Lesson 1: What is an Anthem?
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Lesson 1 What is an Anthem?

Essential Question

What is an anthem?

Objective

Students will be able to recognize an anthem, and define the characteristics of an anthem.

Materials Needed

  • Projector
  • Blank T Chart
  • Whiteboard and marker for recording student responses
  • "What is an Anthem?" interview video (embedded below in Part 2)
  • "That Feeling" music video (embedded below in Part 1)
  • Lyrics for "That Feeling"
  • Anthem worksheet
  • Lyrics for other anthems; ideas include:
    • Despacito - Luis Fonsi
    • We are the Champions - Queen
    • With or Without You - U2
    • Toxic - Britney Spears
    • Imagine Dragons - Believer
    • Single Ladies - Beyonce
    • Shake It Off - Taylor Swift
    • Lift Every Voice and Sing
    • National anthems representative of the classroom population

Summary

In this lesson, students will listen to Berklee City Music’s “That Feeling” anthem, watch interviews with creators of “That Feeling” discussing how they view anthems, listen to a variety of other anthems and popular songs, and create their own definition of what an anthem is.

Instructional Activities

Part 1

Students watch "That Feeling" music video, and read along with the lyrics. Teacher leads discussion and records student thoughts on the board.

 

  • Who were the performers?
  • What was the style of the music?
  • What were the instruments?
  • How would you describe the song?
  • How did it make you feel?

Part 2

Students watch the "What is an Anthem" interview video with creators of "That Feeling" discussing their personal views of what makes an anthem.

 

Students listen to several examples of anthems and read along with the lyrics ("That Feeling" lyrics provided; teachers will have to create their own lyric sheets for other songs. The teacher should create a list of songs based on their students’ ages, cultural backgrounds, languages spoken, etc. Previous to this lesson, teachers may survey the students to learn about their musical preferences).

When available, provide quotes from artists about their inspiration for the anthems- why they chose the topic, and why it was important to write about it.

Teacher leads discussion and records student thoughts on the board: “These are all examples of anthems- what do they have in common?”

  • was the messaging positive or negative?
  • was it hopeful or hopeless?
  • was it inspiring?
  • what emotions did it bring up?
  • in what ways were the lyrics personal/specific?
  • in what ways were the lyrics universal?
  • what else did you notice?

As a group (using the board and student input), create a chart with each anthem's title, theme(s) and associated words taken from the lyrics on the right that help to support the anthem’s theme. Students record their answers on their worksheets.

Part 3

Students end the class by writing down their own description of what an anthem is, and sharing their definition with a partner.

Note: This is a sample of a one class period lesson. As part of a longer unit, on songwriting, the students would save their work, and revisit the lyrics after additional classes on writing melodies and chord changes to create a full anthem.

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