lesson:

Debating Dylan’s Nobel Prize

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High
Subjects: ELA
Activities: Structured Academic Controversy, Textual Analysis

What are the arguments for and against Bob Dylan receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature?

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:

“Blowin’ in the Wind” as a Rallying Cry

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

How does the song “Blowin’ in the Wind” use poetic devices to communicate an open-ended yet powerful message about the human condition, without ever losing its historical specificity?

lesson:

The Roots of Country Rock

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

How did Country Music influence Rock and Roll and the musicians who made it?

lesson:

The New York City Underground

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

How did New York bands interact with the city's art scene to create something new?

lesson:

How Records and Radio Shaped American Culture

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

How did changes in the technology of record manufacturing effect popular music, radio, and the people who consumed both?

lesson:

The Gospel Origins of “Chain of Fools”

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: ELA, General Music
Activities: Charts and Graphs, Maps, Musical Analysis

Essential Question: How did Aretha Franklin’s foundation in Gospel music influence her recording of “Chain of Fools,” helping to establish a Soul sound and bringing black culture into mainstream America?

lesson:

The Music and Poetry Behind the Red Power Movement

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High
Subjects: Social Studies/History
Activities: Document-Based Questions, Textual Analysis, Visual Analysis

What was the Red Power movement, and what role did Folk and Country music play within it?

lesson:

Sound Waves, Analog Synthesis and Popular Culture

Grades: All Ages, AP/Honors/101, Elementary, High, Middle
Subjects: CTE, General Music, STEAM
Activities: Interactive Tech Tools, Textual Analysis, Visual Analysis

How did synthesizers allow musicians to create new sounds and how did those sounds reflect American culture throughout the 20th century?

lesson:

Ritchie Valens

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

How did Ritchie Valens meld traditional Mexican music and Rock and Roll?

lesson:

The Indigenous Roots of Rock and Roll

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High
Subjects: ELA, Social Studies/History
Activities: Document-Based Questions, Interactive Tech Tools, Role Playing, Station Activities, Textual Analysis

What does Link Wray’s biography say about how Native Americans lived in the first half of the 20th century, and what role did Wray’s upbringing have on his music?

lesson:

Ritchie Valens (Elementary School Version)

Grades: Elementary
Subjects: General Music, Social Studies/History
Activities: Musical Analysis, Personal Reflection, Textual Analysis

How did Ritchie Valens meld traditional Mexican music and Rock and Roll?