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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Alicia Keys, Songs in A Minor

For Teachers 7th - 12th
How do a person's musical preferences influence the way they compose music of their own? Learners analyze the sound and lyrics of Alicia Keys in relation to musicians that came before. Jazz, blues, and soul music from the past are shown...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chops and Axes - A Jazz Talk Show

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Young scholars listen to, analyze, and describe music. They gain an understanding of music in relation to history and culture.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning Through the Duke

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Students examine the contributions of Duke Ellington to the field of jazz. They create an original poem using popular vocabulary from the 1920s, listen to the book, "Duke Ellington," and paint a picture while listening to music by Duke...
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

The Harlem Renaissance Movement and its Music

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Harlem Renaissance lesson plans can bring the music, poetry, and literature of this time period alive.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz In America

For Teachers K - 12th
Students gain a fundamental understanding of the role of jazz in the Harlem Renaissance. They explain its historical significance and cultural implications.
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Handout
Penguin Books

Up Close: Ella Fitzgerald

For Students 5th - 7th Standards
A reading of Tanya Lee Stones' biography of Ella Fitzgerald lets middle schoolers get up close and personal with the First Lady of Jazz. Stone recounts details of Fitzgerald's life from her early days through her experiences as a teenage...
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Unit Plan
Smithsonian Institution

The Music of the Mardi Gras Indians

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed
The traditions, costumes, and the music of the Mardi Gras Indians, African-Americans and those with African American or Native American Heritage are the focus of a unit that introduces class members to aĀ little-known group that plays a...
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Activity
Library of Congress

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The Harlem Renaissance brought forth many American art forms including jazz, and the writings of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Using a carefully curated set of documents from the Library of Congress, pupils see the cultural...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Feelin' Swing, Part 2

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Upper elementary schoolers listen to and reproduce the rythm of Mary Lou William's musical piece, "Scratchin' in the Gravel." The swing song was written at a time that women did not play jazz. She broke the rules by playing and writing...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Jazz Talk Show

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students analyze and describe music while connecting it to history and culture. They gain experience in theatre arts skills and writing. They use the Internet to do research in order to find out the most about this subject.
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Becoming Visible

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The television and interstate highways both came of age in 1950s America. Scholars use film, text, and discussion to explore how these and other cultural icons shaped the literature of the time. Pupils also create a family history...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ella Fitzgerald: Something to Live For

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students examine the basic characteristics of jazz, and its relationship to African-American culture and history. They listen to examples of jazz, conduct research, and create a 20th century timeline of music and historical events.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Duking It Out

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bud, Not Buddy

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders read the book Bud, Not Buddy and participate in activities that generate understanding of the Great Depression. In this realistic fiction lesson, 5th graders read about a boy who grew upĀ  during this time. Students research...
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Worksheet
Look! We're Learning!

Ella Fitzgerald Biography Mini-Unit

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
Before there was Beyonce, before there was Madonna, before there was Cher, there was Ella. Introduce Ella Fitzgerald, The First Lady of Jazz, with a reading comprehension exercise that presents a brief biography of her life and then asks...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 7th - 12th
A reading of Walter Dean Myers' "Harlem" sets the stage for studying the literature, art, and music of the Harlem Renaissance. The lesson begins with a review of the social, political, and economic conditions of the 1920s and 1930s that...
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Lesson Plan
National First Ladies' Library

Ragtime: The First "American" Music?

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Learners investigate the concept of ragtime music and the times associated with it in American history. They conduct research using a variety of resources and listen to a sample before writing down some of the results of the information...
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Rhythms in Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Rhyme, rhythm, free verse, imagery: Do these words describe poetry, or jazz music? The answer is both! A resource explores these similarities as scholars watch a video, engage in discussion, read author biographies, write poetry and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz In America

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Learners explore the Jazz Era in America not only by answering questions but listening to music as well.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz in America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students learn vocabulary associated with the Swing Era. They also listen to music from the time period.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz in America

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students explore Bebop in America by listening to music and answering questions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jews and Blues

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Young scholars examine how American Jews affect music and entertainment. They identify problems between immigrants and their children. They relate the Jewish American issue to those of African Americans.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ella Fitzgerald

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students examine the life and music of Ella Fitzgerald. They participate in a matching game, explore an Internet website, and write in response to Ella Fitzgerald's music.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz: An Expression of Democracy

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students watch a video segment about the distinguishing characteristics of jazz. They describe those characteristics and the relation between the culture of jazz and democracy. They improvise simple rhythms and melodies.

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