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Storytellers: Bruce Springsteen
Students use the correct music terminology to evaluate a performance, composition, and arrangement of the song "Blinded by the Light" by Bruce Springsteen and compare it to another version recorded by Manfred Man.
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Simile Stories
Fourth graders view song lyrics and identify similes in the song text. In this similes lesson, 4th graders define and identify similes on a worksheet. Students write their own similes using various adjectives.
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Stand Up and Sing: Music and Our Reform History
Students examine events of historical significance in music. In groups, they are given pieces of sheet music and work together to try to determine the social and political conditions of the time based on the lyrics. They write their own...
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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.
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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.
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National Symbols
Students explore symbols of nationalism and consider their relevance today. Students listen to national anthems of various countries, discuss sentiments that songs and lyrics invoke, research history of anthems and countries they...
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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...
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Getting Inside The Outsiders Through Music
Students listen to popular music of the 50's and 60's to make literature connections to The Outsiders. For this popular culture lesson, students evaluate and analyze various songs and connect them with the themes in the literature...
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Music Video
Middle schoolers explore songs that tell stories over various decades and create a Garage band track for their voice. In this story song lesson, students create a video for their song group. Middle schoolers present a...
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Poetic Analysis
Students write a poetic analysis on a poem by Carl Sandburg. They take their previous knowledge of poetic devices and apply them to a piece of writing that displays their knowledge on a specific poem. They explain what they know about a...
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Freak the Mighty - Rodman Philbrick
Students read and examine the novel Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick. A variety of assignments involving this novel is offered for the students to complete with higher order thinking skills.
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M.C. Bard: Hip Hop and Shakespeare
Learners compare lyrics from hip hop songs with monologues from Shakespeare's plays, and perform both for the class.
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No Form of Tobacco is Safe
Students create an advertisement to convince children to stay away from tobacco products. In this smoking prevention lesson, students discuss the health effects of tobacco use and evaluate current tobacco ads. Students work in small...
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The Electric Hearth
Students examine popular media. In this media awareness lesson, students keep logs of their interactions with media and then write an essay regarding the data.
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Philanthropy and Citizenship-Hand in Hand
Students define philanthropy and evaluate how the government would functin without the help of volunteers. They write song lyrics, participate in a class discussion, and complete a Venn diagram.
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Storytellers: Bruce Springsteen
Students use the music of Bruce Springsteen to learn literature techniques.
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And We Were All in One Place: Youth Culture and the Rock Festival
Students explore historical youth culture events. In this youth culture lesson, students discover details regarding the Altamont, Woodstock, and Monterey concerts. Students conduct research that regarding the rock festivals and...
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The Hurricane
Students analyze three different ways a story is told, determine truth and fiction in each story, and discover and apply techniques to narrate a good story.
Students listen to Bob Dylan's "The Hurricane" and watch the "R" rated movie,...
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What Makes a Hero?
Students identify the characteristics of a hero. In this character development and writing lesson, students listen to music with a hero theme and discuss the common traits of heroes. Students explore individuals and charitable...
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The Farmer and the Cowman
What is the difference between a ranch and a farm? After reading and discussing the provided background information, young agriculturalists will color, cut, and create neat little booklets that show the differences between ranches and...
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Fifties/Sixties Musical Playwriting Workshop
Pupils write a coherent script based on characterization, theme, conflict and emotional tone as found in the songs' lyrics and develop an understanding of the enjoyment that comes through discipline and hard work leading toward a...
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The Vietnam War: A Popular Music Approach
High schoolers explore the Vietnam War in music. In this Vietnam lesson, students listen to and analyze popular music from the Vietnam era in order to understand the use of propaganda regarding the controversial war. High schoolers...
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Food Chain Pyramid
Second graders examine how a food chain functions. They define what a food chain is, and act out a food chain with the students acting as different animals. Students then sing the song "I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," and...
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Storytellers: Coldplay
Students discover the importance of lyrics in the successful combination of music and words in the process of composing a song. They discuss how emotion-based lyrics influence the creative aspects in composing a song.