Students examine how music unified labor movements during the Industrial Era by analyzing historical protest songs and creating their own using lyrical substitution.

Students explore the Harlem Renaissance through visual art, historical texts, and Blues music by composing and performing an original 12-bar Blues song from a historical perspective.

Explore democratic and authoritarian systems and create a persuasive song about one of the government types.

Explore the 13 Colonies through designing a map & composing a free-verse poem.

Explore the Columbian Exchange through music, creating simplified instruments and analyzing how natural resources influenced musical development. Students will write a rap or poem on its impacts, culminating in a research project.

Create a visual timeline to illustrate key events of the Civil War and Reconstruction (1860-1896) and elaborate on main ideas by creating simple songs.

Music educators, Dan and Claudia Zanes, and Baltimore City educator, Arnelyn Viernes, created these materials for Wit & Wisdom "Resilience in the Great Depression" so that every student can learn through creativity and connection. Experience the Great Depression through photography and engage with the novel Bud, Not Buddy through band performances and campfire singalongs.

Baltimore City teacher Gena Proctor and Music Educator Murray Piper developed these resources to help students make deep connections between Ned from Code Talker and how he was impacted by WWII. Students will explore body percussion and visual art, learn about fluency and the connection to musical rhythms, and complete a simulation that puts them in Ned’s shoes as a code talker.

Otis Eldridge, Music Educator and Sarah Aguda, Arts Integration Specialist, provide students with rich arts experiences that directly target the skills needed in poetry writing. These overlays are intentionally designed to partner with existing lessons, building student ability to read, understand, write, and speak their poetry aloud in a powerful, meaningful way.