Rock N’ Learn: The Letter I
Use this two-page activity sheet to help younger students practice using the letter “I” while learning about Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee The Isley Brothers. Color, count, read, and write together while listening along to one of The...
Laura Nyro Essay
Music critic Jim Farber wrote this essay about Laura Nyro for the 2012 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Program. Farber outlines Nyro’s career and discusses the uniqueness of Nyro’s music and songwriting. This informational text has a...
SAR Records Essay
Sam Cooke and his business partner J. W. Alexander ran a record label called SAR Records in the early 1960s. Owning this record label helped Cooke—by then a famous pop singer—to recruit, write music for, produce, record, and promote up-and-coming...
Anatomy of Soul: Aretha Franklin’s Revolutionary Body of Work (essay)
This essay, written by Dr. Daphne Brooks for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2011 Annual Music Masters tribute to Aretha Franklin, explores Franklin’s significance to American popular music. Brooks provides biographical information about Franklin and examines the styles...
Rave On: Lenny Kaye on Buddy Holly Essay
This essay, written by Lenny Kaye for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2003 Annual Music Masters tribute to Buddy Holly, describes Holly’s significance to rock and roll music. Kaye provides biographical information about Holly and describes his innovations...
Roll Over Beethoven: Chuck Berry’s Significance in Rock and Roll Essay
This essay, written by Dr. Lauren Onkey for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2012 Annual Music Masters tribute to Chuck Berry, explores Berry’s significance in rock and roll. Onkey argues that Berry helped to make the electric guitar...
Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now: The Rise of Philly Soul Essay
In this essay, John Jackson recounts the history of Philadelphia soul music in the 1960s and 1970s, with a focus on the artists and songwriters at Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International Records. This document also provides spotlight paragraphs...
Desert Island Writing Prompt
A classic icebreaker or journal question! This question invites students to think about and express which music is most important to them and why. The prompt reads: “Pretend you are stranded on a desert island, but are allowed to bring...
Michael Jackson Super Bowl Halftime Show
On January 31, 1993, Michael Jackson redefined the Super Bowl Halftime Show. He turned that time into a new type of concert performance with large crowds, bigger than life visuals, and a top-quality rock concert. This established the Halftime Show...
Music and Motivation 2000 to 2020
This playlist of conscious hip hop from 2000 to 2020 was created by Jahi, international hip hop artist and educator. For some ideas about how to use this playlist in the classroom to motivate and encourage students, search for Jahi’s...
Sylvia Robinson Playlist
Label executive, producer, songwriter, rapper: Sylvia Robinson is the original hip-hop mogul. She laid the foundation for rap to flourish into the most lucrative form of entertainment today. Her motto was to always be original. In 1979, she and husband...
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is a gifted wordsmith and a politically outspoken social commentator. This asset contains the information you need to introduce your students to Dylan: basic biographical facts, a map important to Dylan’s life and career, a chart of his...
Aretha Franklin
The first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Aretha Franklin was a sophisticated artist whose recordings remain anthems that defined soul music. This asset contains the information you need to introduce students to Franklin: basic biographical...
Billie Eilish and Dave Grohl Activity Pack
Use this activity pack to help students learn more about singer and songwriter Billie Eilish, including facts about her career, her relationships with fans, and her connections to Rock Hall Inductees. This pack includes a listening activity, an artifact activity,...
Bo Diddley Biography
Use this one-page biography to introduce younger students to rhythm and blues guitarist Bo Diddley, who was nicknamed “the Originator” because of his influence on early rock & roll.
Aretha Franklin’s Hat Activity
Use this activity to help younger students learn about the hat that Aretha Franklin wore at President Obama’s 2009 Inauguration. This activity asks students to observe the hat closely, read about how Franklin commissioned the hat, and imagine what special...
Girl Groups Article
From the late 1950s into the 1960s, girl groups were a staple of the American popular music landscape. Ensembles of girls and young women performing vocal music worked with influential producers like Phil Spector, had songs written for them by...
Jahi’s Teaching Tips on Music and Motivation
Hip hop artist and educator Jahi created a playlist about music and motivation for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In this one-page tips sheet for teachers, Jahi talks about how to use some of the songs on his...
Create A Super Bowl Halftime Show Teaching Tips
Since 1993, the Super Bowl Halftime Show has been one of the most watched television events of the year. Months of planning with countless staff and crew make a 15-minute star-studded extravaganza possible. The shows often have specific themes that...
Shakira and Jennifer Lopez Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show
On February 2, 2020, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez performed a career-spanning, show-stopping, Latin-culture-affirming Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show. This Artist Halftime Show Spotlight showcases both artists, stand-out moments from the performance, journalist review quotes, and discussion questions for reflection. Use this...
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were innovators who expanded the possibilities of hip-hop during its formative years. This asset contains the information you need to introduce students to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five: basic biographical facts, a map...
Joan Baez
Joan Baez breathed new life into folk music in the 1960s, powering rock music’s turn toward social and political consciousness. This asset contains the information you need to introduce your students to Baez: basic biographical information, locations important to her...
JAY-Z
Jay-Z is a rapper, businessman, entrepreneur, father, husband, and Rock Hall Inductee. Use this asset to walk students through highlights of Jay-Z’s life and hits. This asset also showcases his entrepreneur and business career, which can lead to a discussion...
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix was the most gifted instrumentalist of all time, a self-taught electric guitarist whose fluid, immersive style was perfectly suited to embrace—and then revolutionize—the late 1960s psychedelic rock movement. The Seattle-born musician always paired awe-inspiring tone and feel with...
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley is one of the most famous names in rock and roll. This asset contains the information you need to introduce students to Presley: basic biographical facts, a map showing places important to Presley’s life and career, a chart...
David Bowie
David Bowie was rock’s foremost futurist and a genre-bending pioneer, chameleon, and transformer. His innovations created or furthered several major trends in rock and roll, including glam rock, art rock and the very notion of the self-mythologized, larger-than-life rock star....
The Clash
The Clash played a major role in creating and defining the British punk movement. This asset contains the information you need to introduce students to the Clash: basic biographical facts, a map showing the locations of the band’s most important...
Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry was one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. This asset contains the information you need to introduce students to Berry: basic biographical facts, a map showing places important to Berry’s life and career, a chart of...
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Born in the Cree Nation and raised by parents of Mi’kmaq descent, Buffy Sainte-Marie became a figurehead of the 1960s counterculture in North America. Despite backlash from the governments she held accountable regarding the civil rights of indigenous groups, Sainte-Marie...
The Supremes
The Supremes sang in a polished style that bridged the worlds of pop and soul, leading to their reputation as the most popular female group of the Sixties. This material contains the information you need to introduce students to The...
Nina Simone
Nina Simone was not just a singer-songwriter, performer, and recording artist, but also a major voice for change during the civil rights movement. She performed and spoke at numerous civil rights demonstrations, singing and speaking about Black pride and cultural...
Public Enemy
Public Enemy raised the sonic and political stakes of hip-hop. With their production team, the Bomb Squad, they created loud, chaotic tracks that supported Chuck D’s powerful lyrics. This asset contains the information you need to introduce students to Public...
Redbone
Inspired by Jimi Hendrix to start an all Native American band, Redbone formed in Los Angeles, California in 1969. This American funk-rock band is known for hits like “We Were All Wounded at Wounded Knee” and their 1974 #5 pop...
Run-D.M.C.
Run-D.M.C. brought hip-hop into mainstream pop culture with their unique musical style, their fashion, and their appearances across several kinds of media. They crossed the boundaries between rap and rock and broke new ground for hip-hop throughout the 1980s. This...
N.W.A.
N.W.A is one of the most-discussed groups in hip-hop. Their provocative themes and violent language caused controversy across the nation, prompting concerns over censorship and the freedom of expression. This material contains the information you need to introduce students to...
Little Richard
Since the release of Little Richard’s first hit single “Tutti Frutti” in 1955, his explosive energy and musical innovations captivated listeners across the United States and beyond. Little Richard fused gospel, boogie-woogie, and rhythm & blues to fashion a fresh...
LL COOL J
LL Cool J is associated with the “new school” of hip-hop from the 1980s and is arguably the first rap solo superstar. He popularized the rap ballad and is the first hip-hop artist to receive a Kennedy Center Honor. Use...
Link Wray
Link Wray introduced power rock chords to the world with this 1959 song “Rumble” which sent shocked waves throughout the globe and became the only instrumental song banned from radio play in the United States. Wray, who is of Shawnee...
Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson was a pioneer of gospel music and a strong voice of the civil rights movement. This asset contains the information you need to introduce students to Jackson: basic biographical facts, a map showing places important to Jackson’s life...
Johnny Cash
To millions of fans, Johnny Cash is “the Man in Black,” a country-music legend who sings in an authoritative baritone about the travails of working men and the downtrodden in this country. This asset contains the information you need to...
Punk DIY prompt
This creative art activity asks students to consider the “do it yourself” (DIY) spirit of punk rock music and to create their own DIY art piece. The text of the prompt reads: Punk culture promotes a rebellious “do it yourself”...
Pete Seeger’s Banjo Activity
This activity asks students to examine how folk musician Pete Seeger used his banjo to make a political statement. Drawing inspiration from Woody Guthrie, Seeger inscribed his banjo with a personal message, “This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces It To...
Why Run-D.M.C. is Inducted
Although commercial success can be relevant when evaluating an artist’s impact, it does not necessarily equate musical excellence. For that reason, this essay focuses on other factors, identifying Run-D.M.C. as innovators, barrier breakers, and trendsetters. This essay was written to...
The Beatles
The Beatles both reflected and directed culture and music in the 1960s, and today they remain one of the most influential bands in rock & roll history. This material contains the information you need to introduce students to the Beatles:...
Staple Singers
The Staple Singers delivered music with a message, advocating for social activism and positive change. This material contains the information you need to introduce your students to the Staple Singers: basic biographical facts, a map highlighting some of their most...
Talking Heads
The Talking Heads were pioneers of new wave music, combining the nonconformist attitude of punk with art rock and avant-garde sounds. This material contains the information you need to introduce your students to the Talking Heads: basic biographical facts, locations...
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur was a rapper who became a hip-hop icon through his provocative lyrics and complex personal life. His songs topped the charts several times, and he remains one of the most popular rappers across the globe. This material contains...
The O’Jays
The O’Jays were instrumental in popularizing Philly soul and the work of songwriting team Gamble and Huff. Their velvety, lush, funk-tinged sound establishes them as some of soul music’s finest. This material contains the information you need to introduce students...
Beatles Creative and Production Process Activity Pack
Very few albums have had the production history like The Beatles final album Let it Be. Completed in 1970, the project was left unfinished a year earlier and abandoned. By comparing the various releases, develop a deeper understanding as to...
Todd Rundgren’s Muti-Faceted Career Pack
Todd Rundgren has been making music of all shapes and sizes since the mid-1960s. Experience “the wizard” at work as this activity pack explores his robust professions: a producer, performer, and innovator. Use this pack to discover how he uses...
Lizzo and Prince Activity Pack
Use this activity pack to help students learn more about singer-songwriter Lizzo, including facts about her career, her fashion and style, and her connection to Rock Hall Inductee Prince. This pack includes listening, art & creative writing activities that encourage...
Scared Stiff: What Makes Music Scary? Activity Pack
Ghosts! Goblins! Things that go bump in the night! People can be scared by almost anything. One thing that may not always come to mind is music. Often accompanying film and television, music serves as a soundscape to make the...
Lady Gaga and Freddie Mercury Activity Pack
Use this activity pack to help students learn more about singer-songwriter Lady Gaga, including facts about her career, her fashion and style, and her connection to Rock Hall Inductee Freddie Mercury of Queen. This pack includes listening activities, an artifact...
Jaden Smith and Jimi Hendrix Activity Pack
Use this activity pack to help students learn more about hip hop artist Jaden Smith, including facts about his career, his fashion and style, and his connection to Rock Hall Inductee Jimi Hendrix. This pack includes listening activities, an artifact...
BLACKPINK and The Supremes Activity Pack
Use this activity pack to help students learn more about the group BLACKPINK, including facts about their career and their connections to 1988 Rock Hall Inductees The Supremes. This pack includes listening activities and a variety of writing prompts that...
Laura Jane Grace and Bruce Springsteen Activity Pack
Use this activity pack to help students learn more about rockstar Laura Jane Grace, including facts about her career, her activism, and her connection to Rock Hall Inductee Bruce Springsteen. This pack includes listening activities, a variety of writing prompts...
Simple Rhythm Pattern Activity
This activity asks students to practice a rhythmic pattern, then create their own rhythmic idea and teach it to a friend. The text reads: “Rhythm is the pattern of beats in music. Practice the pattern below. Now create your own...
Beatles Rooftop Concert Activity Pack
Dive into the process The Beatles took to find the right location for what would become their final live performance. Explore the benefits and drawbacks of options they considered as well as the location they selected for their show. Roleplay...
