Letters and articles can be difficult sources for younger students to parse. Yet, songs with melody and lyrics provide rich and multi-layered opportunities that meet students’ diverse learning needs while helping achieve your educational goals. Learn how to guide students through the exploration of musical elements and analysis of lyrics, and get some ideas for how to weave historical music into your lessons about history, holidays, and Jewish values.

Session Recording

Session Materials and Handouts

• Music and Lyrics: Learning from Songs with Pauli Katz PowerPoint
• Afternoon Chat Log
• Evening Chat Log

Featured Music

• Listen to and read the lyrics of A Besere Velt's Mayn Rue Plats
• Listen to and read the lyrics of A Besere Velt's Ale Brider
• Dan Kahn's version of Mayn Rue Plats
• Lyrics (Yiddish and English) to Dan Kahn's Mayn Rue–Plats/Where I Rest

Music and History Resources from JWA

• Go & Learn Lesson Plan: Sing a New Song: Jews, Music, and the Civil Rights Movement
• Online Learning Program Recording and Resources: Jews, Music, and the Civil Rights Movement

Music and History Resources Elsewhere on the Web

• Children's book Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909
• JewishLearningMatters.com's resources on Music and Songs
• Dan Kahn & The Painted Bird's “March of The Jobless Corps”
• The Yiddish Song of the Week Blog
• Zemerl: The Interactive Database of Jewish Song
• Pearls of Yiddish Song by Eleanor G. Mlotek
• Alicia Jo Rabins writes songs about Biblical women with her band, Girls in Trouble