Curated OER
National Anthems of the World
Students compare and contrast music and lyrics of national anthems from around the world. They listen to their national anthem and other countries' anthems and compare the music. Working in groups, they write an anthem for their class or...
Curated OER
Re-Name That Tune
Learners select a familiar children's tune and redesign it by rewriting the lyrics, writing a play, a dance, a storybook or a puppet show. Students work in groups and share their finished project with their classmates.
Curated OER
The Emancipation Proclamation
Middle schoolers read one of the most important documents in our nation's history: The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. After everyone reads the proclamation, they set out to write a "You Were There" type of report on it. They pretend...
Curated OER
Singing in the H2O
Students compose new lyrics to the tune of a popular song in order to teach and explain a challenging science concept being studied in class.
Curated OER
Strike Up the Band
Students create song lyrics celebrating the history of labor unions serving the entertainment industry, then create posters illustrating the importance of each union to the industry they represent.
Curated OER
Slide-Tape Dramatization as a Way of Teaching Literature
Students select one song and write the lyrics on the blackboard. They segment the lyrics into meaningful phrases or sentences and visualize each unit of meaning to convey the message of the song. They select a different song and act out...
Curated OER
Lost Lyrics of Love, Lust, and Losers
Twelfth graders explore the connection between poetry and the "real world". They are reminded of the elements used in poetic interpretation, and use them to analyze various texts.
Johnny Mercer Foundation
Project-Based Songwriting
Project-based learning in a music theory class? Take note. Young songwriters compose, record, copyright, and promote their original songs. They even design their own CD cover.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Strange Fruit: Lynching in America
To continue their study of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the beginning of the civil rights movement, class members watch the YouTube video of Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit" as an introduction to an examination of lynching in...
Curated OER
Keeping Time
Students compose lyrics to songs for a music festival to promote issues in their community. They write artists' statements explaining the issues they chose to write about.
Curated OER
The Poetics of Hip Hop
Students consider the role of rhythm, form, diction, and sound in poetry. In this integrated arts instructional activity, students discuss the attributes of poetry as they analyze Shakespearean sonnets, hip hop music lyrics, and poems by...
Curated OER
"Every Breath You Take"
Students examine the future continuous tense using the song "Every Breath You Take," by The Police. They identify the future continuous tense in the song, write sentences, place the song lyrics in order, and complete a worksheet.
Curated OER
Poetic Devices in Songs
By teaching about poetic devices in music teachers can provide a creative way to practice reading, writing, and language skills.
Curated OER
The Jury's Still Out
Students examine the trials and executions of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. In groups, they use the internet to research the impact of the executions in the shape of political cartoons and writings. They discuss an article to...
Curated OER
America Poems
Students examine examples of how other Americans have expressed their feelings about America through songs and poetry, and write their own poems to express their relationship with America.
Curated OER
I Watch Babies Grow
Students explore the changes of life in different generations. In this change of life instructional activity, students help out families with new babies and learn about their needs. Students participate in interviews, creating timelines...
Curated OER
Civil War
Historical poetry is lyrical in form and rich with content. After examining the differences between the Northern and Southern states before and during the U.S. Civil War, learners complete a Venn diagram and create an illustration of the...
Curated OER
Make a Music Video
Students develop ideas for a music video of a familiar children's song. Working together, they write a script, create costumes, props, and scenery and stage shots to be taped.
Curated OER
Black and Blue: Jazz in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
Students analyze the impact of jazz on the novel, "Invisible Man," by Ralph Ellison. They read and discuss excerpts of the novel, write an essay on the influence of jazz on Ralph Ellison as a writer, and view video excerpts on jazz...
Curated OER
Love To Langston
Students complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Love To Langston. In this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short answer questions,...
ESL Kid Stuff
Describing Things (Adjectives)
Describing things using adjectives is the focus of this instructional activity designed for language learners. Class members play games, draw pictures, and sing songs, adding adjectives to describe animals.
ESL Kid Stuff
Telling the Time
What time is it? Language learners are introduced to time vocabulary with a series of activities, songs, and games that let them practice formulating and answer questions about time.
Curated OER
On the First Day of Christmas, My Teacher Gave to Me...
Students listen to recording of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." They write, perform, and publish their own versions of the song.
Curated OER
Boosting Rap's Rep
Learners consider the negative image that some have of rap and hip-hop music through discussion and reading an opinion piece from The New York Times. They create CD cover artwork reflecting these messages.