness of the song in conveying the message of the lyrics.
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Lesson Plan
PBS

The Sixties: Dylan Plugs in and Sells Out

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Before Woodstock, there was Newport. Get plugged in to the social changes of the 1960s with a lesson that looks at Bob Dylan's performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival as a symbol of the radical changes that marked the era.
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Activity
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Livaudais-Baker English Classroom

Kindred Unit Project

For Students 11th Standards
To conclude a unit study of Octavia E. Butler's Kindred, groups use MovieMaker or the class website to publish an original story about slavery in America. The detailed project assignment sheet includes a list of possible topics,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Language Arts, Social Studies, African Americans, The Blues, To Kill A Mockingbird

For Teachers Pre-K - 6th
African American history during the Jim Crow era includes encounters with poverty, racism, disrespect, and protest. Harper Lee develops all four of these themes in her famous 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. To help students understand...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

An American Ballad - Lesson 1

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners listen to and analyze the ballad "American Pie." They utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan. They circle the appropriate descriptive words of the song's medium form, melody, tempo and dynamics, and style.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Understanding Past and Present Labor Injustice through Music

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students explore early 19th century labor conditions through the use of period songs. In this tolerance lesson, students listen to period songs and respond. Students write their own song that protests unfair and dangerous working...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

VH1 Presents the 1980s - Lesson 3

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners identify different genres of music popular in the 1980s. They study musicians of the 1980s examples of the songs that they made popular. They utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan to categorize the music.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Catch-22

For Teachers 9th - 12th
During or after reading Catch-22, have your high school scholars complete this research project. First they'll brainstorm a list of people they might like to research, then they'll dive into your library's resources! There are several...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Looking North Of The Greek World: The Slavic Folk Poetry of The Balkans

For Teachers 9th - 11th Standards
Showing how folk poetry keeps alive national heritage is the stated goal of this proposal for a unit on the poetry of the Balkans.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Effects of Slavery

For Teachers 7th - 12th
The emotional and spiritual oppression of slavery in the African-American experience is the focus of this lesson. Middle schoolers analyze various texts by Frederick Douglass and Maya Angelou related to freedom and oppression. They use...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slices of American Pie: The 1960s Through Music

For Teachers 11th
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....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's Being Done?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the concept of animal welfare. In this philanthropy lesson, students examine legislation that supports animals in their state as well as the role of the  American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Martin Luther King Day

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Invite your advanced ESL learners to explore the US national holiday Martin Luther King day. Play the attached mp3 which is a description of this important holiday and facilitate the phrase match and listening gap activities  included....
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Lesson Plan
National First Ladies' Library

Science: The Purloined Letter

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students examine Edgar Allan Poe's "the Purloined Letter" from the perspective of a profiler. To sharpen search procedures, they examine the text and make lists of items and places in the house that were searched. Then students discuss...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Self-Control

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students examine their feelings of anger in various situations. In groups, they view scenerios from different points of view and from reading many poems. They answer comprehension questions about a story they read to end the class.

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