After watching a video of Peter and the Wolf, and identifying the instruments used to represent each character, class members use rhythm instruments to represent the actions in the song, "What Would I do."

Create a little harmony with Amani Project! Young musicians create their instruments using found or recycled objects. As an introduction, class members first experiment with sounds they can make with their bodies (clapping, stomping...

Groups create, memorize, and perform for the class a 4 beats per measure rhythm pattern using percussion instruments including xylophones, rhythm sticks, and drums. The pattern is recorded on the worksheet provided in the resource.

Break out the slide whistles, triangles, and tambourines. It's time for a punctuation lesson. This richly detailed plan is loaded with ideas and activities for using rhythm instruments to accent the punctuation in folk tales. A...

Two lessons focus on making a beat. Using popular African American music of its time, scholars listen and analyze the rhythm then recreate it with hands drums, and cups. 

Young explorers may not be able to travel the Silk Road but they can listen to music that was played on instruments of the time and create their own songs with the help of an interesting interactive resource. 

Here's a packet of music activities designed specifically for children with autism. Kids learn greeting, echo, and repertory songs, as well as rhythmic patterns to play rhythm instruments.

Young composers demonstrate their understanding of the stylistic features of descriptive music, including pitch, tempo, dynamics, rhythm, and timbre, by developing a melody and countermelody for a main character in a story. As part of...

Show your school spirit! Class members use instruments or sing along and employ what they have learned in the two previous lessons to perform their school's songs.

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...

Get your movers and shakers grooving to the beat with this series of musical activities designed to meet everyone's needs! Ten games, using an assortment of instruments, bring awareness to one's body, brain, and social interactions in a...

A series of activities teach young musicians that they don't need a room full of instruments to make music. The second activity in the Amani Project has participants use their hands, feet, and voices to demonstrate the five elements of...

Here's a group of exercises designed to introduce a group or class to the rhythm, as well as the basic sounds of a drum, bass and tone. Individuals investigate different types of drums and form drum circles to practice traditional...

Perfect for music specialists, classroom teachers, and substitutes, a packet of 18 games includes complete lessons as well as short activities for when you have some extra time at the end of class.

Here's a collection of unit plans for middle school musicians. Topics include the mbira, opera, rhythm and culture, music in Africa, music in the movies, music theory and notation, blues and jazz, and the ocarina. Definitely worth a look.

A 67-page packet provides instructors with a complete course in the history of Jazz. Lessons look at the roots of jazz in early 20th century African American communities in the southern United States and continues to the New Orleans...

What are the musical elements that characterize a school's fight song or its alma mater? Class members listen to examples of fight songs and alma maters from various schools, play a listening game, and then create a list of the...

Bass drum, snare drum, tom-toms, cymbals. Perched behind their drum sets, wielding their drum sticks and wire brushes, drummers lay the grove and are the heartbeat of a band's performance. A dynamic lesson plan introduces young musicians...

Combine the study of art, music, and history with an activity that asks kids to craft rattles out of slabs of clay.

Xylophone, drum, cymbals, tambourine, bell. Introduce kindergarten and primary schoolers to percussion by asking them to trace the names of five percussion instruments. 

And the beat goes on! Finding a way to connect during the isolation imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic can be challenging. This activity from the Amani Project offers a way to stay close during a time of physical distancing....

"Ode to la Tortilla" and "Ode to Joy"? Sure! Use Gary Soto's poem to introduce learners to the ode format. After examining the descriptive words Soto uses, class members study a poster of Ludwig van Beethoven, suggest words that describe...