Modern Music Lesson Plans

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.

Eleventh graders research a given decade in US History.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders interview a person who lived during the decade to gain a personal perspective on it.  Students rehearse and present their composition. 

Students explore the emergence of bootlegs, also known as 'mash-ups' (the combination of two songs into one), on the Internet. By researching the musical origins of songs and creating and performing their own bootlegs, students gain a deeper understanding

Students compare and contrast music about West Virginia. In this West Virginia history lesson, students analyze popular music so that they may gain an understanding of the relationships between songs and history. Students then create their own songs about West Virginia after they have visited the West Virginia State Museum.

Students explore the histories of American patriotic emblems and examine ways in which patriotic artworks use these emblems to reflect the ideals that they embody.

Students explore the histories of American patriotic emblems and examine ways in which patriotic artwork uses these emblems to reflect the ideals that they embody. They find a common or popular patriotic image and design a modern version of that image.

Students explore the history of major American music genres. Then, through mock radio shows, students examine the distinguishing features of each genre and how each has changed throughout the years.

Learners examine Bob Dylan's music for use of poetry credited to a Civil War poet named Henry Timrod. They read and discuss an article and research other cases of alleged plagiarism in music and literature.

Students analyze the impact of jazz on the novel, "Invisible Man," by Ralph Ellison. They read and discuss excerpts of the novel, write an essay on the influence of jazz on Ralph Ellison as a writer, and view video excerpts on jazz history.

Students use the internet to research musical periods and composers. They examine how Medieval and Renaissance instruments worked and compare how they sounded. They discover the criteria to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.