Lessons Learned

As I reflect on our conversations throughout this course a lot of what has been discussed is pop culture/music in relation to the middle school and high school population. Although this is where we have focused, that is not to say there isn't activities that are possible to do with elementary aged kids. The first lesson I propose is one which educators can use with this younger population.


Activity 1 ~ What Can One Little Person Do?

Rationale: The purpose of using this song is to get kids to think about what actions people take to make their worlds/communities a better place; and also to recognize what they do or can do to contribute (i.e. they have an important place/role in their worlds.) There are several different lessons that can be done using this song. I will give two examples, one a self reflection and one a historical reflection.

Have kids listen to the following song:
(c) Sally Rogers (2002) What Can One Little Person Do?
In Teaching Tolerance, Southern Poverty Law Center (2003): I Will Be Your Friend.



Note: Song Clip is the Chorus only.
Verse 1:
Harriet Tubman was alone
On the darkened road to freedom,
But she couldn't leave her people far behind.
Moses stretched out his hand,
She led them to the promised land
'Cause she knew she had justice on her side.
Verse 2:
When Sojourner Truth was free
She got down on her knees
Prayed to God to help her on her way
With her voice and with her might
She fought for what was right
'Cause she knew she had justice on her side.
Verse 3:
Rosa Parks sat on the bus
And the driver said you must
Move to the back of the bus
Or else be thrown in jail
But she stayed and stood her ground
She brought that old law down
'Cause she knew she had justice on her side
Verse 4:
Brother Martin Luther King
He told the world, "I have a dream"
He led this country's fight for human rights
We must fight for liberty
Until all of us are free
To know we have justice on our side.


Option1: After listening to the song first have a conversation about what people do (or can do) in their community to make the community a better place. You can take it a step farther then by exploring what the kids feel they can do to contribute to their community (school, neighborhood, park, etc.) Create a class song or poem by having each student write a line describing what they "do to help the world". Assemble the song by inserting the children's lines between the chorus. After the class version is created, give each student a copy of the song and sing together as a group.

Option 2: After listening to the song have a discussion about the people in the song (Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King.) Divide the class into four different groups and assign each group a person from the song. Have each group research and create a presentation on their person. In addition to their life story, encourage the students to think critically about the contributions their person has made.

For the second lesson I have decided to step outside of the box a bit and create an activity for a parent group. So often parents think that their children's music today is just loud noise garbage. It's important to education parents on pop culture/music for this gives opportunities to break through barriers to create greater understanding of their children and their music choice.


Activity 2 ~ Pop Appreciation

Rationale: The goal of this activity is to broaden parents' knowledge and experience in regards to their children's music preference in hopes to create a greater understanding or even an appreciation of the music selections.

Discussion: Have an initial discussion with parents regarding their opinions about pop music and/or their children's music. Discuss the pro and cons, biases parents/adults have, and identify any stereotypes that may be tagged to certain genres.

Assignment: As a group identify different music genres (e.g. rock, pop, country, hip hop, jazz, R&B, etc.) Have each parent select a genre to research and familiarize their self with (this can be done in a group, but try to get as many genres covered as possible.) In their research they should identify stigmas that are attached to the genres, as well as, evidence that supports and resists those stigmas. In addition to the research, they should select a song/video to share with the group from their genre which supports their research.

Share: Have each parent bring their information back to the group. After they share their research, play the song they brought and have a discussion about the information presented.