Lesson

Plan


Name: Mark Donohue Date:

Grade: 8th grade Class Type: Music History

1. Measurable Objective(s):
Students will be able to recognize and correlate the events of the late 1960’s and early
1970’s and how music evolved because of the events not only in the United States but
around the World.


2. Required Prior Knowledge and Skills:
Students would need to know about the Vietnam war, both on the basis of the operations in Vietnam
as well as the tension stateside.


2. Review Needed:
There is no review needed for this lesson.






4. Materials, Repertoire, Equipment needed:
Projector for google slides, white board, marker, links to all songs used with lyrics shown (Ohio-
Crosby Stills and Nash, Fortunate son-CCR, War Pigs-Black Sabbath, For What It’s Worth-Buffalo
Springfield)

5. Agenda:
Warm up- Listening to “For What It’s Worth” and having the students write down what they believe
it is about.

Lesson- PowerPoint slide show covering more songs and the history of the year they came out with
more listening and interpreting.

Wrap Up- Break into groups and discuss the differences of the songs, instruments used, overall
sound, and subject matter in the lyrics.

6. Lesson Sequence (be sure to list time in the pacing section) Pacing

A. Brief Opening: 5 min
Students will listen to “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield via a
YouTube lyric video and write about what they think the song is about and
when it was written, as well as what instruments are used. Discussion
based.

1

B. Learning Activities:
Students will watch the power point and take down specific notes on
historic events and their matched song. Total: 12 Min
1. Listening to Fortunate song by CCR via YouTube lyric video
- Written one year after Tet Offensive
1. 3 min
2. Listening to Ohio by Crosby stills and Nash via YouTube lyric video
- Written after the Kent State Protest Shooting
2. 3 min
3. Listening to War Pigs by Black Sabbath via YouTube lyric video
- A band from the UK, proving the historic events true impact on the world 3. 3 min






C. Assessment:
Teacher observation throughout the lesson and during discussions on the
meaning behind the songs and their correlation as well as taking notice of
the instrumentation and lyrics as well as collecting their thoughts that they
write down from the warmup portion of the lesson to read.


D. Closing/Wrap-up:
After listening to all the songs and going through the PowerPoint, the 3 min
students will get into small groups and form their own conclusions as
to why the music changed and how it changed through
instrumentation, sound, and historic events. Finally, then to all come
together and explain and defend their conclusion with reasoning.


E. Assignment:
There is no assignment given after the lesson

7. Accommodations:
If a student with Dyslexia is present in the class, then I will have prepared sheets of paper with the
lyrics printed on them so that they can listen and take their time with their learning process.
8. Teacher Reflection/Self-Evaluation:
I believe I may have taken on too large of a topic to try and cover in one lesson. While I do
believe, I covered what I wanted to cover, I think my objectives were much too broad for my
planned lesson. If I had changed my objective to something along the lines of “protest songs” or
“the changing music of the 60’s to the 70’s” my lesson would have had a clearer objective. In the
mechanics of my lesson plan I would have changed a few things. First off, I would have fixed a
date in my PowerPoint. Then I would have put the songs we listened to in order of which they
came out. And finally, I would have projected the lyrics of the songs onto the board itself to get a
better understanding of what they were saying in the song. Overall I think my lesson went very
well, the objective was met which was to understand and observe how the music changed and
how it would further change music and create new genres not just in the United States but
around the world as well. Obviously, there was room to go forward and backward but I am pretty
confident with the lesson I gave minus the issues I stated above.

2



9. National Standards:
Responding to the music that is presented to them.


10. State Standards:
-Critical Response
-Purposes & meaning in the arts
-Concepts of style, stylistic influence & stylistic change
-Inventions technologies & the arts