Young scholars write a rap or hip-hop lyric about the life of a famous Black American. They explore famous Black Americans in history and explore how the rap form compares to other forms of poetic expression.

Rather than a lesson, this resource is a list of poetic forms and young poets are encouraged to try their hand at composing poems of various types.

Students analyze the different charateristics of frogs and toads. Students analyze how frogs/toads live, what they look like, where they live, their stages of life and how they compare to each other. Students create in small groups...

Students compose an original rap. They discuss the career and music of Kanye West, discuss their pre-writing worksheet, and write an original rap using a Final Draft Worksheet.

Students recognize and clap the syncopated rhythmic beat of a rap song and identify recurring rhythmic pattern in the excerpt of "Dance of the Adolescents" from Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.

Students compose a beat in the style of Kanye West. They listen to and analyze the song, "Through the Wire" by Kanye West, compose a beat, and complete a worksheet.

Students watch a video excerpt about the life of Kanye West. They draw connections between his life and their own and compose a rap song in the style of West, using his song, "Through the Wire" as an example.