The Phantom of the Opera

Here are my 75 thoughtful, higher-level thinking and analytical critical viewing questions and answers (KEY) for the movie. 13 pages. 2004 film directed by Joel Schumacher.

You don't have to own the movie--Students can actually randomly view the entire movie free on YouTube (in scenes). 

 "It was so much fun with my students. It really got them engaged in the lesson." --Merriam K. 

 "This was great-really helped me be able to show/discuss the movie and gothic literature." --Daniel B. 

Use this activity to accompany a critical viewing of Baz Luhrmann's 2022 ELVIS movie. Here I have created 8 analysis questions for students to use with any of the 26 songs featured in the movie. I provide the detailed list of all songs with their accompanying band/musician names.

I typically assign a song to each student, or you can have students work in small groups to cover a few songs. The 8 questions work with all songs and are all geared towards getting students to critically analyze and interpret both the lyrics and the musical elements of the songs.

 Students love their music. You need to keep them interested while also addressing ELA standards. Listen to the exquisite wordsmithery of a couple intentionally chosen (linked) podcasts in this presentation, and then use my included detailed Podcast Outline to have students draft a podcast on their chosen musician or song. Have students observe the creative writing, including all the figurative language, in the podcasts. If you have the technology, you could have them record part of the original transcript they write! 

   Does anybody actually know what Pearl Jam is saying in their "Yellow Ledbetter" song? This is a super easy no-prep activity where you simply play the song (on any music stream) and give the students this handout where I have made fill-in-the-blanks for guessing. KEY included.

After giving them a couple listens through the song, ask them to share what they think the words are--in full class or in small groups. Then you can read (or sing!) through the song as you say the correct lyrics (provided). 

  "One of the best resources I've ever come across. The first time I synced up The Wizard of Oz and Dark Side of the Moon, my mind was blown...my high schoolers told me about it and asked if we could do it one day as a reward. This was in the late '90s when standards were a bit looser and we weren't too rigid about tying everything to a standard. Since then, I've looked for a way to incorporate it into my current standards. Your presentation was absolutely perfect; we did this on the last day of school." (Rated 5 out of 5)

 Use music to teach poetry!  Perfect for any ELA class, Poetry course or Creative Writing. Here I’ve made a whole lesson around the actual wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (the ship) and the way Gordon Lightfoot poeticizes it in his classic 1976 song of the same title. 

 This activity lends to brief written responses that require students to think independently and to write with specific details. No knowledge of French language OR musical terminology required! :)

If you've never listened to Apparition de l'église éternelle, do that now and then you'll agree that it is a dynamic composition to use for writing, thinking and discussion!

I made this super organized graphic organizer template to use with any song. There is an area for students to log some of the most prominent literary/poetic devices they notice, and spaces for students to identify the tone, symbolism, theme and more.

I'm also including my super detailed example, where I have used the template to show my full analysis of "Firework" by Katy Perry. You can use this method to prompt students to find meaning and use their literary analysis skills with any lyrical song. Enjoy!

This unit is always one where students truly get engaged, all while learning new analysis techniques and practicing using specific terminology.

This resource is ultra-detailed with tons of extra and embedded material, activities and original documents.

We're talking about Leonard Cohen and Jim Morrison. This unit is unique and leads to lots of song interpretation discussion, as well as a student choice assignment at the end. 

30 slide presentation, activities, handouts & more.

This resource is a packet of the lyrics with directions AND my 8 slide introduction to the activity. Students really have fun with this one!

"Days of Future Passed is like awaking from a black and white dream to find yourself in a gorgeous, sprawling world of color." 

The 2 Most: This is such a simple concept but such an engaging lesson! You can keep it brief or you can make this go on and on for days if you want.  

12 page packet:

✔ The Song Lyrics for each song

✔ Margin space for note-taking

✔ Detailed analysis activity 

✔ Teacher "KEY" for this analysis activity

✔ Student-ownership follow up activity: choosing their own songs--

Students will closely analyze 4 powerful songs across different decades, identifying how 4 major themes—such as Loss of Innocence & Coming of Age—are woven into the lyrics. 

Featured songs include:
✔ “Wake Up” by Arcade Fire
✔ “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel

 Do you want to be able to read the full lyrics all in one place? In this comprehensive packet, you will find the complete lyrics to all 31 songs on The Tortured Poets Department. Yes, you can find them all online! But in this format, you can actually read the lyrics like a collection of poetry, take notes, and use it as a classroom text. There is nowhere else online where you can easily read the lyrics without them being broken up with a ton of ads or other text.

With 60 pages of lyrical brilliance, this packet transforms Taylor Swift's music into a legitimate resource for English Language Arts classrooms!

*The handful of explicit words in her album have been *#!ed (edited) so no worries if your school district monitors things like this.

This song analysis and writing assignment invites students to explore two hauntingly poetic songs—"Prisoner" and "The Abyss" by The Weeknd, both featuring Lana Del Rey—through a literary lens.

Using close reading strategies, students will analyze imagery, metaphor, ambiguity, diction and other poetic devices while making inferences about the songs' themes of addiction, despair and emotional entrapment.

 15 page packet including: 

✔️ Highly detailed Teacher Notes on how exactly to teach this unit
✔️ The lyrics to both songs with margins for note-taking

✔️ 10 Thought-provoking song analysis questions (AND KEY) aligned with state ELA 

✔️ A Creative writing assignment, complete with specific requirements

for allowing students to craft their own song lyrics

✔️A set of reflection questions 

 This is a really unique way to inspire original poetry or creative writing. You will play the linked Youtube ambience and give students the included handout. Students will do "black out poetry" with the page full of words. They will simply cross out any words they don't feel fits the vibe they are getting from the instrumental music that is playing. It's up to you if you want to project the visual of the ambience along with the music, or if you want to let it just be an audio experience.

Ask students to form a poem around the remaining words. I always let students add in other words to make a complete poem.

 ✔️  105 artistically designed slides 

 ✔️   30+ timed music clips 

 ✔️   Link to my Kahoot 

 ✔️   Info and pages from Lana's actual poetry collection & a poetry prompt idea. 

 ✔️  Literary /historical allusions 

  ✔️  Kintsugi handout: Analysis & original writing assignment with 8 unique, detailed topics for choice

 ✔️  47+ creative analytical questions for students to answer as they experience Lana's latest album There's a Tunnel under Ocean Boulevard.

 ✔️  Excerpts from the most poignant reviews of the album

 ✔️  My original ultra detailed "Music is Poetry" project assignment, with all the details students need and a 2 page categorized grading rubric. 

 ✔️  List of musicians/bands who would be great for analysis, in case students aren't sure who they will study.

 ✔️  A list of linked articles for further reading so students can continue to learn about how music is poetry as they consider the words of their chosen artist

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"Extremely satisfied"

"It is refreshing to find such an intricately detailed teaching unit on such a significant contemporary musician/poet.  I was able to use this large unit over a span of 5 school days.  I learned a lot and my students have never been so engaged in literary analysis/poetic device discussion.  There is just such detailed thoughtfulness in this resource!"--Brian L.

 The first page of this resource describes the assignment.

The detailed rubric is then 2 additional pages and broken down into ultra-detailed clear grading categories, with examples and descriptions so that grading is easy! I've listed the point values possible in each box: Insufficient, Developing, Accomplished, Advanced.

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 "Love the student choice! Great way to extend and challenge my gifted learners. They're not even aware they listen for figurative language in the music they listen to now, but it's lead to some great conversations after the lesson!" --  The English Lab (TPT Seller)