Genre: Hip hop

Student Edition:
The Water Walker: Indigenous Wisdom and Water Contamination

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Middle
Subjects: Civics, STEAM

In what ways do Indigenous views of water align with scientific views, and how do Indigenous activists use artistic expression to advocate for water protection?

lesson:
The Water Walker: Indigenous Wisdom and Water Contamination

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Middle
Subjects: Civics, STEAM

In what ways do indigenous views of water align with scientific views, and how do indigenous activists use artistic expression to advocate for water protection?

Student Edition:
Contemporary Latin Artists and Activism

Grades: High
Subjects: Civics, Ethnic Studies, Social Studies/History

Unit Plan:
Latin Music and Culture in U.S. History

Grades: High
Subjects: Ethnic Studies, General Music, Social Studies/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...

Trace It Back:
Miguel

Grades: All Ages
Subjects: General Music, Social Studies/History

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Bad Bunny

Grades: All Ages
Subjects: General Music

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Cardi B

Grades: All Ages
Subjects: General Music

lesson:
Contemporary Latin Artists and Activism

Grades: High
Subjects: Civics, Ethnic Studies, Social Studies/History

How are contemporary Latin artists pursuing activism and promoting positive change in their communities?

Student Edition:
What Makes a Great Front Person in Music?

Grades: Elementary K-3, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Social Emotional Learning

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Run-DMC

lesson:
Creating a Personal Logo

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Elementary K-3
Subjects: Art/Design

How can a logo help communicate a person or group’s unique personality?

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Gil Scott-Heron

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Missy Elliott

Unit Plan:
Math and the Music Industry

Grades: Middle
Subjects: Math

Math is inherent in the music industry. Whether calculating touring costs, analyzing industry data, or determining fan engagement on social media, math interprets numerous aspects of the music industry. Through five lessons, students practice math skills within the context of the music industry. Utilizing important artists as case studies, students...

lesson:
Using Ratios to Identify Social Media Engagement

Grades: Middle
Subjects: Math

How can ratios be used to identify a music artist’s social media audience engagement?

lesson:
Signature Style in Art and Album Covers

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: Art/Design, General Music

How have visual artists worked with musicians without compromising their style?

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ChocQuibTown

Grades: All Ages, Elementary K-3, High, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Geography, Physical Education, Social Emotional Learning

Student Edition:
Rap Like ChocQuibTown with LADAMA

Grades: Elementary K-3
Subjects: ELA, General Music, Social Studies/History

Unit Plan:
Civic Environmentalism

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: Civics, Social Studies/History, STEAM

Civic environmentalism is a collective action to address critical environmental issues and implement solutions through democratic processes that will result in an improved and sustainable community. Through six lessons, students identify, analyze, and explore specific details and events related to the origins of the environmental movement in the United States...

Student Edition:
Third-Wave Feminism: Women’s Rights and Music in the 1990s

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High
Subjects: General Music, Social Studies/History

Trace It Back:
Janelle Monáe

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High, Middle

lesson:
Swing Down: Afrofuturism & Flight in the Black Imagination

Grades: High
Subjects: Art/Design, ELA, General Music

What is Afrofuturism and what are some of the cultural traditions and historical events that inspired and reinforced it?

Trace It Back:
Drake

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High, Middle

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Thundercat

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High, Middle

lesson:
The Reclamation of the American Cowboy

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High
Subjects: Social Studies/History

How has the image and history of the American cowboy been reclaimed in the 21st Century?

Student Edition:
The Roots of Hip Hop

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Social Studies/History

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Chance the Rapper

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High, Middle

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H.E.R.

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High, Middle

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Tyler, The Creator

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Nicki Minaj

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High, Middle

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Beyoncé

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High, Middle

lesson:
DAMN.: The Art and Importance of Storytelling

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High
Subjects: Art/Design, ELA, Social Studies/History

How do Kendrick Lamar’s album DAMN. and the work of photojournalist Gordon Parks tell stories that bring attention to social issues?

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Gorillaz

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High, Middle

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Mavis Staples

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High, Middle

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Big Freedia

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High, Middle

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Lizzo

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High, Middle

Trace It Back:
Jamila Woods

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High, Middle

lesson:
The Science and Civics of the Flint Water Crisis (Elementary/Middle School School Version)

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Middle
Subjects: Civics, Science, Social Studies/History, STEAM

What is the Flint water crisis, and why did it occur?

lesson:
The Science and Civics of the Flint Water Crisis (High School Version)

Grades: High
Subjects: Civics, Science, Social Studies/History, STEAM

What is the Flint water crisis, and why did it occur?

lesson:
Third Wave: Women’s Rights and Music in the 1990s

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High
Subjects: Civics, General Music, Social Studies/History

What was Third Wave Feminism, why did it occur, and how did musicians address some of the movement’s demands?

lesson:
#BlackLivesMatter: Music in a Movement

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: Social Studies/History

How have musicians responded to the Black Lives Matter movement?

lesson:
Kanye and Katrina: Environmental Racism in New Orleans

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: Social Studies/History

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

lesson:
“Alright” and the History of Black Protest Songs

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: Social Emotional Learning, Social Studies/History

How have Black artists throughout the 20th century used music to speak about racial injustice in America?

lesson:
Cleaning up the Plastic Beach (Elementary School Version)

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Middle
Subjects: Science, STEAM

What is plastic, how is it harmful for the environment, and how can it be used more responsibly?

lesson:
Cleaning up the Plastic Beach (Middle School/High School Version)

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: Art/Design, Science, Social Studies/History, STEAM

How is plastic made, how does it affect our marine environments, and how can plastic waste be eliminated?

lesson:
Celebrating Community with Art and Poetry (High School Version)

Grades: High
Subjects: Art/Design, ELA, Social Emotional Learning

What different types of communities exist, and how do the people in our communities impact us?

lesson:
Celebrating Community with Art and Poetry (Elementary School Version)

Grades: Elementary 4-6
Subjects: Art/Design, Social Emotional Learning

What different types of communities exist, and how do the people in our communities impact us?

lesson:
100 Years of Dance

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Middle
Subjects: General Music

Why might people dance, and how have dance trends changed in America since the 1920s?

lesson:
The Latin Rhythms of “Despacito”

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Middle
Subjects: General Music

What Latin American genres inspired Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s hit song “Despacito”?

lesson:
“See You Again”: How We Mourn with Music

Grades: All Ages, AP/Honors/101, Elementary 4-6, High, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Social Emotional Learning

How does music help us remember people we are close to, or those we have lost?

lesson:
The Ethics of Sampling

Grades: High
Subjects: General Music

What makes a work of art “original,” and how does the use of “sampling” technology in Hip Hop challenge perceptions of “originality”?

lesson:
Rhythm as a Representation of People and Place

How does “the beat” of popular music reflect the histories of multiethnic populations and places?

lesson:
Sampling: The Foundation of Hip Hop

Grades: High
Subjects: CTE, General Music

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

lesson:
Bo Diddley: The Grandfather of Hip Hop?

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Social Studies/History

How were Bo Diddley’s recordings an anomaly in relation to 1950s Pop music, and how is his rhythm-driven sound and self-presentation a precursor to Hip Hop style?

lesson:
Artists Protest McCarthyism

Grades: High
Subjects: Civics, Social Studies/History

How were musicians and artists affected by McCarthyism in 1950s America?

lesson:
Gospel Music and the Birth of Soul

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Social Studies/History

How did Gospel influence American popular music?

lesson:
Seventies Soul: The Soundtrack of Turbulent Times

Grades: High
Subjects: General Music, Social Studies/History

How did changes in the Soul music of the early 1970s reflect broader shifts in American society during that time?

lesson:
Divergent Paths in the 1990s: Gangsta Rap and Conscious Hip Hop

Grades: High
Subjects: ELA, Social Studies/History

How did Gangsta Rap and Conscious Hip Hop respond to the social and political conditions of the 1990s?

lesson:
The Roots of Hip Hop

Grades: High
Subjects: ELA, Social Studies/History

What are the roots of Hip Hop?