TeachRock

Over the past year, TeachRock has been updating our lessons so that they can help teachers meet the needs of a variety of learners. With this project, we are striving to make sure that our materials engage students with all types of learning profiles, interests, and readiness. 

So far, our lessons How a Bill Becomes a Law: Legislating the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday and Second Wave: Women’s Rights and Music in the 1960s have been updated with differentiated instruction in mind. And in celebration of Earth Day, we are happy to publish an updated version of our 3rd differentiated lesson, Singer-Songwriters and the Environmental Movement. 

Here are some ways we have updated this lesson:

• Including a vocabulary list of terms and figures for the lesson
• Providing a “chunked” excerpt from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, complete with vocabulary terms and interactive comprehension questions students can complete on their devices
• Introducing a illustrated timeline activity integrating a visual arts component into the lesson

We hope these resources help introduce all students to the story of how Rachel Carson and musicians such as Joni Mitchell and Marvin Gaye helped usher in the very first Earth Day in 1970.