Genre: Folk
lesson:
The Homestead Act featuring Cowboy Songs collected by John Lomax
How did the Homestead Act of 1862 impact growth and development in the American West, and what is meant by the term “crossroads of culture” in the context of the American West?
lesson:
The Transcontinental Railroad featuring Work Songs Collected by John Lomax
In what ways did the Transcontinental Railroad contribute to the physical, cultural, and musical growth of the American West in the late 19th Century?
lesson:
What is a Mӧbius Strip?
What is a Mӧbius strip, how do you create one, and what can it represent?
Unit Plan:
Latin Music and Culture in U.S. History
Through ten lessons, students will explore different people, music, events, and places that helped shape Latin music and culture in the United States. Students will discover how Latin Music like Salsa, Latin Rock, Tejano, Bossa Nova, Swing, and Chicana Punk reflect the experiences of Latin people living in the...
lesson:
Lydia Mendoza: Tejano Life and Music on the Mexico/Texas Border
How does Lydia Mendoza’s Tejano music connect to the history of Texas and the influence Mexico has had on that state?
lesson:
Mountaintop Removal Mining in Appalachia
What is mountaintop removal, how does it affect the environment and people’s health?
Student Edition:
Student Activism and Music During the Civil Rights Movement
Student Edition:
Music of the Civil Rights Movement
lesson:
Student Activism and Music During the Civil Rights Movement
How did activism by Black students challenge Jim Crow segregation during the Civil Rights Movement, and what unique role did music play as an organizing tool?
lesson:
Music of the Civil Rights Movement
How did music advance the goals and inform the tactics of the Civil Rights Movement?
Trace It Back:
Jackson Browne
Student Edition:
Dolores Huerta: Labor Leader
lesson:
The Myth of the American Cowboy
How did Westward Expansion and the idea of Manifest Destiny inform the image of the cowboy in American culture?
lesson:
Dolores Huerta and The United Farm Workers Movement
Who is Dolores Huerta, what role did she play in the United Farm Workers movement, and how is she recognized today?
lesson:
The United Farm Workers Movement through Music and Poetry
Who is Dolores Huerta, what role did she play in the United Farm Workers movement, and how is she recognized today?
lesson:
A Veteran’s Soundtrack to the Vietnam War
How did popular music amplify the voices and experiences of Americans serving in the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War?
Trace It Back:
Bonnie Raitt
Trace It Back:
The Chicks
lesson:
Swing Down: Afrofuturism & Flight in the Black Imagination
What is Afrofuturism and what are some of the cultural traditions and historical events that inspired and reinforced it?
lesson:
Business with the Grateful Dead
How did the Grateful Dead’s business practices create a dedicated fan culture and ensure the financial success of the group?
lesson:
The Birth of Hippie Culture in the 1960s
How did the Grateful Dead reflect new ideas about life and society in the 1960’s?
lesson:
Math With The Grateful Dead
How can math be used to better understand the Grateful Dead’s success?
Student Edition:
“Lean on Me”: Expressing Gratitude and Care with Music
How does Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me” express gratitude and the importance of mutual care?
lesson:
Singer-Songwriters and the Environmental Movement (Elementary Version)
How did the singer-songwriters of the 1960s and 70s address the concerns of the environmental movement?
lesson:
Singing Democracy During the Second Great Awakening
What was the Second Great Awakening, how did it change American society, and how does Sacred Harp singing exemplify its ideals?
lesson:
The Banjo, Slavery, and the Abolition Debate
What is the relationship between the banjo and slavery, and how did music making by enslaved people influence the abolition debate during the 18th and early 19th century?
lesson:
Mining and Union Songs in the Early 20th Century
How do Nimrod Workman’s songs and stories about his life as a coal miner illustrate the struggles of working class people during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era?
lesson:
Debating Dylan’s Nobel Prize
What are the arguments for and against Bob Dylan receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature?
lesson:
The Music and Poetry Behind the Red Power Movement
What was the Red Power movement, and what role did Folk and Country music play within it?
lesson:
“Blowin’ in the Wind” as a Rallying Cry
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:
Artists Protest McCarthyism
How were musicians and artists affected by McCarthyism in 1950s America?
lesson:
Singer-Songwriters and the Environmental Movement
How did the singer-songwriters of the 1960s and 70s address the concerns of the environmental movement?
lesson:
The Emergence of Folk Rock
What is Folk music? To what extent did Folk Rock sustain the spirit of Folk music?
lesson:
Dylan as Poet
How did Bob Dylan merge poetry with popular music?
lesson:
Folk Music, Rock and Roll Attitude
How did Bob Dylan’s early experiences with Folk and Rock and Roll music influence his songwriting?
lesson:
Female Singer-Songwriters in the Early 1970s
What did the success of the female Singer-Songwriters of the early 1970s reveal about the changing roles of women in the United States?