Pace University
Publishing Writing
Scholars become familiar with tagline literature with the help of the story, Alexander and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Terrible Day by Judith Viort. After a read-aloud and whole-class discussion, leveled groups complete several...
EngageNY
End of Unit 3 Assessment: On-Demand Writing— Photograph and Song Choices for a Film
Ready, set, write! Every great film begins with a script, and every presentation starts with a plan. Directors use their research and experience to compose an essay explaining the rationale behind their film's musical and visual choices...
Main Memory Network
Longfellow's "The Village Blacksmith" and Whitman's "Song of Myself"
Although the work Americans do has changed over time, the plight of the American worker has largely remained the same. Facilitate a class discussion aboutAmerican workers using Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Village Blacksmith" and...
Literacy Design Collaborative
Catching a Grenade: How Word Choice Impacts Meaning and Tone
Beyonce's "Halo" and Bruno Mars' "Grenade" provide eighth graders with an opportunity to consider how a writer's choice of words can create a very different tone even when the subject is the same. After a close reading of both 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...
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
Living The Life of a Scribe
Students write a descriptive letter about life in ancient Mesopotamia. Through video streaming, students discover the history of Mesopotamia. They assume the role of a scribe and compose a three paragraph essay using main ideas and...
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
Write Your Own Rap
Third graders create a rap using basic AB form composition. Evaluation of performances are based on rubric formed during the first lesson by all students. This three to four day lesson culminates in student performances and evaluation.
Friends of Fort McHenry
Sensory “Star Spangled Banner”
Music can help us to access memories and events in a meaningful way, and Francis Scott Key used specific words to convey what he had seen and felt when writing what would become America's national anthem. Help your class connect to the...
K20 LEARN
Watch Your Tone: Tone Analysis Through Music And Nonfiction
Identifying the tone of a piece of writing or the author's attitude toward the subject matter can be difficult for learners. Simplify the process with a lesson plan that begins with skits, moves to songs and their lyrics, and then to...
Curated OER
Invent a Holiday
Who wouldn't want to create their own holiday? Use the 12 elements of a holiday to have learners of all ages create their own holiday. These days, it seems like we make any excuse for a holiday! Consider having some fun with your kids...
National Park Service
Lesson 4: Escape
Some enslaved people decided to run for their liberation. Using lyrics of songs they sang, young historians look at these anthems of freedom. An assessment asks them to write the story of escape from the perspective of an enslaved person.
Curated OER
Are You My Little Peanut?
Fourth graders explore the mass and length of peanuts by pretending to parent a peanut. In this mode, median and range lesson students graph their measurements and then use them to find the mode, median and range. Students discuss peanut...
Curated OER
Ta he thaw nu ha la tu-Traditional Oneida Song
Students practice singing a traditional Oneida song. They discuss the meaning in both the English and Oneida languages and how the words to this song demonstrate important feelings for the Oneida people.
Curated OER
Tapping the Trees-Traditional Oneida Song
Students practice singing the song, Tapping the Trees. They discuss the meaning in both the English and Oneida languages and how the words to this song demonstrate important feelings for the Oneida people.
Curated OER
The Soundtrack of One's Life
Students research a historical person and the time in which he/she lived. They write a biography including images and at least four songs from the time period in which the person lived.
Curated OER
Putting Pitch In Its Place
Learners focus on reading musical notations. They see, hear, practice and write notations in the lessons to become more independent readers of music. They complete a Rubric for Pitch Worksheet.
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
B-A-G+E
Budding musicians discuss rhythmic notation and melody as they play a bar instrument or recorder. They use the notes B, A, G, and E to play a simple melody, and then they use those same four notes to turn a poem into a song. They play...
Curated OER
Musical Moments
Students listen to a song in popular culture. Using the lyrics, they identify the theme and share their conclusions with the class. While listening to the song again, they complete a worksheet along with defining new vocabulary words. ...
Curated OER
Ode to the Ordinary
Ninth graders identify an ordinary object and write an ode for the subject. In this poetry writing lesson, 9th graders select an ordinary object and define its uses. Students then write an ode for the poem.
Curated OER
No Man is an Island
Students sing the melody of the song, "No Man is an Island," in the Oneida native language. They memorize the song and discuss how the words demonstrate important feelings of the Oneida people.
Curated OER
Dear Abby- Colonial Style
Pupils review the Colonial period in American history and read literature from this era. They assume the roles of a colonial young person and an adult to compose letters from each and communicate their ideas through the letter writing...
Curated OER
Song Allouette - Oneida
Pupils practice singing the song Allouette. They discuss the meaning in both the English and Oneida languages and how the words to this song demonstrate important feelings for the Oneida people.