Syracuse University
Harlem Renaissance
The music and literature of the Harlem Renaissance defined American culture, including its poetry. Using a poem from the period, individuals explore its musical qualities and how it is reflective of the period. Then, they use what they...
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VH1 Storytellers for Save the Music Starring Billy Joel
Students pretend they are taking a certain job in the music industry and respond to questions.
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Driving Music
Students experience both playing a musical instrument and driving a car. The two experiences tied together by one engineer. The score appears as a road, with twists and turns representing the composer's suggested shifts in mood. This...
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Jazz Talk
Students analyze the origins of jazz music by examining work songs, spirituals, blues, and gospel songs as well as works of poetry from African American artists. They create their own poems from either the narrative, dramatic, or lyric...
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Sharing Your Music - Lesson 5
Students observe that music can communicate positive social messages. They create a theme concert with a positive social message after watching a video of famous artists playing on Sesame Street.
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What Is Cool?
Learners compare versions of the song, "So What," recorded by Miles Davis and Marcus Miller. They explore the Ken Burns Website to discover more about Davis and journal their thoughts about him and his music.
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Mozart's Magic
Students become familiar with the young composer through his life's story and his music. They get to make some music of their own by using musical instruments that exist both online and all around them.
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Back to the Classics
Students closely examine chamber music as it has changed from the Middle Ages to today. They work in small groups to research the composers, instruments and typical presentation in 5 time periods. They write biographies and share their...
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Radio Free America?
Students explore the controversy over the recent FCC vote to loosen restrictions on media ownership. After researching the background and position of local radio stations, students evaluate and make recommendations about free speech.
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Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music In America
Students watch a video that highlights the role of artists' images throughout the history of Black music in the United States and describe the influences of the civil rights movement on Black culture.
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Arts in a Spin Qualities of the Baroque Style
Students examine the qualities of Baroque style by viewing a video about Bach. They listen to music of the era and explore the characteristics of excessive ornamentation, contrast and tension. They complete the included worksheets.
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Act 3: New York Introduction 1924-1925, Louis Armstrong
Students listen to and examine jazz recordings and listen for features (breaks and obbligato) that are typical of jazz music. In groups, they make up a short blues song of their own.
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From Mark Twain to David Bowie: The Artistic Persona vs. The Individual
Students explore the concept of public image. In this public persona instructional activity, students discover what public image is and discuss the role of an author's life when interpreting pieces of their work.
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Getting Inside The Outsiders Through Music
Students listen to popular music of the 50's and 60's to make literature connections to The Outsiders. In this popular culture lesson plan, students evaluate and analyze various songs and connect them with the themes in the literature...
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The Great Migration
Students explore how migration to Harlem created a new life for African Americans. In this cross curricular lesson, students illustrate maps showing the migration, paint murals representing African American life in the South and create a...
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Strike Up the Band
Students create song lyrics celebrating the history of labor unions serving the entertainment industry, then create posters illustrating the importance of each union to the industry they represent.
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Joltin' Joe Has Left and Gone Away
Young scholars assess admirable qualities in entertainers. They discuss Joe DiMaggio's obituary, focusing on his accomplishments and place in American society. They research and create their own descriptive biographies of athletes and...
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Simply the Best
Young scholars determine whom they consider "the best" performer in a variety of entertainment industries and discuss how to accurately measure greatness. They create bar graphs comparing statistics of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds and the...
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Duking It Out
Students read and discuss 'Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra: Mixing Treasures by Duke Ellington and Edvard Grieg,' exploring how jazz transformed European music and the influence jazz has had on modern music. They write musical reviews.
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Rock On
Learners analyze trends in the Grammy Award winners this year and create graphs displaying their findings.
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Red, White, and Blue Notes
Learners 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.
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Visualizing Jazz Scenes From the Harlem Renaissance
Learners identify themes of selected nonfiction, fiction, poetry and art to Harlem Renaissance jazz and describe the impact of jazz on African-American literature of the Harlem Renaissance
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Whites, Blacks and the Blues
This lesson plan enables students to explore and measure the distance between blacks and whites in the past and present United States. By thinking about the intersections of whites, blacks, and others around the blues, students will...
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The Blues . Writing . Biographies/Profiles . The Soul of a Man
This lesson, focused on profile writing and its unique characteristics, considers the profiles developed in the film The Soul of a Man while also asking students to consider other profiles they are familiar with and to write some of...
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