Education Closet
Equal Rhythms
Engage young mathematicians in learning about fractions with this cross-curricular math and music instructional activity. After listening to and repeating different beat patterns, children realize that musical notes are just another way...
TED-Ed
A-rhythm-etic. The Math Behind the Beats
Your learners will dance in their seats as this talented drummer connects math to music in a short video clip. Clayton Cameron shows how math puts the "cool" in various genres of music, including jazz, hip-hop, pop, R&B, and others,...
Curated OER
Math, Fractions, and Music
Students discover the relationship between musical rhythms and fractions. They add musical notes together to produce fractions and create addition and subtraction problems with musical notes. Students complete worksheets and create their...
Special needs in Music
Music Work Sheet (Special Ed)
Music is beneficial for all learners. Help your learners with special needs learn about different styles of music, as well as the ways that music is represented on paper, with 30 different worksheets.
Curated OER
Catch the Beat
Use this rhythm and pattern activity during transition times or on it own. Start by introducing a rhythm with 2, 3, or 4 beats; use your feet, hands, or entire body to demonstrate. Once learners have figured out the pattern, they join...
Curated OER
Jazz and Math: Rhythmic Innovations
Students watch a segment of the PBS Ken Burns JAZZ documentary about Buddy Bolden creating the "Big Four." They compare and contrast the rhythms of marches and jazz based on the examples in the film, and explore notation, subdivision of...
Curated OER
Rhythm, Math, Rhythm
Students play instruments in math class to learn the interconnectedness between math and music. In this math lesson, students subdivide a piece of music, clapping rhythms and charting rhythm patterns in the song. A guided discussion...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Rhythm Patterns
Fractions can be tricky. Why not have kids think of fractions like they think of eighth, quarter, and half notes? In teams, the class creates four-measure patterns with their percussion instruments. They need to explain their rhythm...
Curated OER
Jazz and Math: Rhythmic Innovations
Students compare and contrast the rhythms of marches and jazz. They watch an excerpt about Buddy Bolden from the PBS Ken Burns Jazz documentary, compare/contrast march and jazz rhythms, complete a worksheet, and notate and perform jazz...
Curated OER
K-2: Dino-Rhythms
Second graders read rhythm notation and combine four-beat rhythms. In this rhythms lesson plan, 2nd graders read quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests in rhythms that are written on dinosaur shapes. They clap, snap, or stamp out...
Curated OER
Jazz and Math: Improvisation Permutations
Students observe that there are myriad combinations of rhythms to choose from when improvising jazz and blues music, and recognize that while the variations seem infinite, they are in fact finite. They notate a 12 bar blues progression...
Curated OER
The Math Of African Music
Students practice rhythms and fractions on African drums in this Music instructional activity mixing Math skills and music notation. The instructional activity also includes ideas for assessment and state and national benchmarks met.
Curated OER
Musical Traditions of Southern Louisiana
This units gives learners opportunities to * Research the history and patterns of French settlement in Louisiana * Discover three types of music (New Orleans jazz, Cajun, Zydeco) which are representative of the Francophone presence in...
Curated OER
Classroom Builder
Students explore music theory by discussing a classic song. In this musical notation lesson, students listen to the song "My Favorite Things" and discuss and share their personal tastes with the class. Students practice writing notes on...
Curated OER
Rhythm
Third graders sing in 3/4 meter with an upbeat. They write a poem using descriptive words. Students move at different speeds to show quarter, half and eigth notes. They play a math game involving the number of beats a quarter, half and...
Curated OER
Jazz and Math: Improvisation Permutations
Students explore the various rhythmic combinations in jazz and blues music. They watch a video segment, apply a mathematical formula to calculate the number of possible rhythmic combinations, and perform a combination of notes and...
Curated OER
Music Education, The Blues
This lesson examines both the content and form of lyrics in blues songs. In addition to highlighting the basic musical form of a blues song, it also addresses the use of floating verses in blues music, both within the context of the...
Curated OER
Movie Music
Students discover film making by participating in a music performance. In this performance arts lesson, students perform music and physical acting to convey an already written script for their peers. Students collaborate with their...
Curated OER
Jazz and Math: The Beat Goes On
Students collect real data through listening, counting and timing jazz pieces.They use ratios, rates, and proportions to report collected data and demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of rhythm and tempo in music.
Curated OER
Tradition through storytelling and music
Students discover how storytelling can shape a person's tradition.Students examine different methods of storytelling such as music, biographies, and African folktales. They then demonstrate their knowledge of storytelling by writing...
Curated OER
Music
First graders identify ways in which math and language arts relate to their music. After being read a book, they sing a song about who took the cookies from the cookie jar. They recognize repeated patterns in the melody and rhythm and...
Curated OER
Rhythm and Counting
Students repeat patterns while listening to music. In this patterning lesson plan, students listen to a pattern on a tape of music and reproduce it by clapping or stamping their feet. They listen to stories about famous composers.
Curated OER
How Do I Measure Up? (Intermediate)
Fifth graders compare the relationship between meter in music and measurement in math. They practice sightreading music by determining the number of beats per measure, clapping and counting the rhythm.
Curated OER
Music Activity at Family Math Night
Students work with a family member in placing all of the music notes on a staff board. They try to match the rhythm on the rhythm board and show their completed song to the teacher.