Lesson Plans and Worksheets
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- 09-07-11
Contemporary Music Lesson Plans
Find teacher approved Contemporary Music lesson plan ideas and activities
Teach your students to appreciate classical music. They listen to and share thoughts about a piece of classical music. Then they will write a piece of music or poem, and analyze their peers' work and their own creative processes.
Students discuss significant figures in music history and read an article about the Smithsonian's Hip-Hop exhibit. In groups, they develop and curate an exhibition of hip-hop music and history using artifacts that represent relevant people and events.
Learners watch a video that highlights the role of artists' images throughout the history of Black music in the United States and describe the influences of the civil rights movement on Black culture.
Young scholars investigate the impact of popular music in 1960's America. In this music and history instructional activity, students listen to several identified songs from the decade and analyze their lyrics. Young scholars discuss their impressions and then locate popular songs from the past 5 years that address social or political issues.
Students explore the music of the 1960's. In this contemporary history lesson plan, students analyze lyrics of popular music from the 1960s and compare them to the historical events of the decade.
Students discuss music of other eras students discuss the influence of elements such as politics, social events, etc. on music of the time. They examine the cause and effect of musical diversity after watching a video segment: "Behind the Music."
Students read and discuss 'Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra: Mixing Treasures by Duke Ellington and Edvard Grieg,' exploring how jazz transformed European music and the influence jazz has had on modern music. They write musical reviews.
Students explore 1960's America. In this contemporary history lesson, students read The Watsons Go To Birmingham, 1963 as well as 2 articles regarding the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham. Students then research the answers to questions they formulated from the assigned readings.
Students explore the importance of folk music is various ethnic cultures.
Students explore oral history and how it is important to historical record. They interview someone who is a U.S. immigrant and create an oral history project/paper based on this interview.
