Singing Lesson Plans

Students investigate where food comes from by observing fresh produce.  In this agricultural lesson, students read the book In My Garden, and discuss what makes a healthy diet and where healthy foods can be found.  Students identify real fruits and vegetables in their school and perform a sing along based on In My Garden.

Students recite songs alongside their classmates, discovering the difference between singing together and singing in canon. In this musical lesson, students discover what a "round" is and the melodic effect it can have on a piece of music.

Students examine the correct way to breathe while singing and demonstrate proper breathing techniques while singing a song. They view and discuss a video clip from "Breath of Life: Our Respiratory System," demonstrate breathing and inhaling techniques, and sing as a group.

Students investigate call and response singing.  In this fine arts and U.S. history lesson, students listen to several call and response songs that were sung by African-American slaves during the period before the Civil War.  Students brainstorm possible reasons that call and response music was appropriate for slaves working in the fields. Students complete a related worksheet.

Students sing and read the old favorite song Wheels on the Bus, and write new song text for a poster and a class book.

Learners use Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as analysis on human rights. In this human rights lesson, students develop an awareness of human rights issues and explore the Universal Declaration of Human Rights using the given websites and Angelou novel.

Students create a human rights project based on their lesson with Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. For this human rights lesson, students participate in a humanitarian gesture as volunteers by creating a human rights project using the given links related to the heifer project or habitat for humanity.

Students discuss ways poetry can express feelings, values, and culture.  In this Native American poetry lesson, students discuss the meanings of several poems from the collection entitled, When the Rain Sings.  Students then create a short poem to express their own thoughts.

Students discuss equality and fairness by reading a Maya Angelo poem.  In this U.S. history instructional activity, students read the poem I Know Why Caged Birds Sing, and discuss how the era it was written in affected the words.  Students identify the framework of poetry and categorize each line.

Students demonstrate writing lyrics for a twelve-bar blues pattern by writing two verses of a blues song and then recording themselves singing over a stock blues pattern using Apple's Garage Band. Requires a networked keyboard lab.