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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Look in the Mythic Mirror: I've Got Rhythm!

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Learners explore the relationships between music, poetry, and visual art. Using the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, pupils develop an awareness of the compositional elements of the Classical style, and the aesthetic effects of those...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music in Words

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Your class can build strong, well-represented opinions about the music they hear. They listen to, and share thoughts about, a piece of classical music. Then they write a piece of music or a poem, and analyze their peers' work and their...
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Activity
Canada's National Arts Center

Vivaldi and The Four Seasons

For Students 4th - 6th
Did you know that Vivaldi’s orchestra was largely made up of girls from an orphanage? Fun facts like this fill a 34-page teacher's kit designed to accompany a cross-curricular study of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. 
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Activity
Canada's National Arts Center

Vivaldi and The Four Seasons: Teacher Resource Kit

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Did you know that Vivaldi wrote "Winter," the final concerto of his The Four Seasons, in the key of F minor to echo the sleigh ride pieces popular at the time? A teacher resource kit, designed to support a study of the work, is packed...
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Lesson Plan
Boston Symphony Orchestra

The Elements of Music—How do Composers Plan?

For Teachers 5th - 8th
The introduction to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and the finale of his Symphony No. 4 provide young musicians with an opportunity to investigate the music elements composers employ to develop the themes they want to create. They compare the...
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Worksheet
Classics for Kids

Instrumental Sounds

For Students 4th - 5th
What sound does a piccolo make? What's the difference between a violin and viola? What family does a timpani belong to? Take a tour through the different sections of an orchestra with an interactive reference tool.
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Interactive
Hookshot Creative

Compose Your Own Music

For Students K - 12th
Channel the masters with an interactive music composition activity! Learners use the online tool to create their own masterpieces one measure at a time.
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Worksheet
Classics for Kids

Musical Time Travel

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
Young musicians learn more about the greats with a straightforward activity on historical composers. As they click through a navigation guide, they choose a musical time period and a composer from that period before taking a short quiz.
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Worksheet
Classics for Kids

Hurry Up – Slow Down

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
Is your music appreciation class feeling a bit adagio this afternoon? Pick up the pace and get them feeling andante with a straightforward music theory activity. After defining several terms for musical dynamics and musical tempos,...
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Worksheet
Classics for Kids

Fun With Musical Words

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
Is concertmaster another term for conductor, or is he or she another person entirely? Learn the specifics of the role of concertmaster with an activity focused on classical music. After learners define the term, they select a piece of...
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Worksheet
Classics for Kids

Listen to the Music

For Students K - 3rd Standards
Different pieces of music can elicit different emotions from audience members. A quick tempo can make you feel happy, while a largo piece may bring out a melancholy temperament. Elementary musicians learn more about the instruments and...
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Worksheet
Classics for Kids

A Composer Leads the Way

For Students 4th - 5th
What song is playing? A music activity focuses on composers throughout history, their famous works, and the instruments in each piece. As pupils complete the instructional activity they play a short game to review music theory terms.
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Worksheet
Classics for Kids

Instruments Have a Family

For Students K - 3rd Standards
Are the instruments in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in the same family as those in George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue? Elementary musicians work on their music theory and their instrumental ear as they listen to clips of famous...
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Interactive
Classics for Kids

Composers Timeline

For Students K - 12th
Take a quick tour through the last 350 years of music composition with an interactive timeline tool. As learners scroll through the years, they see which composers were born and working during the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern...
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Interactive
Classics for Kids

Composers and Their Countries

For Students K - 12th
How many of the world's greatest composers were born in Austria? Or Germany? Or the United States? An interactive map provides young musicians with information about prominent composers in the last few centuries, as well as the periods...
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Unit Plan
Classics for Kids

Introduction to Music: Symphony

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
Expose young elementary students to the works of one of the greatest musical composers, Ludwig van Beethoven. Using three progressive lesson plans to complete the unit, class members are able to distinguish low and high sounds, count the...
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Lesson Plan
Classics for Kids

"Mars" from The Planets

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
Gustav Holst's The Planets provide young musicians an opportunity to examine how composers can create a suite: a collection of smaller pieces grouped to explore a single topic. After listening to "Jupiter," they examine "Mars" in detail,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating an Original Opera

For Teachers 9th - 12th
This may be a lot to ask of a high schooler, but then again, who knows? Pupils work in groups to explore, write, and then perform an original opera. They view versions of The Magic Flute and La Traviata, then compose a plot, characters,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

GCSE Notes 2000: Classical Music

For Teachers 10th - 11th
Classical period music is defined by its characteristics and distinctive sound. A set of notes assists upper graders in recalling and analyzing music from the classical period based on musical terminology. An example analysis of Eine...
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PPT
Curated OER

Peter and the Wolf

For Teachers K - 4th
Peter and the Wolf is a wonderful piece that introduces learners to classical music, builds listening skills, and creates a bridge from song to imagination. Each slide shows a picture of one of the characters from the story and a group...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Sorcerer's Apprentice: 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Upper graders view the animated short, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and analyze how the music score was chosen to express the scene. They create an animation as they listen to a classical recording to experience the connection between...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ballet and Classical Music

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders explore ballet. In this dance and music humanities lesson, 4th graders practice ballet positions and play a card game using French ballet vocabulary. Students count beats in rhythm patterns and listen to classical music...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

"Infernal Dance" From The Firebird, by Igor Stravinsky

For Students 3rd - 5th
This activity about Stravinsky's ballet, The Firebird, provides information about the composer, the ballet, and the "Infernal Dance." It also includes questions about the music, as well as extension activities such as a puppet show.
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Organizer
Curated OER

"Spring" From The Four Seasons

For Students 4th - 6th
By utilizing this classical music worksheet, upper elementary children listen to "Spring" from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi. They will read a biography of the composer and answer four multiple choice questions. Students follow a...