Take poetry off the page and put it into terms of movement, physical space and, finally, music with this series of three lessons from the Smithsonian Institution. This resource introduces students to two poetic forms that originated as...

There's hope in music. Pupils discover what gave enslaved people hope by examining lyrics and music during their time of bondage. A series of prompts helps individuals investigate songs of enslaved people. The cumulative assignment...

Use a political cartoon to help scholars grasp the significant turnover in Congress following the 2012 mid-term election. A Mike Keefe cartoon uses symbols and current political lingo to convey perspective on the issue, and background...

Henry David Thoreau and Linda Ronstadt? Ann Tyler and Pete Townshend? Joyce Carol Oates and Pearl Jam? This richly detailed plan pairs classic literature with contemporary music and asks learners to analyze how the theme of conformity is...

Mermaids will sing to your class members as they engage in an activity related to T.S. Eliot's famous dramatic interior monologue. After engaging in a socratic seminar about literary devices in the poem, individuals choose one...

Scholars review prior knowledge before completing a hands-on simulation of the rock cycle. They write stories or songs summarizing their simulations to demonstrate mastery.

Combining art, music, dance, and reading comprehension, this instructional activity is geared to reach all ability levels. After reading a variety of fables and discussing story elements and character traits, class members select a moral...

Young learners explore the role of the individual within society. They view art work, design calling cards, and display their work. Additionally, learners document an imaginary trip, create sculpted self-portraits, create a class play, a...

Print out the lyrics or show the karaoke video to get your scientists singing about the scientific process! Participants will warble about observations and measurements, data and physical properties. Consider sharing this resource after...

In this equations analysis worksheet, students identify the numbers listed from the abbreviated titles and lyrics of popular songs. Then, they find the missing words for each capital letter and name the artist who sang the song.

"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,...

Students listen to the song :King of Pain" by the Police. They identify different instrumentation and different rhythmic accompaniments to the opening vocal phrase and explore the text in-depth, discussing the various poetic images of...

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.

Eighth graders examine the Mexican War and its outcome through music. In this primary source analysis lesson, 8th graders analyze the lyrics of selected songs to consider the 2 perspectives regarding U.S. involvement in the war. Students...

In this collection of graphic organizers for a literature unit, students will complete 22 different graphic organizers on the topic of character development. For example, this collection includes character analysis and various attribute...

What are the musical elements that characterize a school's fight song or its alma mater? Class members listen to examples of fight songs and alma maters from various schools, play a listening game, and then create a list of the...

The Navajo people build their dwellings with the doors facing the rising sun in the east to welcome wealth and fortune. Pupils learn about the traditions of the Navajo people in the first part of a 16-part unit. They explore American...

Project-based learning in a music theory class? Take note. Young songwriters compose, record, copyright, and promote their original songs. They even design their own CD cover.

Reginald Gibbons' poem "In cold spring air" provides learners with a chance to develop their noticing skills. As a warm-up, class members watch Paul McCartney's video singing "Blackbird" and note words and phrases that stand out. They...

What factors go into a decision to enter a war? Use a collection of primary source documents and images to prompt a discussion about the American Revolution and the reasons for entering a war against Britain.

The ultimate legacy of Emmett Till's violent death is its role in the non-violent roots of the Civil Rights Movement. A lesson compares contemporaneous articles with the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "The Death of Emmett Till" and prompts...

David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, 1776, is the focus of a 28-page teacher's guide. The guide includes pre-reading questions, background information about key British and American figures, and chapter-by-chapter lessons.

Kids consider the pure abstraction and minimalism found in Mary Heilmann's work. They analyze several of her pieces through critical discussion and then think about her use of a song title as the title of her exhibit. Learners then use a...

With so many types of graphs, don't let your learners get stuck figuring out which one to use. To track how Zoe spent her allowance, use this interactive lesson to review all the types of graphs and pick the best one to display the data....