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- Grade Range
- 1st - 2nd
- Rating
Students explore the concept of slavery and the development of the blues in music, art, and literature. This is a highly creative multidisciplinary unit for younger students to gain an understanding of African-American history. Full Review »
- Rating
Click here to download a PDF of this lesson. (2.8 MB) Overview This lesson will enable teachers to use the blues to explore selected topics in African American folklore. Students will learn about some of the African American cultural traditions that Full Review »
- Grade Range
- 6th - 12th
- Rating
Students discuss the history of the musical form the blues, and research the construction of musical instruments. They create instruments using provided materials, and write reports on their process and their products. Full Review »
- Grade Range
- 7th
- Rating
Students create lyrics for an environmental blues. Full Review »
- Grade Range
- 2nd
- Rating
Students improvise a Blues melody choosing from these notes, G, Bb, B, D, or E, using xylophones and/or block flutes. They work in groups of three to improvise their own verse and share with the class. Full Review »
- Grade Range
- 6th - 8th
- Rating
Students identify the musical form of the 12-bar blues. They identify a problem from the "Farming in the 1940's" section and compose a 12-bar blues song. make comparisons between problems of the 1940's and today. Full Review »
- Grade Range
- 9th - 12th
- Rating
Students take a virtual field trip to Memphis, Tennessee in their study of the blues, its characterisitics, founding fathers, and histororical influence on modern music. They compose blues lyrics that reflect present-day attitudes and concerns. Full Review »
- Grade Range
- 6th - 12th
- Rating
Students research how musical instruments have changed over time. They discover how math is used in music. They describe musical instruments from photographs as well. Full Review »
- Grade Range
- 9th - 12th
- Rating
Students examine the history of blues music and discover how it relates to the music of today. As a class, they listen to the drum songs of Africa and compare it to the use of drums in pop music today. Using the internet, they research the history of the blues and its early artists. To end the lesson, they write in their journals to reflect on the music. Full Review »
- Grade Range
- 9th - 12th
- Rating
Students are introduced to the blues, one of the most distinctive and influential elements of African-American musical tradition. Students take a virtual field trip to Memphis, Tennessee, one of the prominent centers of blues activities, and explore the history of the blues in the work W. C. Handy and a variety of country blues singers whose music preserves the folk origins of this unique American art form. Full Review »
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