National Park Service
The Poet's Toolbox
If you need a lesson plan for your poetry unit, use two poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Rain in Summer" and "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp") and a resource on Elements of Poetry. The lesson plan guides you through...
K12 Reader
They See with Their Ears
Sometimes bats get a bad rap, even though they are fascinating creatures! Teach your class about echolocation with a reading passage. After reading, class members respond to five questions based on the text.
Curated OER
Frog Raps
Students analyze the different charateristics of frogs and toads. Students analyze how frogs/toads live, what they look like, where they live, their stages of life and how they compare to each other. Students create in small groups...
Royal Shakespeare Company
RSC Activity Toolkit: Romeo and Juliet
Is your head beating as if it would break into twenty pieces looking for activities to accompany a reading of the woeful tale of Juliet and her Romeo? Here's a weighty tool kit that won't hurt your back. The packet is divided into 20...
Curated OER
Poe's Poetry and Prosody
Motivate your class with this lesson! Learners use passages from Edgar Allan Poe's poetry to practice reading fluency. They read "The Raven" as a rap song to better understand the rhyming patterns and pauses.
Curated OER
Sonnets
Explore the concept of rhyme scheme within a Shakespearean sonnet. After writing out their favorite (appropriate!) rap song and explaining why they like it, middle schoolers define a rhyme scheme. Afterward, they examine a Shakespearean...
Curated OER
I am Special and You are Special Too - Project Children L.E.A.D.
Eighth graders recognize what makes them special through class participation and discussion of rap music, writing a poem about themselves, and designing their own special hat while working in groups.
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.
IPDAE
Themes in Short Stories
"What is the theme of this story?" The very question can spark fear in the minds of readers and incinerate confidence. Here you will discover an exercise that shows how writers use the tools of setting, plot, conflict, and...
Curated OER
Scops, Rappers and You: Historians with Style!
Students examine the epic poem Beowulf. In this analyzing poetry lesson, student compare listen to the Will Smith song "Wild, Wild West" and read Beowulf. Students analyze the song and the poem. Students then research an influential...
Curated OER
The 'Language of Dance'
Pupils choreograph dances. In this dance choreography lesson, students evaluate musical selections, then create a dance that capture the emotion of the music.
Ellsworth American
Think About the Newspaper
Investigate the significance of adjectives with a newspaper activity that addresses effective language. Readers probe teacher-provided articles in search of the mighty modifiers, and practice by replacing them with a different word, and...
Curated OER
Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music In America - Lesson 1
Students identify many careers within the music industry such as producer, A&R representative and recording studio engineer. They connect achievements of noted artists with their roles in the music industry.
Curated OER
From Remus to Rap: A History in Theory and Practice of the African-American Storytelling Tradition
Students examine the specific form and function of tall tales and toasts.
They discover the importance of performance in the telling of a story and the importance of rhythm in the telling of toasts. They create stories of their own, in...
Curated OER
Fusion: Calligraphy of Thought
Young scholars read about Calligraphy of Thought, a collection of poetry linking Islam to the West. In this art and poetry instructional activity, students read about the poetry collection and complete a culture flower.
Curated OER
Music and Lyrics
Eighth graders analyze lyrics from songs from a variety of genres. In this musical analysis lesson, 8th graders write an essay about their life plans in which they discuss the lyrics of U2's song, "One." They tell how the writings of Dr....
Curated OER
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
"People Everyday" offers class members an opportunity to develop their literacy analysis skills and to develop media literacy. Guided by an included list of discussion questions, groups examaine the word choice, literary devices used,...
Curated OER
Using Story Elements to Write a Rep
Students write a rap song to tell the who, what, and where of a story. In this literature instructional activity, students learn to identify the setting, characters, and plot of a story. Students watch a video and discuss story...
Curated OER
Robin Hood Rap: Quiz
In this Great Britain worksheet, students complete a ten question quiz about common facts about Great Britain. This pertains to the story of Robin Hood.
Curated OER
Commonly Confused Words - Quiz 5
Designed specifically for English language learners, this online quiz provides immediate feedback. Commonly confused words are presented in pairs, and the user must decide which word would best fit in the sentence provided. These words...
Curated OER
Music, Culture and War
Students see that music serves as a major conduit for the transport of knowledge. As they watch video, students tabulate the variety of music artists listed by different soldiers.
Curated OER
Poetry for the Common Good
Students identify examples of philanthropy in poetry or song. In this philanthropy lesson, students examine several poems such as Give by Carrie A. Thomas and identify concepts of philanthropy in the poem. Students construct their own...
Curated OER
Write to Music
Students improve their creative writing skills. In this writing skills lesson, students learn about picture captions, story writing, critiques, poems, reports, letter writing, creative writing, and a rap poem.
Curated OER
Poetry Assignment
As the culminating activity in a unit study of poetry, class members demonstrate what they have learned about poetry by creating a notebook containing original poems they have written, published poems they enjoy, and analyses of...