Curated OER
Pop Culture and Art
Learn about American pop culture, art, and the social voice that art can convey. The class discusses the life and art of Barton Benes, views his piece Reliquarium, then discusses what they see and feel when they view his work. Make sure...
Japan Society
Popular Culture and Japan’s Gross National Cool
From Manga to Godzilla and Pokemon, Japanese pop culture has been taking the globe by storm. This phenomenon is called "soft power." Learners will examine the differences between hard and soft power, as well as learn the historical and...
Curated OER
Love, American Style
Students examine the cultural diffusion of American popular culture around the world and create collages of visual representations of this phenomenon. Causes and effects of the cultural diffusion of American popular culture around the...
Curated OER
Trey and Dave go to Africa: Music
Trey from Phish and Dave from the Dave Mathews Band took a trip to Africa to explore music, culture, and history. Your class watches this episode from VH1's Music Studio to understand how African culture and music have influenced modern...
Curated OER
American Pop Icons
Students 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...
Curated OER
American Studies
Entitled American Studies, this small unit covers various topics related to the study of the United States. Learners warm up by creating a dictionary of democracy, then dive into three different lessons focused on government, famous...
Curated OER
Lesson: Unmonumental: Yesterday's News
Upper graders are tasked with developing a social consciousness as they analyze the impact of the news media. They view a presentation depicting various media events in order to understand threshold moments in history. There are three...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Hopi Traditional Dance and Song
Very few outsiders get to see the Hopi "Butterfly Dance." However, using approved footage from the tribe, class members consider the importance of symbols in Hopi culture by watching the dance and analyzing lyrics from its songs....
Curated OER
1950’s American Culture: Television, Fashion, and Music
Sixth graders investigate the impact of popular culture on Americans. In this 1950's America lesson, 6th graders view television clips, listen to audio clips, and look over fashion photographs from the decade. Students then discuss...
Curated OER
Political Culture: A Self-Evaluation
Learners explore the concept of popular culture. In this popular culture lesson, students take the provided survey on their opinions of political culture and beliefs. Learners graph the survey results and discuss them.
Curated OER
Lesson: Elizabeth Peyton: The Self in the Other's Image: Portraiture and Identity
Art, identity, and an imaginary community, three components that should make for an interesting lesson. Critical thinkers explore and evaluate the work of contemporary artist, Elizabeth Peyton. They discuss her use of subject and art to...
Smithsonian Institution
African American Music: Let’s Sing and Play Clapping Games
Two lessons focus on making a beat. Using popular African American music of its time, scholars listen and analyze the rhythm then recreate it with hands drums, and cups.
Curated OER
Billie Holiday's Song "Strange Fruit"
Pupils analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of the anti-lynching...
Curated OER
Levittown, Automobiles, and Cultures of the 1950's
High schoolers investigate the impact of the automobile on Americans. In this 1950's America lesson, students listen to audio clips, read about Levittown, and explore the Interstate Highway Act from the decade. High schoolers then...
Curated OER
Voice of History
Way before the digital age radio was the medium of popular culture. After listening to excerpts from radio programs (easily available on the Internet), participants return to the radio age by creating a two-minute sketch based on a...
Library of Congress
Understanding Immigration Through Popular Culture
Class members are introduced to a project-based learning unit on US immigration with an activity that asks them to analyze sheet music and other primary source materials to uncover issues raised by immigration.
Curated OER
The Voice of Voting: How do We Judge Design
Students examine various methods of judging popular culture and compare them to the judging of the People's Design Award. In this popular culture and design instructional activity, students research different ways of voting in popular...
Curated OER
Protest Songs
Students analyze and perform an American social protest song. They describe its historical setting, consider the effectiveness of the music and recognize that popular music is a reflection of American culture.
Curated OER
American Indians
Students research early Indian adaptations in this instructional activity. They research the different American Indian tribes. They also research and compare the tribes' rituals, daily lives, and their impact on the Europeans who came...
Sargent Art
Pop Art Sculpture: Food
Pop art food sculptures may look good enough to eat, but don't bite into them! Paying close attention to detail, ninth-graders use modeling clay to sculpt then paint a realistic item of food, reflecting the American popular culture of...
Curated OER
Lesson 9: After Slavery: Uncle Tom's Cabin in Popular Culture
Eighth graders, in groups, explore the popularity of Uncle Tom's Cabin, even in the post-slavery America.
Curated OER
Media Analysis--Culture and Gender Roles
Ninth graders participate in class discussion about culture and how it influences our lives then complete an analysis of advertisements from popular magazines to derive what effects they have on our culture. They use analysis of adds to...
Curated OER
Understanding and Appreciating Poetry: Afro-Americans and Their Poetry
Sixth graders are introduced to poems written by African-American authors. As a class, they read excerpts of poems from different time periods and discuss how and if anything has changed over time with discrimination and equal rights...
Curated OER
American Music Styles - Lesson 1
Learners describe some of the distinguishing characteristics of rock, folk, blues, and country music. They identify two main musical roots of today's American popular music.