“Popular” from Wicked – Complete Music Lesson

Bring musical theatre to life in your classroom with this engaging lesson on Stephen Schwartz’s “Popular” from Wicked!

This ready-to-teach resource includes a comprehensive lesson plan (PDF) and interactive lesson slides (PDF) designed to help students explore how music communicates character, mood, and emotion. This lesson has a full plan and slides, however, depending on your class group, feel free to adjust the lesson to your needs.

Learning Outcomes
Students will:
– Analyze the musical structure and how it supports character and story.
– Examine how melody, harmony, rhythm, and dynamics create mood and emotion.
– Explore how Glinda’s personality is revealed through musical and lyrical choices.
– Connect the dramatic subtext (humor, affection, superiority) to musical expression.

Included files (which come in a zipped/compressed file):

• Detailed lesson plan (PDF) with some differentiation suggestions for different age groups

• Lesson slides (PDF) with discussion prompts, analysis activities, and reflection tasks

Lesson focus:

• Understanding how Stephen Schwartz’s compositional choices make Glinda both funny and likable

• Exploring mood changes (playful → sincere → playful) through musical analysis

• Connecting music and drama to deepen understanding of character expression

Thank you so much for choosing to use my resources in your lessons. I really appreciate the support, and I hope you find them useful!

Find more of my resources here: https://linktr.ee/ocmusicfiles

defying gravity lesson: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-13158904