Instructional Objectives:

Time Required: Approximately 40 minutes

Advance Preparation: Elvis Presley music on cassette tape, CD, or online

Materials Required: Chalk and chalkboard, tape player, CD player, or internet access (depending on your advance preparation source above), chart paper for K-W-L chart and markers.

Instructions to teacher: Write the following on your chalk board or on chart paper:

Aim: Who was the The King of Rock and Roll and why was he so sought after by the Media and fans?

Do Now: Copy and Answer: What would make a someone worthy of a title like "The King?"

Instructions to teacher: Give students just a couple of minutes to work on the

Do Now. Tell them they have about 3 minutes to answer the question. Walk around the room to make sure that everyone is on task. Assist students who appear to be "stuck" on the question. Sometimes it helps to rephrase a question. Try asking instead, What about other titles like "The Champion" or "The Best" – what would make someone worthy of those titles? Or "What type of person comes to mind or what traits come to mind when you hear the word ‘king’?

Have a student read the Do Now. Have another student answer the question. Some possible answers/responses may be:

"It means you know more about something."

"It means you are the best at something – that there is no one better."

"It means you are a leader."

"It means you are better that other people who do the same thing."

Say: "For the next couple of days, we are going to learn about someone who was called ‘The King of Rock and Roll.’ Do you think this person will be a male or a female?" (Male) "Yes, a male, and how do we know?" (Because it’s a King – if it were a woman, it would be a Queen.) "By the way, does anyone know who is ‘Queen of Soul’?" (Aretha Franklin – called this because she was the top "Soul" singer.)

Say: "’The King of Rock and Roll’ was given this title because he was and still remains the top/best Rock and Roll performer of all time. His title was based on popularity and record sales."

Say: "Right now we are going to listen to several songs. What I want you to do is raise your hand each time you hear a song you’ve heard before. If you think you know who "The King of Rock and Roll" is, jot his name down in your notes. Don’t let anyone peek. I also want you to jot down what year you think this music was made – 1980, 1990, 1950, 1970…"

Instructions to teacher: At this time, play your Elvis tape/cd/internet sound for the students.

(insert list of Elvis songs. TIP: use popular songs)

Say: "Let’s start with the year this music was made. Any guesses?" Allow several students to guess and then poll the class by asking, "Who thinks this music is from 1970? 1990? 1950?" Tell students that the music is from the 1950s and 1960s. Congratulate students who guessed right. Ask: "How did you know this was music from 1950 and not from 1990 or 2000?"Briefly discuss how music styles have changed from decade to decade.

Say: "Raise your hand if you think you know who is this ‘King of Rock and Roll’." Ask: "Who is ‘The King of Rock and Roll’?" Allow several students to answer, then poll the class – "Who thinks it’s Elvis Presley? Who else thinks it’s John Lennon?" (You may get some very bizarre answers – be prepared to explain why it isn’t

Michael Jackson, for example, because he was born in the late 50’s, etc. Note: Michael Jackson is The King of Pop, but not The King of Rock and Roll.)

Say: "If you raised your hand for Elvis Presley, you are correct! How did you know it was Elvis? How many of you have heard of Elvis? How may of you have Elvis tapes or CDs at home? Anyone have anyone in their family who impersonates Elvis? What is an Elvis impersonator? Has anyone ever seen an Elvis impersonator? What would cause someone to want to be an Elvis impersonator?"

(Elvis impersonator website? Las Vegas impersonator site?)

(Tape Peter doing Elvis)

Say: "Elvis was truly The King of Rock and Roll but why? Try to think of what we discussed in our Do Now – what would make someone worthy of a title like ‘The King’? What do you think made Elvis worthy of that title?"

Say: "Tomorrow when you return we will begin preparing a ‘K-W-L’ chart for Elvis. What is a K-W-L chart?" (A chart where you record what you KNOW about a subject, what you WANT to know about a subject, and after research, what you LEARNED about a subject.)

Instructional Objectives:

Time Required: Approximately 30 minutes

Advance Preparation: "K" chart for K-W-L on chart paper (Tip: Use chart paper instead of the chalk board so that you can save it and refer to it later.)

Materials Required: Chart paper for K-W-L chart and markers.

Instructions to teacher: Write the following on your chalk board:

Aim: What do we know about Elvis?

Say: Today we are going to begin working on a K-W-L chart for Elvis.

First we will start with the "K" of the K-W-L chart.

Instructions to teacher: Using a marker, write a "K" at the top of a sheet of chart paper. Underneath the "K" write What I know or think I know about Elvis.

++++++Insert sample chart

Ask: "Okay, what do we know or think we know about Elvis? Let’s start with some of the things we learned yesterday." Write student responses on the ‘K’ chart. Some answers you may get are:

He was The King of Rock and Roll

He was born before 1950.

He was a great singer.

He was popular.

He was famous.

He was cool.

And some others, from prior knowledge:

He was handsome.

He made the girls scream.

He’s not alive anymore.

He danced.

Say: Tomorrow we will begin working on the ‘W’ of our K-W-L chart. We will be listing what we WANT to know about Elvis.

Instructional Objectives:

Time Required: Approximately 40 minutes

Advance Preparation: none

Materials Required: Chart paper for K-W-L charts and markers (enough for about 5 – 6 groups), paper and pens for each group.

Instructions to teacher: Write the following on your chalk board.

Aim: What do we WANT to know about Elvis?

Activity:

• Break up class into groups of 4 to 6 students each.
• Provide each group with a blank sheet of chart paper and a marker.
• Assign a recorder (secretary or scribe) for each group. This student will do the writing on the chart for the group so he/she should have legible writing..

Say: "I would like for the recorder in each group to write a "W" at the top of your chart paper. Next, I want that same student to write a statement under that "W." Now remember, the ‘K’ in K-W-L is what I know or think I know about Elvis, so what would we write under the "W" on our K-W-L chart?" (What I want to know about Elvis.)

Say: "I would like for each group to now come up with 10 things you want to know about Elvis. For example, ‘Jane’ in this group may want to know if Elvis ever made any movies, so ‘Jane’ will write it on her chart as follows: 1. Did Elvis ever make any movies?"

Explain to students that since they are writing things they want to know about Elvis, that they should be listed in the form of a question. Here are some possible "W" questions:

(*********maybe insert sample "W" chart********)

How many records did Elvis make?

Did he write his own songs?

When was he born?

When did he die?

When did he start singing?

Did he make any movies? How many?

How did he die?

Was he married?

Did he have children?

Why was he so famous?

Instructions to teacher: Allow 10 to 15 minutes for students to work on this task. Walk around the room to ensure each group is on task. Remind students to work quietly in groups. Remind students to print large and write clearly (use yours as an example). Remind those who are done working before others to be patient and quiet while others are working. Be prepared to provide students with a second sheet of chart paper if needed.

After time has expired, have each group present its "W" chart questions to the rest of the class. Display each group’s chart around your classroom or in another very visible spot. Have one student from each group go to his/her chart to read the group’s ‘W’ chart questions aloud to the class. Each group should listen carefully to the presenting group.

Instruct each group as follows: Say: "Group 1 will present its first 5 ‘W’ questions. These are 5 things this group wants to know about Elvis. While this first group is presenting, you are to listen carefully. If any of their 5 questions appear on your list, you must cross that question off of your list." (Repeat instructions again to the students and demonstrate.) For example, Group 1’s first question is When did Elvis die? If that same question appears on your ‘W’ chart, you must cross it off." Repeat the same process with each group. The idea is to get a minimum of 5 original questions on each group’s ‘W’ chart. Each group must have 5 things they want to know about Elvis listed on their charts that no other team has on their chart.

Compliment each team for its hard work and good questions.

Say: Right now, I need one person (other than the chart recorder) to jot down on looseleaf paper the questions remaining on your group’s ‘W’ chart. These are thae questions that remained on you’re your chart after we reviewed each team’s ‘W’ chart. Also include the names of each member of your group at the top of the page. Make a second copy of your ‘W’ questions for me. Again, include the names of all the students in your group and hand that copy in to me."

Have the recorder write a clean chart copy of his group’s ‘W’ questions so that it is easier to read. You must provide a clean chart paper and marker for this purpose.

Say: Tomorrow, we will discuss how and where to get the answers to the questions you have about Elvis."

Instructional Objectives:

Time Required: Approximately 20 minutes

Advance Preparation: Previous day’s ‘W’ charts prepared by students should be hung around the classroom.

Materials Required: Chalk and chalkboard, chart paper for K-W-L chart and markers.

Instructions to teacher: Write the following on your chalk board.

Aim: Where can we get answers to our questions about Elvis?

Say: "Let’s review what we’ve learned so far in the last few days. Who would like to give us a quick summary?" Select a student to give his/her summary. Ask the student questions to try to guide him through the summary, focusing especially on the order in which things occurred during the previous lessons. This is for the benefit of the student(s) who were absent for the lesson. Say things like "What was our first Aim?" "What was our Do Now assignment?" "What did we do immediately following the Do Now?" "Who is ‘The King of Rock and Roll’? Why was he given that title?" Quickly review the ‘K’ of the K-W-L chart started in the previous lesson. Ask: "What did we do after we completed the ‘K’ (what we know about Elvis) part of the K-W-L- chart?" Have a student explain what each group had to do on its "W" chart. This review not only benefits the absentees, but also refreshes and reinforces what the other students learned during the previous lesson.

Say: "Today, we are going to try to find the answers to the questions we have about Elvis. And where could we get the answers to our questions about Elvis?" Write students’ suggestions on the chalkboard or on your chart paper. Their suggestions may include the following:

Books biographies

Magazines

Old newspapers

Online – Internet

Encyclopedia

Television (A&Es Biography, MTVs Behind the Music, The History Channel)

Say: "These are some books of my own (or borrowed) that have information about Elvis life. (****insert book titles***) Share books with students. Flip through the books and show students the table of contents and photos, if available. Say: "We will specifically be focusing, however, on the latest and some say the greatest of all media now available. What would that be?" (That’s right, the Internet.)

Say: "Please select one person in your group – one responsible person- to go online at home tonight. Obviously, this person must have internet access. Each group also needs a back-up person. This person must also have internet access. No one who has already performed a duty for his group should accept this assignment unless no one else in your group has internet access. Your assignment is to locate 2 Elvis Presley websites. You must also print out as much information on Elvis as you can. Please read through the information before you print it and ask yourself ‘Is this information that can help my group answer questions about Elvis?’ Please bring your printed information tomorrow."

Instructional Objectives:

Time Required: Approximately 60 minutes

Advance Preparation: Previous day’s ‘W’ charts prepared by students should be hung around the classroom.

Materials Required: Chalk and chalkboard, chart paper for K-W-L chart and markers. Any previous K-W-L work.

Instructions to teacher: Have students immediately break up into their K-W-L groups. Have each group take out its handwritten looseleaf copy of its ‘W" chart. Check to make sure that each group has done previous day’s assignment, that is, that someone in the group has printed out information about Elvis from the internet. (Believe it or not, each group in my class was prepared with their information.) If you should have one group without information, please provide printed materials on Elvis that you have downloaded. I rewarded each member of the group that had actually done the research with a Extra Credit pass worth 10 points toward his/her next test/project.

Say: "You now have information in front of you about Elvis, thanks to a responsible member or two of your group. Now you must do the following:

• Review the questions your group has about Elvis. Remember, these are listed on your clean ‘W" chart as well as your looseleaf copy.
• Read through all of the Elvis materials printed from the internet. Highlight any answers to your questions right on the materials printed from the internet.
• Write the answers to your questions on your looseleaf handwritten copy of your ‘W’ chart."

Note to teacher: Groups may be unable to answer all of their questions about Elvis using their own team’s research. After each group has exhausted its own research documents, have the groups rotate/swap research materials (internet research). Groups may be able to find answers to their own reasearch on another groups research.

Elvis Music

CDs
Elvis Presley Commemorative Issue - Top Ten Hits
1987 RCA/Ariola International

Elvis - Can't Help Falling In Love - The Hollywood Hits
1999 RCA/BMG

Cassette Tapes

Elvis Presley  20 Golden Hits Volume 2
Astan - Made in Holland

Elvis' Christmas Album
1985 RCA/Records

Essential Elvis Presley
1988 RCA/BMG

Elvis Music - Purchase Online