Curated OER
Songs of Unrest - Lesson 4
Students identify popular songs from 1968 and make connections with the year's current events. They pretend that they are producing a new CD. The CD includes four songs that comment on today's social issues. They write the liner notes.
Curated OER
The Vietnam War
High schoolers discuss the nature of protest. They comprehend that art can be a form of protest. Students analyze how music was used as a powerful tool for speaking out against the war. They listen to some protest music and discuss the...
Curated OER
Sing a Shaker Song
Second graders study the Shakers of the 19th century and practice a traditional Shaker song, complete with dance motions.
Curated OER
Man in Conflict - Vietnam and Literature
Eleventh graders analyze the lyrics of protest music. In this Vietnam War lesson plan, 11th graders examine conflict as they consider the controversial nature of the war as evidenced in song lyrics. Students also consider the Iraq War...
Curated OER
VH1 Presents the 1980s - Lesson 3
Students identify different genres of music popular in the 1980s. They study musicians of the 1980s examples of the songs that they made popular. They utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan to categorize the music.
Curated OER
Racism in Jazz
Students 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.
Curated OER
The Impact of the IWW on the Nation or Who were the Wobblies?
Students evaluate the role labor groups had on the U.S. Government in the early 1900's. In this teaching American history lesson, students complete several activities, including response writing and listening to music, that reinforce...
Curated OER
A Songwriter Not Silenced - Lesson 2
Students discuss how a musician's message can influence society and government. They debate if political viewpoints should be publicized in music.
Curated OER
We Are The Freedom Riders
Young scholars consider the role of the Freedom Riders. In this American Civil Rights activity, students watch videos, listen to lectures, and conduct research regarding the participants in the Freedom Ride protest. Several weblinks,...
Curated OER
An American Ballad - Lesson 1
High schoolers listen to and analyze the ballad "American Pie." They utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan. They circle the appropriate descriptive words of the song's medium form, melody, tempo and dynamics, and style.
Curated OER
Sing a Tale
This activity allows students to explore the elements of traditional folktales in folk music.
Curated OER
A Voice for the Times
Students make connections with events of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's with songs made popular by Aretha Franklin.
Curated OER
P.O.W.: Products of War
Tenth graders are introduced to concepts of war through musical lyrics. They demonstrate and understanding of the role of segregation in US military policy and practice.
Curated OER
VH1 Legends Sam Cooke Lesson 2
Students examine the reasons and controversy regarding Sam Cooke's transition from gospel to pop.
Curated OER
Pilgrims and Puritans
With graphic organizers galore, learners will follow the changes of church and state in early colonial America. They look at the differences between the pilgrims and the puritans in terms of beliefs and life ways. Myths and...
Curated OER
Bob Dylan
In this Bob Dylan instructional activity, students read about the life of the performer, then complete a variety of comprehension activities. An answer key is included.
National First Ladies' Library
Science: The Purloined Letter
Students examine Edgar Allan Poe's "the Purloined Letter" from the perspective of a profiler. To sharpen search procedures, they examine the text and make lists of items and places in the house that were searched. Then students discuss...
Curated OER
Self-Control
Learners examine their feelings of anger in various situations. In groups, they view scenerios from different points of view and from reading many poems. They answer comprehension questions about a story they read to end the class.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Collaboration of Sites, Sounds: Wikis to Catalog Protest Songs
This instructional activity makes a connection to popular culture by asking students to research and analyze contemporary and historic protest songs and to catalogue them in a class wiki.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Music: A Vehicle for Wartime Protest
In this lesson, young scholars will examine music during wartime protests. Students will analyze a wartime protest song and present it to the class. Includes a PowerPoint presentation discussing music as a primary source and links to...
PBS
Pbs: Independent Lens: Strange Fruit: Protest Music Past and Present
Listen to audio clips of songs of protest from eight eras of U.S. history. Explore the lyrics, learn about the songwriters, and gather background information on the music that served and continues to serve as a catalyst for thought,...
PBS
Pbs: Independent Lens: Strange Fruit, the Film
Website on Strange Fruit, a documentary film about the history and legacy of the protest song "Strange Fruit." Includes the lyrics and audio for the song.
US Holocaust Memorial Museum
U.s. Holocaust Memorial Museum: Music of the Holocaust
Numerous sound bites from concentration camp songs, protest music, partisan songs, ghetto songs and more. Each one has images and a short description of what was going on when the song was written.
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: "You Better Leave Segregation Alone" (Audio Clip)
Review this audio clip of a civil rights protest song that had a big impact on public opinion and that turned the tables on pro-segregationist whites.