New Lesson from Teach Rock
Teach Rock released a new lesson this week that hits on so many timely issues. Called Lean on Me: Expressing Gratitude and Care with Music, it's a tribute to musician Bill Withers, who passed away in late March, a look at his most famous song, and asks ways that Lean on Me's message can be applied in light of current events.
I'll be posting this as a challenge lesson in my History and elective classes, and ask them to submit photos of the actions they took for the "Be Creative" and "Be Mindful" activities.
Teach Rock is led by musician Steven Van Zandt, who's most famous for being a part of the E Street band, and has the mission of providing standards-based lessons that use pop music to connect with students. Their lessons are well-organized into sets of "Core Lessons" the history of popular music, "Special Collections" that incorporate resources from partner organizations (like PBS and CNN), and "Suggested Paths" which collect lessons into categories. Most of the lessons are designed for middle and high school students.
I could see an entire class being organized around Teach Rock's core, and I'd love to see units like "The Music that Shaped America" be a part of an American History course. The "Music and Social Justice Movement" collection would fit perfectly with the American Civil Rights Movement unit that I teach in my elective course every-other-year.
Click on the image below to go to the Teach Rock website.
And for some more inspiration, check out Bill Withers on Soul Train back in the day:
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