Curated OER
Media Literacy in Presentations
Middle schoolers study the three types of mass media messages: visual media, written media, and audio media. After a class discussion which has them list examples of each, learners get into pairs and work on analyzing the "Four A's" in...
Curated OER
Mining Mass Media
Students take a closer look at the attributes of electronic media. In this journalism instructional activity, students compare and contrast electronic and print versions of the same news stories. Students then write their one broadcast...
Curated OER
Class in the Media: Writing a Television Show
Students look at popular media presentations to determine what type of messages they convey about class and class-linked behavior. They listen to contemporary music to explore how the songs touch upon social class issues. They read...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian In Your Classroom: The Music in Poetry
Take poetry off the page and put it into terms of movement, physical space and, finally, music with this series of three lessons from the Smithsonian Institution. This resource introduces students to two poetic forms that originated as...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5
If you allow the space for your class members to be creative with technology as they make a presentation, they will make you proud with their inventiveness. The resource suggests an open research project for which pupils look up...
Curated OER
The Media and Social Justice in the United States
Young scholars investigate why the hip hop is sometimes called the CNN of black youth. They explore the political themes in American hip hop. Students examine the connection between art, media and social justice in hip hop.
Curated OER
Television Newscasts
When we watch news broadcasts on television, we receive a much more visual perspective than when we read the newspaper. How do sets, clothing, and music contribute to our understanding of the story? Compare American and Canadian news...
Curated OER
The Media and Social Justice in Your Community
Students study symbolism in media. They listen to two Hip Hop songs and watch the videos for them. They identify symbols and their meanings based on the context of the images seen in the videos and the lyrics heard.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phonological Awareness: Rhyme, Rhyme or No Rhyme
Rhyming is fun, builds phonemic awareness, and is a tried and true pre-reading skill. This activity helps learners identify words that rhyme. Young scholars listen to a song, locate a rhyming word they hear by clapping then draw a...
Curated OER
1900 America: Primary Sources and Epic Poetry
Using Walt Whitman's Song of Myself and Hart Crane's The Bridge as models, class groups first craft their own epic poems for 1900 and, using primary sources, create a multi-media presentation that captures the sights and...
University of Virginia
Student Page: Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture
History sleuths read articles for and against Uncle Tom's Cabin, examine visual images, print responses, and multi-media tomitudes to better understand the impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel on American culture prior to...
John F. Kennedy Center
Jazz music, Dance and Poetry
Learners view video and become familiar with the type of movement in jazz dance. In this jazz dance lesson, students write a cinquain about jazz dance. Learners recognize the elements of jazz dance and the type of music...
Curated OER
The Poetics of Hip Hop
Students consider the role of rhythm, form, diction, and sound in poetry. In this integrated arts lesson, students discuss the attributes of poetry as they analyze Shakespearean sonnets, hip hop music lyrics, and poems by Nikki...
Curated OER
Sondheim: Voice of Cultural Change
Students explore Stephen Sondheim's contributions to musical theatre in the context of the dramatic cultural shift that occurred in American life in the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
Curated OER
Identifying Modals In Context
Bring your class to the computer lab to read a short passage and practice identifying modals in context. First, they read the short passage about the changing music industry (although the information is dated), and then they answer a set...
Curated OER
Breaking News English: Napster a Rival for iPod?
In this English worksheet, students read "Napster a Rival for iPod?," and then respond to 47 fill in the blank, 7 short answer, 20 matching, and 8 true or false questions about the selection.
Curated OER
Breaking News English: Armstrong Wins 7th Tour de France
In this English worksheet, learners read "Armstrong Wins 7th Tour de France" and then respond to 47 fill in the blank, 7 short answer, 20 matching, and 8 true or false questions about the selection.
Curated OER
Willie Nelson: All Together Now!
Students recite Willie Nelson's lyrics in one voice and then analyze their tone and vocabulary usage. They research Willie Nelson's history and dramatize the song: "On the Road Again."
Curated OER
The Talking Stick
Students examine the lives of the Aboriginal peoples of Saskatchewan. In this talking stick instructional activity, students discover dance, art, music, and traditions of the First Nations people. Students design and create a...
Curated OER
Beautiful Noise Poetry
"What a beautiful noise comin' up from the street; got a beautiful sound, it's got a beautiful beat..." Use Neil Diamond's "Beautiful Noise" to guide your class through a Six Trait writing activity, in which they write an original poem...
Library of Congress
Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Fugitive Slave Act
From the time of its publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin has been controversial. To better understand the debate, class members first examine a broadside decrying the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and then two newspaper reviews of the...
Curated OER
Lesson 12- Quincy Jones:What Makes an American Master?
Learners study the life of Quincy Jones and research black music for selected decades of the 20th Century. They discuss the qualities that help one create and sustain a successful career. They design a timeline of what their future...
Curated OER
Louisiana's Tragic Hero - "Evangeline"
"Ye who believe...List to a Tale of Love in Acadie." Longfellow's epic poem, "Evangeline," launches a study of tragic heroines, epic poetry, the expulsion of the Acadians from Canada, and their subsequent migration to Louisiana. The...
Curated OER
The Poetics of Hip Hop
The Bard, Nikki Giovanni, Mos Def? “Sonnet 18,” Ego Tripping,” and “Black on Both Sides”? Sure! It’s the poetics. Class members compare the lyrics, rhythm, and rhyme in classic poetry to hip-hop in a richly detailed resource that...