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:

The Historical Roots of Hip Hop

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

What are the historical roots of Hip Hop?

lesson:

The New York City Underground

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

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

lesson:

Soul Music and the New Femininity

Grades: High
Subjects: ELA, General Music, Social Studies/History
Activities: Musical Analysis, Textual Analysis, Timeline

How did Aretha Franklin represent a new female voice in 1960s popular music?

lesson:

Sampling: The Foundation of Hip Hop

Grades: High
Subjects: CTE, General Music
Activities: Maps, Musical Analysis, Visual Analysis

How is the re-use and re-purposing of existing music at the heart of the Hip Hop recording experience?

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:

Funk Asserts Itself

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

How did 1970s Funk respond to African-American life in the decade following the Civil Rights movement?

lesson:

The Musical Roots of the Surf Sound

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

What is the Surf sound and where did it come from?

lesson:

Dancing the Twist on Television

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

How did teen dance shows and the Twist influence American culture?

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:

Kanye and Katrina: Environmental Racism in New Orleans

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: Social Studies/History
Activities: Charts and Graphs, Interview, Maps

What was Hurricane Katrina, and how did Black Americans articulate the frustrations they felt in its aftermath?