Curated OER
Poetry through Jazz, Rap, and Hip Hop
Students explore poetry through jazz, rap, and hip hop music. They discover the common threads that run through the poetry and music. Students design their own lyrics to a jazz, rap, or hip hop selection and share their songs with the...
Curated OER
Birch Bark Biting
Fifth graders create birch bark biting art pieces. For this aboriginal art lesson, 5th graders produce art using birch bark. Students present their art pieces and explain their designs.
Curated OER
Understanding Human Rights Through Music And Poetry
Tenth graders discuss human rights. They brainstorm and listen to and read examples of music and poetry that deal with human rights and oppression. They choose one poem or song to analyze, looking for theme, oppression, and historical...
Curated OER
Literature-Poetry
Students review themes they have seen so far in their study of poetry. They compare four poems and one set of song lyrics as they search for meaning in each. They compare and contrast all five and then give a presentation of their...
Curated OER
Studying The American Musical Theatre
Students discover the group dynamics necessary to produce an American musical in this six day lesson. Themes and characterization techniques are explored during collaborative small group research projects.
Curated OER
The Language of the Civil Rights Movement
Tenth graders develop a website documenting poetry integral during the civil rights movement in the United States. Working in pairs, 10th graders research the people and poetry of that was prevalent during the civil rights movement. ...
Curated OER
Individuality vs. Conformity
Have your middle schoolers participate in numerous activities designed to spark their awareness of literature. They express ideas and concerns clearly and respectfully in conversations and group discussions. Next, they view a music...
Japan Society
Akutagawa Ryunosuke and the Taisho Modernists
Japan's Taisho Period was a time when authors like Akutagawa and other Japanese modernists began to experiment with point of view and literary form, making the literature produced during this time period a natural choice for teaching...
Curated OER
Poetry In Song
Investigate poetry and song lyrics with your class. They will identify poetic elements in their favorite modern music. Then they will play their song choice aloud for their classmates.
Curated OER
Themes in "Romeo and Juliet"
Young scholars read the play, Romeo and Juliet, and discuss the main themes. They examine the music they listen to, and present selections that reflect any of the themes in the play.
Curated OER
Language Arts, African Americans, Oral Tradition and the Blues
When slavery took Africans from their land, they were separated from the rich musical and oral traditions native to each country and region. While working as slaves, Africans found they had two places where they could use these musical...
Curated OER
Music from a Place Called Half Moon
Students read the novel, Music from a Place Called Half Moon. They are assigned chapters to analyze for literary elements and to assign titles to the book chapters.
Curated OER
Screening Coleridge’s Fantasies: Using Popular Music as a Bridge to Literacy
Twelfth graders use music to aid them in interpreting poetry. In this poetry lesson, 12th graders analyze the lyrics, figurative language, and literary devices of selected music. Students compare the music to the poetry of Samuel...
Curated OER
Rap as a Modern Poetic Form
Students write and listen to rap songs. They discover how common themes in rap are indicative of the problems, as well as the empowerments, that can be seen in our urban cultures today. They discover how rap is actually an evolution of...
Curated OER
Musical Moments
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. ...
Curated OER
Crossroads Blues
The crossroads, and the decisions made and entities met there, are a common theme in literature, pushing readers to examine the choices and encounters that shape life experience. The theme has also been explored in blues music, most...
Curated OER
Different! Diverse! Dynamic! Lesson 2: Teaching Peace Through Literature And Song
Learners investigate bullying and discrimination and draw pictures of a personal response to being bullied. They read Thank You, Mr. Falkner by Patricia Polacco, to determine the philosophic act that the main character performs. They...
National First Ladies' Library
We're off to see the Wizard!
Students explore the process of play and movie making from books. They study the basic elements of drama and write and produce a play based on a chosen theme. Students explain the basic elements of a play by looking at "The Wonderful...
Curated OER
Exploring the Self
Students examine a variety of songs, poems, and books exploring and analyzing the theme of self reliance and being true to one's self. They write a poem, essay, or letter that captures their true spirit and individuality and then they...
Curated OER
Seuss-Perb Stations
Students practice previously learned skills to the theme of "Dr. Seuss books".
Curated OER
Trash or Treasure?
Students explore their experiences and reflect on how one person can make a difference in our world. In this service learning lesson, students analyze themes in music related to encouragement. Students perform a service learning project...
Curated OER
Heaven or Ground Hog Day?
Learners discover the ideas of enlightenment by reading historical poetry. In this philosophical lesson, students read poems by Sir Walter Scott and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer while discussing the themes of the writing with classmates....
Curated OER
I Spy Poetry
Students identify and interpret the rhythm and form of the I Spy poem.
They then integrate art, music, literature, technology, and writing with poetry. Students also write their own poem based on the picture they printed from the I Spy...
Huntington Library
The Poetry and Prose of Langston Hughes
Eleventh graders discover the poetry of Langston Hughes. In this social issues lesson plan, 11th graders experience the views of Langston Hughes. Students read Hughes' poetry and discuss the basic theme. Students evaluate the political,...