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. For this 1960s American history lesson, 11th graders explore the music of the decade in order to better understand the complexity of the time period....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How to Teach the Legacies of the 1960s

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers consider which aspects of world around them have roots in 1960s, research and compare 1960s to today with regards to Civil and Women's Rights, Vietnam, counterculture, music, voting, and economic rights, and explore legacy...
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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Pop Icons

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Learners analyze art and decide if the images are an attempt to celebrate or criticize American Popular Culture of the fifties and sixties and discuss how successful "Pop Art" mirrored society. Students also discuss the difference...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Finding Our Place in Time

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students utilize interviewing skills of an historian to research the time period of the 1970's. They use prior knowledge of the 1960's to explain the mood of the country in the 1970's.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sondheim: Voice of Cultural Change

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore Stephen Sondheim's contributions to musical theatre in the context of the dramatic cultural shift that occurred in American life in the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz in America Lesson Plan 7

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students survey free jazz and fusion. They explore how free jazz and fusion reflected American culture and society in the 1960s and 1970s.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Keep on Pushing: Popular Music and the Civil Rights Movement

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars explore music that exemplified the Civil Rights Movement. For this music and history lesson, students research 1960's protest songs, Motown recorded music, and rap of the 1990's to consider the power of music and its...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bob Dylan: No Direction Home

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students hold panel discussions on selected topics about the 1960s and their impact on modern-day events. As visual reinforcement, they watch the film about Bob Dylan and research the music of the period as well as his musical...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Racism in Jazz

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars listen to the Louis Armstrong song, "What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue?" and consider it as a protest song. They write in their journals about Armstrong, his music, and civil rights.
Lesson Plan
National First Ladies' Library

Women on the Wall: A Vietnam Memorial

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Students investigate the role of women during the Vietnam War. They conduct Internet research, and create a Chronicle of Women in Vietnam project that could take the form of a journal, PowerPoint presentation, or scrapbook that includes...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Vietnam Revisited

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students explore the impact of the Vietnam War. In this Vietnam and popular culture lesson, students research and plot major events in the conflict. Students interview people regarding their memories of the war and watch the movie " The...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Overcoming Censorship Through Art

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students create an art piece that expresses their opinions while circumventing hypothetical government restrictions in this lesson on art and government censorship. Emphasis is placed upon historical instances of censorship around the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reading and Writing About Boxing

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze the life of Jack Johnson and his relationship with other boxers. They write about his life by using the same style as Muhammad Ali, his taunts and boasts using rhyming.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Songs That Bring Us Together

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars listen to the song, Get Together, and discuss the theme. They list topics that bring people together, write the lyrics to and sing a class song, and write a paragraph about message songs.