Lin-Manuel Miranda Lesson Plan: Individuals’ Contributions and Identities

Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Lin-Manuel Miranda, and supports the standard of analyzing individuals’ contributions to society, art, and culture. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Ask students:

  • What do you already know about the play Hamilton?
  • How can art teach us about our history?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

  • Read the description on the Lin-Manuel Miranda topic page.
  • Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding. 
  • Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the four articles. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign the Lin-Manuel Miranda Challenge and Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about Lin-Manuel Miranda while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

  • Make-a-Movie: Produce a talk show-style interview with Lin-Manuel Miranda. Ask and answer these questions: What inspired you to create the musical Hamilton? What impact do you hope your art will have?
  • Make-a-Map: Create a concept map identifying Miranda’s important works and explaining the message behind each.
  • Creative Coding: Code a digital museum exhibit featuring artifacts and figures to represent Miranda’s accomplishments as an artist and activist.

More to Explore 

Time Zone X: Lin-Manuel Miranda: Put historical events in chronological order in this interactive timeline game. 

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of individuals’ contributions to art, culture, and society with these topics: Drama, Latin Music, Hip-Hop and Rap, and Alexander Hamilton.

Teacher Support Resources:

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Related:

    Filed as:  3-5, 6-8, 9-12, Arts and Music, BrainPOP, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.7, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.4