Curated OER
Ballad
Young balladeers analyze examples of ballads and generate a list of common traits (story, quatrains, rhyme schemes, refrains, etc.), then identify these traits in Robert W. Service's "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and a ballad written by...
Poetry Out Loud
The Tabloid Ballad
What do the theme song from Gilligan's Island, the nursery rhyme "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat," and the poem "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" all have in common? Why, they're ballads of course! Challenge your young balladeers to compose their...
Education Oasis
Creative Writing Unit: Analyzing, Interpreting, Discussing and Writing Various Genres of African-American Literature
A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...
Curated OER
The Tabloid Ballad
Students explore the poetic ballad. They examine the rhythm of a typical ballad and listen to recitations of sample ballads. They choose an article from a supermarket tabloid and write a comical ballad using rhythms and structures...
Curated OER
Write a Song About American History
Students explore the historic background of the song, The Battle of New Orleans. Working in pairs, students research other historic events and write their own songs based on them.
Curated OER
Horatio's Drive
Young scholars assess the literary quality and elements of Jackson's journey to write a ballad about his automobile adventure.
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing
Students discuss the importance of using adjectives in writing. They separate into five groups, each group is given a bag with an object inside to describe using just one sense. They write a description of a Hershey's Kiss using adjectives.
Curated OER
ICT Activity 18
Eighth graders study the 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner.' They study the ballad and explore style and technique. Students use the internet and search previously identified news sites for current items of interest. They use images copied...
Curated OER
Understanding Fair Trade
Students write a ballad from a farmer's point of view on trade. In this farmer's lesson plan, students listen to a farmer speak about fair trade, have a dialogue about it, and write a ballad to interpret their point of view.
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Learning English through Poems and Songs
Exposing learners to the power of words in poetry is a stimulating way to learn languages. Songs, haikus, rhyming words, and narrative works are all employed in a resource for teaching English as a Second Language.
Curated OER
The Texas Cowboy: Myth and Reality
Students create "cowboy ballads" in this interactive, multi-day instructional activity. The cowboy is researched using various sources and class discussions. Students evaluate individual work at the end of the instructional activity.
Curated OER
Ballad Blast
Students write epic poems, songs, or ballads to describe adventures of their own. They discover that storytellers often told stories as epic poems, songs, or ballads. They share and discuss some of Homer's Odyssey and Iliad.
Curated OER
Analyzing the Use of Irony in a Short Story
Ninth graders examine how literature connects to real-life and see how irony aids in the development of theme. They read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and discuss elements of foreshadowing and situational irony. Then learners will write...
Curated OER
The Witch of Goingsnake
Students listen to The Ballad of Ira Hayes and write paragraphs about his character. In this The Witch of Goingsnake lesson plan, students read the verses and chorus of the ballad aloud and make notes about Ira Hayes. Students write a...
Curated OER
The Verbal Sketch
Students use perspective observation sketches to understand verbal description. In this subjective writing lesson, students practice writing subjective conversations using the cartoon worksheets.
Center for History Education
U.S. Foreign Policy and the Iran-Contra Affair: Was Oliver North a Patriot, a Pawn, or an Outlaw?
If you had to write a song about Oliver North, would it be a ballad or a dirge? If you had to put him on a trading card, would he be a hero or the bad guy? Young historians decide for themselves after examining documents from the...
Curated OER
Deciphering the Mechanics of Poetry
Eighth graders analyze a variety of poems to develop the ability to recognize and explain a variety pf poetic devises.
Curated OER
Boombox Classroom: Music and Language
In this music and speech worksheet, students find similarities between language and music. Students also tell about their own language. Students also may write the 7 music letters.
Curated OER
Sing Me a Story!
Sixth graders explore lyrics, phrases, and the beats in each phrase. They select a nursery rhyme, set it to a simple tune they already know, and match the tune with the same number of beats per phrase with a poem with the identical...
Curated OER
Burns' Night and dialect
Students explore poetry and dialect. They research Burn's Night and how people celebrate it. Students examine the Scottish dialect and its similarities to English grammar. Students write their own poetry.
Curated OER
Born on a Mountaintop? Davy Crockett, Tall Tales, and History
Learners name tall tale characters and locations, which are based on actual people and places, and describe how they are used in an exaggerated way. Students name created characters and events from tall tales. Learners write a tall tale.
Curated OER
The Witch of Goingsnake
Pupils write an essay comparing and contrasting Frank Parris and George Ballad. In this The Witch of Goingsnake lesson plan, students brainstorm vocabulary used to show comparison and create a model thesis statement. Pupils write their...
Curated OER
The Poetry of Sculpture
Fourth graders practice writing poetry while examining all types of art. In this art analysis lesson, 4th graders participate in a field trip to a sculpture garden in which they view sculptures and create different forms of poetry about...
Curated OER
Concert Program Notes
Students write program notes of composers. They discuss music, composers, themes and style and movements in music. They select a composer from a target language culture and write two paragraphs int eh form of concert program notes. ...