Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "Violin" by Nikki Wallschlaeger
Nikki Wallschlaeger's Violin is the featured poem in a lesson that uses music and multiple readings to delve deep into its analysis. After a writing warm-up, learners watch and listen to a video that showcases Regina Carter...
Curated OER
Is Perception Reality? Writing Paradoxes in Poetry
Explore the paradox of the universe - or, at least, of popular music - with this lesson. Using the songs "Inaudible Melodies" by Jack Johnson and "She" by Green Day, your class will complete a graphic organizer to help them understand...
Curated OER
Tone Poem Composing Project
Students explore role of music in storytelling by watching and discussing effect music has on perception of scene from movie, and using Sibelius program to compose single excerpt of music, considering dynamics, timbre, and articulation,...
PBS
Discuss 22-year-old Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb”
Two poems by National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman are spotlighted in a PBS lesson. Young scholars conduct a close reading and watch videos of Gorman reading her inaugural poem "The Hill We Climb" and "The Miracle of Morning." They...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Walt Whitman to Langston Hughes: Poems for a Democracy
Explore the idea of democratic poetry. Upper graders read Walt Whitman, examining daguerreotypes, and compare Whitman to Langston Hughes. They describe aspects of Whitman's I Hear America Singing to Langston Hughes' Let America Be...
Curated OER
Modernism in Poetry, Painting, and Music
Are you teaching Modernism to your class? Connect different areas of artistic expression in the Modernist Era. Learners read T.S. Eliot, view art by Pablo Picasso, and listen to a Modernist musical composition. This final assignment is...
VH1
Lesson 4: Behind the Movie Chicago
The elements of music and journalistic integrity in one lesson; What could be better? The class discusses journalistic approaches to better understand responsible reporting versus sensationalism. They watch the Act One from the film...
Carolina K-12
Affrilachia
What makes a culture unique? Learners research life in the Appalachia region of the United States. Poetry, music, and oral history create Affrilachia, the term used to describe the lifestyle of the area. African-American mountain culture...
Curated OER
Allen Ginsberg: Poetry and Politics
Students explore the poetry of Allen Ginsberg. They read and analyze poems by Allen Ginsberg, conduct Internet research, collect examples of art of the 60s, and create a presentation.
Curated OER
Learning Refrain and Verse
Instruct your young musicians on the terms verse and refrain. They listen to two songs, and point out the verse and refrain as they occur. Students then play drums when they hear the verse and the refrain. Note: Song lyrics, sheet music,...
Curated OER
Haunting Music
Students discover music that was inspired by the spooky and bizarre. In this music of Hector Berlioz and Camille Saint-Saens lesson, students identify elements of music and listen to the Symphonie Fantastique and Danse Macabre....
Curated OER
A Modest Proposal: Irony Made Understandable with Rock and Roll
Who doesn't love music? Poems and songs will engage your high school class in a discussion about irony. Use songs like "Rockin' in the Free World" or "Born in the U.S.A." to illustrate the ironic point of view. Print the lyrics so...
Curated OER
American Rhythms
High schoolers combine elements of music with poetry. In this creative writing lesson, students examine poems from a variety of authors with varying writing styles. High schoolers explore the different elements of poetry,...
Curated OER
Seven Jumps
Your young poets will jump at the chance to demonstrate their understanding of stanzas. Cue up “Seven Jumps,” a track on Michael Herman’s CD, International Folk Dances. Class members move to the music of each stanza and freeze when a...
Arkansas Government
Creative Adventures with Literature - Whoever You Are
Celebrate our similarities and differences through multiple readings of Whoever you Are by Mem Fox. Readings are accompanied by a grand discussion, charts, creative art, dramatic, and music play to reinforce the uniqueness that is...
Curated OER
Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey
Twelfth graders read lyrics for "My Hometown" and complete a worksheet to identify setting and tone in the song. In this Romanticism lesson, 12th graders read Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey by Wordsworth and discuss...
Curated OER
A Song By Any Other Name Would Be a Poem
Students examine the poetic elements of a piece of music. They discuss favorite songs, select a song, and write a persuasive essay identifying the poetic qualities of the song lyrics.
Curated OER
I Hear Poetry
Students practice analysis of poetry by analyzing song lyrics using a worksheet to guide the analysis process. They work in small groups to assess the stylistic and literary devices used in the song lyrics then they find a published...
Curated OER
Parrot in the Oven: Instructional Routine
After reading "The Bullet," a particularly intense chapter in Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, class members listen to the Spanish and the English versions of "Dimelo" by Enrique Iglesias. They then discuss how the...
Curated OER
Singing "What's New With Me"
Kindergarteners sing the song, "What's New With Me" adding rhythm with each go around. They clap, tap, and sing along with the teacher. Note: The song or song lyrics are not included.
Curated OER
Hearing the Poetry of Langston Hughes Through the Sounds of Jazz
Students have an appreciation of Langston Hughe's poetry and his use of jazz rhythms, have the ability to read poetry closely, and freewrite to gain a fresh perspective on music and literature.
Curated OER
Melodia Sight-Singing
Young scholars practice sight-singing skills in this Choral lesson for the High School mixed-choir. Emphasis is placed on State and National Standards in the Arts and the song "Dirait-on", a piece by Morten Lauridson, based on the...
Curated OER
The Pony Song
Students sing "Three Little Pigs", the "Pony Song", and "The Animal Blues" in this elementary school music lesson. National and State Standards are addressed. Assessment rubric is included for grading and student evaluation.
Curated OER
Sonnet 130
Students identify and interpret the structural features of literature through the study, analysis and production of Poetry. Including the structural characteristics. Students write a sonnet including required elements, such as length,...