Overview

The potent mix of musical, literary, scientific, and philosophic influences from which the Grateful Dead sprang made them, in some ways, the most American band. As such, the Grateful Dead’s story creates an exciting window through which students can explore key people, times, places, and issues of the U.S. throughout the latter half of the 20th century.

Created in partnership with Amazon Films, the seven lesson plans in the Long Strange Trip: The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead collection create a pathway through which K-12 teachers of all disciplines can use clips from the film, historical documents, and other source material to guide students into important, engaging, and standards-aligned class periods.

Lessons

lesson:
The Original “Going Viral”

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: CTE, General Music, Social Emotional Learning, Social Studies/History

Could a musical group “go viral” before the internet?

lesson:
Business with the Grateful Dead

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: CTE, General Music

How did the Grateful Dead’s business practices create a dedicated fan culture and ensure the financial success of the group?

lesson:
Jerry Garcia, Addiction, and Intervention

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: Social Emotional Learning

How can you help someone struggling with addiction?

lesson:
Feeling the Vibrations

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Elementary K-3, Middle
Subjects: Science, Social Emotional Learning, STEAM

How did the Grateful Dead make their concerts more accessible to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) community?

lesson:
Supporting Sobriety in a Musical Community

Grades: High
Subjects: CTE, Social Emotional Learning

Who are the Wharf Rats, and how do they exemplify the practices of sobriety, peer support, and community building within a musical fan culture?

lesson:
Loudspeakers, PA Systems, and the “Wall of Sound”

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: CTE, General Music, Science, STEAM

What is a PA system, how does it work, and how were the Grateful Dead pioneers in live sound technology?

lesson:
Math With The Grateful Dead

Grades: Elementary 4-6
Subjects: Math

How can math be used to better understand the Grateful Dead’s success?

lesson:
Counterculture in the 1960s

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High
Subjects: ELA, Social Studies/History

How did the counterculture movement of the late 1960s challenge traditional American behaviors and values, and how did the Grateful Dead reflect these changing views of life and society?

lesson:
Deadheads and Reagan’s America in the 1980s

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: Social Studies/History

Who are the Deadheads and how did their lifestyle contrast with the conservative values promoted by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s?

lesson:
The Birth of Hippie Culture in the 1960s

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: Social Studies/History

How did the Grateful Dead reflect new ideas about life and society in the 1960’s?

lesson:
Beat Culture and the Grateful Dead

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High
Subjects: ELA

How did beat writers like Jack Kerouac influence the Grateful Dead’s music?