Hairspray the Musical! The Civil Rights Era and Integration

So many important topics can be taught through watching musical theater and then digging deeper into the themes presented in the show with your students. Hairspray the Musical is a very important work of musical theater art that is set in the 1960s in the middle of the Civil Rights era, and watching it gives us the opportunity to teach about our American History. Your students will learn themes of acceptance and empathy while seeing the way life was for African Americans who had long been sent to separate schools and even had to dance separately on the Corny Collins show. The main character, Tracy, a white girl, led the charge to integrate this television dance show that longed to be a part of. Her Mom was reticent for her daughter to try to be on the show because she didn't look like the other girls, but Tracy couldn't be held back!

In this lesson-
1). 20 questions with an answer key
2). 16 Creative Extension activities that will allow your students to dig deeply into all of the themes featured in this magical show.

You can make this unit last for weeks, or you can do fewer of the extension activities and shorten it to around 10 days including the time needed to watch the full musical. Links included on how to find the movie. If you have Amazon Prime, it is free!









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Thanks!
Dale

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