lesson:

The Beatles Work Towards Success

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: Social Studies/History, STEAM
Activities: Equations and Calculations, Maps, Textual Analysis, Timeline, Visual Analysis

How did The Beatles' rigorous work schedule during the years 1960-63 build their strengths as performers, as musicians, and as a band?

lesson:

The Teamwork Behind the Beatles

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: CTE, General Music
Activities: Role Playing, Textual Analysis, Visual Analysis

How did the input of manager Brian Epstein and record producer George Martin help The Beatles develop and refine skills that aided the band in presenting their music and personalities to a mass audience?

lesson:

Math with The Beatles

Grades: Elementary
Subjects: Advisory, STEAM
Activities: Charts and Graphs, Design and Build, Equations and Calculations, Maps, Think-Pair-Share, Timeline, Visual Design

How can the Beatles’ growth in popularity be demonstrated with math?

lesson:

The Beatles and Teen Culture

Grades: High
Subjects: Social Studies/History
Activities: Textual Analysis, Visual Analysis

How did the Beatles’ image as a “rock band” affect young people in America?

lesson:

“Twist and Shout” and Post-War Britain

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: General Music
Activities: Musical Analysis, Role Playing, Textual Analysis, Visual Analysis

What role did cover songs like “Twist and Shout” play early in the Beatles's career, and how did their experiences growing up in post-WWII Liverpool and performing in Hamburg nightclubs help them to develop as a professional musical ensemble?

lesson:

The Many Roles of a Music Producer

Grades: High
Subjects: CTE, General Music
Activities: Think-Pair-Share, Visual Analysis

What does a music producer do and in what ways does one hear the sound of a producer’s work in recordings?

lesson:

Beatlemania

Grades: High
Subjects: Social Studies/History
Activities: Four Corners, Textual Analysis, Visual Analysis

What were the factors that contributed to the rise of Beatlemania?

lesson:

Liverpool: The Birthplace of the Beatles

Grades: High
Subjects: Social Studies/History
Activities: Maps, Station Activities, Textual Analysis

How did growing up in post-WWII Liverpool influence the Beatles?

lesson:

The Rise of the Electric Guitar

Grades: High
Subjects: General Music, Social Studies/History
Activities: Charts and Graphs, Four Corners, Textual Analysis, Visual Analysis, Visual Design

What factors led to the rise of the electric guitar as the dominant symbol of Rock and Roll?

lesson:

Considering the Future of Rock and Roll

Grades: High
Subjects: ELA, Social Studies/History
Activities: Role Playing, Textual Analysis

How is Rock and Roll's power, at least in part, a result of its being born on the margins of society?

lesson:

How to Study Rock and Roll

Grades: All Ages, AP/Honors/101, Elementary, High, Middle
Subjects: ELA, General Music, Social Studies/History
Activities: Textual Analysis, Timeline, Visual Analysis

How can teachers help students analyze and understand Rock and Roll?

lesson:

MTV and the Disruption of Gender Norms

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: Advisory, General Music, Social Studies/History
Activities: Textual Analysis, Visual Analysis

How did MTV help create a visual space in which artists could, inadvertently or not, challenge established ideas about gender?

lesson:

The American Blues in Britain

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: General Music
Activities: Textual Analysis, Visual Analysis

In what ways did American Blues affect English musicians in the early 1960s?

lesson:

The Who’s Generation

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: ELA, Social Studies/History
Activities: Role Playing, Textual Analysis, Think-Pair-Share, Visual Analysis

How did the Who represent “My Generation” in mid-1960s England?

lesson:

The Roots of Progressive Rock

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: General Music
Activities: Textual Analysis, Visual Analysis

How did Progressive Rock’s incorporation of classical traditions and countercultural values help to forge a unique Rock genre in the late 1960s?

lesson:

The Rise of Disco

Grades: High
Subjects: General Music, Social Studies/History
Activities: Musical Analysis, Role Playing, Station Activities, Visual Analysis, Visual Design

How did Disco relate to the sentiments and social movements of the 1970s?

lesson:

Punk as Reaction

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: Art, Social Studies/History
Activities: Role Playing, Station Activities, Visual Analysis, Visual Design

How was Punk Rock a reaction both to the commercialization of Rock and Roll and to the social climate in late 1970s Britain?

lesson:

Folk Music, Rock and Roll Attitude

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: ELA, General Music
Activities: Musical Analysis, Textual Analysis, Timeline, Visual Analysis

How did Bob Dylan’s early experiences with Folk and Rock and Roll music influence his songwriting?

lesson:

Dylan as Poet

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: ELA
Activities: Textual Analysis, Think-Pair-Share

How did Bob Dylan merge poetry with popular music?

lesson:

Car Culture in Postwar America

Grades: High
Subjects: Social Studies/History
Activities: Charts and Graphs, Textual Analysis, Visual Analysis

How did car culture intersect with and inspire Rock and Roll?

lesson:

Latin Music in Postwar New York City

Grades: High
Subjects: Social Studies/History
Activities: Charts and Graphs, Maps, Textual Analysis, Visual Analysis

How did the growth of New York City’s Latino population in the 1940s and 50s help to increase the popularity of Latin music and dance in American culture?

lesson:

The Impact of the Electric Guitar

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: CTE, General Music, STEAM
Activities: Gallery Walk, Interactive Tech Tools, Visual Analysis

How did the electrification, amplification and design of the guitar facilitate its emergence as a dominant instrument of popular music?

lesson:

The Original “Going Viral”

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: CTE, General Music, Social Studies/History
Activities: Charts and Graphs, Personal Reflection, Visual Analysis

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

lesson:

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

Grades: Elementary, Middle
Subjects: CTE, General Music, STEAM
Activities: Charts and Graphs, Design and Build, Station Activities

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
Subjects: Math
Activities: Charts and Graphs, Equations and Calculations, Visual Art, Visual Design

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