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TeachRock
Pros: Interdisciplinary lessons with diverse, supplemental materials all anchored in a love of music.
Cons: The lessons are so detailed, study and extra preparation will be needed. Could use differentiation options.
Bottom Line: This site's materials have the potential to supplement, augment, or even replace favorite units of study, once teachers dig into and master what's offered.
TeachRock is a ready-made resource for using music -- new and old-school -- to get students thinking deeply about history and culture. It supports culturally relevant teaching while also showing your students you might just be hipper than they think! The upper elementary through AP-oriented lessons are dense with videos, close readings, slideshows, visuals, and projects, so it'll be tempting to toss all your other planning, dig in, and teach it all. But consider starting small. For upper elementary and middle school students, the SEL lessons such as "Teamwork Behind the Beatles," "Celebrating Community with Art and Poetry" (featuring Chance the Rapper), and "The Leadership Skills of a Music Producer" would each be refreshing and surprising starts to a year or semester. Or if you're looking to form deeper bonds with your students or to reconnect with them, try the Trace It Back tab to access a collection of lessons sorted by current music artists such as Billie Eilish, Tame Impala, Big Freedia, Lizzo, and Tyler, the Creator.
Lessons open with a biography of the artist and then offer a series of lessons related to their musical style. For example, Lizzo's section features lessons including "#BLACKLIVESMATTER: Music in a Movement" and "Rhythm as a Representation of People and Place." These two lessons reflect the gift of TeachRock: using music to sort through the complexities of U.S. history. For high school, TeachRock has the potential to augment or reinvent how you teach U.S. History, making it a more arts-integrated and intersectional experience. The site boasts an entire section called Suggested Paths that provides theme-based lesson collections, including women's history, LGBTQ+ history, Black history, and music and social justice movements.
TeachRock is an interdisciplinary arts and social studies curriculum for upper elementary through high school students. Started by Steven van Zandt's (of Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band) Rock and Roll Forever Foundation, TeachRock is anchored in a love for music (of all kinds): its diverse origins and endless evolutions. Lessons focus on real-world, culturally relevant learning experiences that incorporate a wide variety of subject area content: science, STEAM, social studies, ELA, SEL, math, geography, and more.
The site is dense, so it's easiest to get started with one of the more guided and curated experiences: the Suggested Paths tab, which organizes lessons by thematic time period; the Core Lesson tab, which traces the origins of rock music; or the Special Collections tab, which groups lessons by specific artists like the Beatles or the Grateful Dead, or specific historical eras such as Reconstruction and the rise of unions in the United States. No matter how you navigate to them, all lessons -- whether for upper elementary or high school students -- open with an essential question, objectives, and a motivational activity, and end with a list of recommended extension activities.
Given its focus on popular music and the star-studded founder's board (including people like Bono and Bruce Springsteen), one might assume TeachRock was mostly flash, but that's not the case. The content is rock-solid and impressive in its pedagogical approach. There's a deep commitment to bridging cultures, making history relevant to contemporary issues, and mixing subject areas. Lessons present new perspectives on familiar topics such as the Civil War and the civil rights movement by using more recent speeches and songs as anchor texts. Content also explores underrepresented movements, cultures, and people such as the history of Cajun music or the influence of Indigenous music on rock and roll. The lessons themselves are also in-depth, with almost everything teachers need to facilitate fully fleshed out learning experiences. That said, there are some missing pieces, specifically translated materials and options for differentiation.
Learning Rating
Community Rating
Amazing
This is a great teaching tool. I loved the extensive knowledge provided on each activity. This is great for visual learners as well.
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