We engage and inspire by adapting poetry and text into original songs that are produced to sound like today’s music. This new format empowers school teachers to engage students on a familiar & ever-changing cultural level.
Check out our Song Samples
Poem: Acquainted with the Night
Author: Robert Frost
Grades: 6-12
Musical Style(s): Pop-rock with rap
This lesson plan includes an exercise for each student to write and perform their own rap/spoken word verse about the author Robert Frost. A student version counts the student in karaoke style and the male vocal is muted so students can practice and perform their verse.
Poem: Widening Circles
Author: Rainer Maria Rilke
Grades: 4-6
Musical Style(s): Indie Pop, Pop-Rock, Reggae
Lesson plan discusses the symbolism including circles, falcon, storm along with metaphor and hyperbole while comparing their experience between hearing the song, and just reading the poem in silence or class discussion about the choices made in creating the Poetry Rocks Schools video.
Literary Work: I Went Down to the Woods
Author: Henry David Thoreau
Grades: 9-12
Musical Style(s): Modern Rock, Alternative Rock, Pop-Rock
Lesson plan includes cross-cultural activities with science, math, psychology, history, communications and art. Students explore the impact, relevance and themes of Transcendentalism through creative essays and philosophical debate.
Literary Work: Sonnet 29,30
Author: William Shakespeare
Grades: 9-12
Musical Style(s): Rap, Hip-Hop, Pop
Lesson plan includes exercise where students create raps/verses, roll play, writing their own 14-line sonnets and relating themes to today’s culture and current events.
Watch Poetry Rocks Schools in action
