Ragtime Lesson Plans

During the second semester, 11th graders study early Romanticism and transcendentalism, the Civil War and move right into the early twentieth century. Because of our block scheduling and the reluctance of many of my students to read extensively on their own, we rarely have enough time to cover poetry in depth, or to explore the role of oppression in the American creative experience.

Students identify musical sites that are worthy of being included as units of the National Parks System. They anthologize American music from primitive times to today.

Students assess the relationship between music and science by learning how various musical instruments work. They create a poster, presenting the research conducted in class that focuses on a specific musical instrument.

Students create a musical theme park that contains "lands" for each of the musical genres! students use technology in a unique and compelling multidisciplinary unit on musical genres and learn the popular songs/music of the musical genre.

Students demonstrate their knowledge of call and response singing through class discussion and by their written answers on the listening guide.

Learners learn the relationship between language, power, and hate.

Students examine the images of African Americans made by the photographer Rudolf Eickemeyer, Jr. (1862-1932). students examine the role of photographer, subject, camera, and audience in creating and interpreting images of the reality of freedom.

Students study how the music of Dave Matthews Band is based on jazz, blues, bluegrass, rock and roll, and rap.

Students examine the reasons and controversy regarding Sam Cooke's transition from gospel to pop.

Students explore the history, meaningful background, and significance of Patriotic songs in the eight lessons of this unit. Each of the different grade levels experience a different amount of lessons all culminating in a Patriotic Program.