We are here to chat all about Taylor Swift lessons because as teachers, it is a special gift to double down on the things that are currently inspiring and exciting our students.
Taylor Swift is having a mega moment (as we write this she is currently on tour in Australia and everything seems to be about her!) Connecting learning to the students’ world outside of school is one way to motivate and engage them.
Don’t miss the opportunity to jump on these fun Taylor Swift lessons while your students are dedicated ‘Swifities’.
We have put together 8 Taylor Swift lessons for all students in primary school (Kindergarten through to Grade 6), but if you are looking for some more complex ideas for high school, check out our friend at @nowsparkcreativity for some creative ideas.
1, 2, 3, Let’s Go….
Make Friendship Bracelets
This might be the most obvious Taylor Swift lesson but hear us out… there are so many learning opportunities when it comes to creating the infamous friendship bracelets.
Students can be working on spelling, pattern making and fine motor skills while being super motivated! You don’t have to use specific ‘Swifty’ words, you could link it to your weekly spelling list or phoneme focus.
We have been creating these with our own children at home and it has been fun engaging with them in conversation about more complex patterns and how the plan to create their bracelet.
The Number 13
Tay Tay’s favourite number! Do a Number of the Day activity to celebrate the number 13. You could use a pre-made template (like the one below) or just get students to write 13 in the middle of the page and record everything they know about the number.
Get this lesson here.
You could play a whole class game of true or false. Give each student a True and False card, then the teacher calls our number sentences. If students think it equals 13, they hold up true and if it doesn’t equal 13, they hold up false.
For example: 20-7 (True), 10+3 (True), 7+4 (False).
Other Taylor Swift numbers include:
- 22
- 1989
- 96 000 (her record breaking audience in Melbourne)
Click here for this Number of the Day template.
Era’s Vocabulary lesson
Pull out some of the rich vocab we always hear when Swifties talk about the Eras tour:
- Era
- Fearless
- Reputation
- Folklore
- Karma
- Enchanted
- Bejeweled
- Vigilante
- Shimmer etc
Once students have defined these words, encourage them to try using some of them in their writing.
For little people you could count the syllables of some of TayTay’s familiar words. Here is a short list:
- Taylor
- Swift
- Shimmer
- Lover
- Midnights
- Swiftie
- Red
- Cardigan
- Fearless
You could also add a Word of the Day as a class lesson or literacy group activity (if you have kids that aren’t interested in Taylor, they could complete the word of the day using any word).
Get a copy of Word of the Day here.
Skip count to your fave tunes
This Taylor Swift lesson idea is a little left of centre! Mr C on YouTube and TikTok has created an amazing set of videos that helps kids work on their skip counting / math skills all to the tunes of Tay Tay.
Here are some quick links:
- Count to 22 by 2’s
- Count by 3’s to Anti Hero
- Skip count by 7’s to I Knew You Were Trouble
- Skip count by 8’s to Shake it off
- Multiply by 0 to Bad Blood
Mr C has a playlist of all his Swifty Math songs here if you are in search for something else.
Taylor Swift Heart Hands craft
Taylor Swift is known for making a heart shape by putting her two hands together. It is her way of saying, “I love you” and “thank you” to her fans. This could be a great way to lead into a lesson about gratitude with your students.
Taylor Swift is grateful for her fans, what are your students grateful for? They could draw or write what they are thankful for inside their heart hands. These heart hands would also look fabulous on the classroom walls.
Teacher tip: We made these heart hands using an image on Canva.
Shared Reading about Taylor Swift
Kids of all ages love shared reading, especially when it is a topic they are interested in. The Little People, Big Dreams series has a Taylor Swift book that weaves her life into a story.
We found this Little Golden Book at about Taylor Swift for $3 (thanks Kmart) which could lead into a number of follow up activities:
- Designing a new cover
- Writing a book review
- Ordering a timeline of life events (older kids)
- Doing further independent research
Explore Figurative Language
Music is often flooded with figurative language and it is a good way for students to explore similes, metaphors, idioms etc in a real life context.
Choose a song (or give your students a series of songs to choose from) and ask students to identify the similes and metaphors etc. If you have some students in your class that are in no way motivated by Taylor Swift, they could work on another song/artist that they like.
Some Examples:
- “Like the colors in autumn, so bright just before they lose it all” (Red)
- “With your hair falling into place like dominoes” (Gold Rush)
- “The holidays linger like bad perfume” (Tis the Damn Season)
- “Losing him was blue like I’d never known” (Red)
- “I like shiny things but I’d marry you with paper rings” (Paper Rings)
Poetry Deep Dive
Music is a great way to get kids interested in poetry. Do a deep dive by analysing the tone, structure, word choice, imagery, figurative language and theme of the song. Depending on the age of your students, you could do this as a class, in small groups, pairs or individually.
If you teach younger students you could do a similar activity by simply reading the lyrics of a Taylor Swift hit and do a Y chart together. You could listen to the song afterwards for a bit of fun / sing along.
Taylor Swift Lessons – Fun Bonus idea 1:
Amplify Music Education has an embedded music player and they have curated a Taylor Swift playlist that is perfect for the classroom (songs have been carefully chosen and are all primary classroom appropriate).
Taylor Swift Lessons –Fun Bonus idea 2:
Mr C has put together a fun way to grab students attention – Taylor style – while you are on the Era’s tour bandwagon. Check it out here.
There is nothing better than incorporating pop culture into learning because it motivates students and makes it exciting. We hope you and your students enjoy these Taylor Swift lessons in your classroom.
Now excuse us, we are off to perfect the Cruel Summer bridge ready for the concert on Saturday night!
Before you head off, find out what ‘Teacher Era’ you are in. Click here to complete our Quiz for New Teachers.
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