Overview
Looking to engage your students with the current music coming out of their headphones? This collection of lessons features contemporary Pop music as an entry point into a wide variety of topics. Use Beyoncé to introduce the United Nations and the transatlantic slave trade, or introduce traditional Latin rhythms through Luis Fonsi’s and Daddy Yankee’s hit “Despacito.” Discuss the origins of the #MeToo movement with Kesha, and review major events in 2017 with P!nk. Teach Greek mythology with Coldplay and the Chainsmokers, and explore issues of identity, peer pressure, stardom, and memory with Alessia Cara, Tori Kelly and The Black Eyed Pea’s Taboo, and Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa.
Lessons
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“Praying” and the #MeToo Movement
Grades:
High, Middle
Subjects:
General Music, Social Studies/History
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Who is “Us” in P!nk’s “What About Us”?
Grades:
High, Middle
Subjects:
General Music, Social Studies/History
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Heroes and Mortals in “Something Just Like This”
Grades:
All Ages, AP/Honors/101, Elementary, High, Middle
Subjects:
ELA
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“Here”: Managing Peer Pressure and Anxiety
Grades:
All Ages, Elementary, High, Middle
Subjects:
General Music, Social Emotional Learning
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Fame and Judgement in “Funny”
Grades:
All Ages, AP/Honors/101, Elementary, High, Middle
Subjects:
General Music, Social Studies/History
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Negotiating Native Identity through Art, Poetry and Music
Grades:
AP/Honors/101, High
Subjects:
Art/Design, Social Emotional Learning, Social Studies/History
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“See You Again”: How We Mourn with Music
Grades:
All Ages, AP/Honors/101, Elementary, High, Middle
Subjects:
General Music, Social Emotional Learning
