Latin American culture is deeply embedded in American culture as a whole. From the Latin rock scene in San Francisco to the hip-hop world of New York, Latin American artists have influenced every genre of modern music. Learn about the...

Are you teaching Modernism to your class? Connect different areas of artistic expression in the Modernist Era. Learners read T.S. Eliot, view art by Pablo Picasso, and listen to a Modernist musical composition. This final assignment is...

Students examine plot and setting of Cinderella, and how it changes as it is translated into different cultures, discuss universal literary elements of the Cinderella story, and write narratives with original settings and plots...

Explore concepts of audience, purpose and symbols in this lesson from Media Smarts that asks students to consider all the functions of music. Through a series of discussions and activities, your class will brainstorm possible functions...

Enjoy the thrill of the movies with this ESL activity! Not only can learners talk about their favorite films, but in creating riddles about their chosen movies, they can practice the skills of context clues and deductive reasoning. This...

How much do you know about Latin American music? A crossword puzzle challenges learners to answer 24 questions about the history, genres, performers, and instruments of Latin American music.

Use drama to study and practice dialogue. Creative minds discuss what dialogue tells about a character, and how it can be used to advance the plot. They read a play, think about what they gleaned from dialogue, and record their...

Here is a complex lesson plan that interweaves the history of the Jim Crow South and the Great Migration with the study of poetry, art, and blues music from the Harlem Renaissance. The plan helps young historians develop a deep...

How much of your daily life is influenced by Latin American music? Take a listen—the answer may surprise you! High schoolers keep a journal to note any instances they see Latino culture represented, including the media, their school, and...

Students discover the literary genre of biographies.  In this creative writing lesson, students write about their own life experiences and personal stories.  Students create a poster about their lives, a biographical...

The danger of mob mentality is on display in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Get your class thinking with some challenging quickwrite questions, then assign characters from the play to be read aloud altogether. Links to worksheets...

"Ode to la Tortilla" and "Ode to Joy"? Sure! Use Gary Soto's poem to introduce learners to the ode format. After examining the descriptive words Soto uses, class members study a poster of Ludwig van Beethoven, suggest words that describe...

Explore the murder mystery genre through film, discussion, and writing. The plan features several activities centered around a two-minute video that include collaboration, writing, and prediction. After the lesson, individuals write...

Find la guitarra and el charango with a short and straightforward word search focused on Latin American music. Learners check through a list of popular instruments and dances before delving into the puzzle.

Students analyze graphical forms of Eudora Welty and interpret the shorts stories in the representations. In this graphical representations lesson, students analyze the short story genre in comic strips. Students then create their own...

Seventh graders are introduced to myths formed by many cultures as a unique genre of literature. They use critical thinking skills to compare and contrast mythic tales, compare versions of the same story, and respond to literature in...

As part of their exploration of the American dream, class members examine primary source materials to compare immigrant experiences of those arriving early in our country's history to those arriving in the US after World War...

The Bard, Nikki Giovanni, Mos Def? “Sonnet 18,” Ego Tripping,” and “Black on Both Sides”? Sure! It’s the poetics. Class members compare the lyrics, rhythm, and rhyme in classic poetry to hip-hop in a richly detailed resource that...

Students will create short movies. The integration of technology into the curriculum is important for learners to apply in various ways. This lesson is an example of that kind of integration.

Young scholars identify different genres of music popular in the 1980s. They study musicians of the 1980s examples of the songs that they made popular. They utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan to categorize the music.

Fourth graders view song lyrics and identify similes in the song text.  In this similes lesson, 4th graders define and identify similes on a worksheet.  Students write their own similes using various adjectives.

Students explore songs in a variety of ways to practice the English language. They work in groups to build songs and sing them to the class. They prepare an oral presentation of a singer, group, or musical genre. They contrast two...

Seventh graders explore the various elements found in the advertisement of a dramatic experience. Playbills are created that reflect the plot without revealing the climax of the play. Costumes, set construction, and character description...

Everybody's a critic—even your pupils! Using the included resources as a guide, screen films related to social justice and ask film enthusiasts to critique them. Publish the reviews for your school community or develop a film festival...