Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poets Got Them Blues

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Contemplate what music learners listen to and why they listen. Can they find poetry within music lyrics? Specifically hone in on blues lyrics and ruminate upon the social issues prevalent in the themes. Particular song lyrics coincide...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nos Creemos Americanos: Braceros in History and Song

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Mexican folk songs offer an authentic look at WWII immigrant workers. This study of the U.S. Bracero Program sets historians up with context information so they can write their own corrido. The class reviews themes and formulas of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Breaking the Code: Actions and Songs of Protest

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students listen to and discuss the purpose of protest music. They analyze an editorial cartoon related to Jim Crow and read questions from the literacy tests given to African-Americans. They work together to write a song about the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Uncle Sam's Got Himself in a Terrible Jam": Protest Music and the Vietnam War

For Teachers 8th - Higher Ed
"And it's one, two, three...what are we fighting for?" Use music to assess the climate of protest during the Vietnam War, listening to and analyzing Country Joe MacDonald's "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag" (lyrics included)....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sing Away Songs

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students research the history of Bryce Canyon National Park. They identify geological features of the Park while examining its recreational activities. They work together to write lyrics to a song about the Park.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Alicia Keys, Songs in A Minor

For Teachers 7th - 12th
How do a person's musical preferences influence the way they compose music of their own? Learners analyze the sound and lyrics of Alicia Keys in relation to musicians that came before. Jazz, blues, and soul music from the past are shown...
Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Immigrant Discrimination

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
For a class learning about Chinese and Irish immigration in America, here's a great starting lesson plan. It has your critical thinkers examining song lyrics, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and a political cartoon, and finally...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching About Tolerance Through Music

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Explore the importance of tolerance with a music-themed lesson. Learners listen to the music of Peter, Paul, and Mary, and discern the underlying messages before discussing the painful effects of ridicule, disrespect, and...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

The Freedom Riders and the Popular Music of the Civil Rights Movement

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s marched to its own beat—literally. Using songs from the era, as well as other primary sources such as King's "I Have a Dream" speech, class members analyze lyrics to discover how music and protest...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Character Development Through Song

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners use songs to analyze their sense of identity and self-worth. In groups, they discuss and explore their own character development and discover how far they have come in recent years. They also identify the positive and negative...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Song Lessons: The Past Progressive

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Pupils examine the past progressive verb form using song lyrics. In this past progressive verbs lesson, students listen to "Jealous Guy" by John Lennon, paying close attention to the simple past and past progressive verbs in the song....
Worksheet
Curated OER

Twist and Shout Lyrics

For Students 8th - 12th
In this handout, students examine the lyrics of popular music from the counter-culture era. Songs included are: Crimson and Clover, Turn, Turn, Turn, Have you Been to Jail for Justice, Uncle Sam, Ohio, Give Peace a Chance, Eve of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

And You Don't Stop - 30 Years of Hip-Hop, Episode 2, Lesson 1

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discuss Public Enemy's lyrics and compare and contrast them with songs popular during the Civil Rights Movement. They write their own rap song that expresses feelings of oppression or freedom from oppression.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

25 Greatest Protest Songs - Lesson 2

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explain the potential consequences of protest. They discuss selected historical conflicts and examine the role of the individual in protest.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine":A Handout for ESL/EFL Students

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers inspire communication skills thru the lyrics of a song. Students watch and correlate the production of a fantasy film with speaking and listening skills. High schoolers quote the themes from the video.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Understanding the Music of the Civil Rights Movement

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Young scholars examine protest music and songs from the Civil Rights movement. In this music of the Civil Rights era instructional activity, students listen to selected music before working in groups to determine who the music was...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Musical Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze lyrics of their favorite songs as examples of alliteration, metaphor, Onomatopoeia, personification, rhyme, and simile to determine the purpose of these devices in poetry. They use their analysis to create a presentation...
Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Immigration: Why Come to the United States?

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Don't limit your curriculum to texts! Young historians listen to a song, read an interview, and examine a cartoon as they explore motivations for immigrating to the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Musical Moments

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

Disco - Voices of a New Generation

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students analyze lyrics of selected Disco songs for content, theme and vocabulary. They write an extended response citing specific lyrics in response to three general themes.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning About the Civil Rights Movement Through Photographs

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Pupils examine the racial inequality that existed in the United States before the Civil Rights Movement. After listening to song lyrics and viewing photographs, they discover the importance of the movement in helping society move toward...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

One Song, Many Voices

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students discuss the purpose and meaning of the song "One Song, Many Voices" and how the music expresses the composer's message. Students sing, conduct, and analyze two different songs during the instructional activity in a choir...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Space Exploration

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders identify and interpret the following: What is space?, Space Race, Living in space?, Man on the Moon, Astronaut training; students compare/contrast US and Russia space exploration. Students write a letter of application to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stand Up and Sing: Music and Our Reform History

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students examine events of historical significance in music. In groups, they are given pieces of sheet music and work together to try to determine the social and political conditions of the time based on the lyrics. They write their own...

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