Smithsonian Institution
The Sounds of an Island: Jamaican Music for the Classroom
Introduce young explorers to the music and history of Jamaican culture through game songs and dances. As a bonus, class members get to play simple songs transcribed for the recorder.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: Musical Myths
Create musical myths in this West African tales lesson plan. Middle schoolers read myths from African Myths and Legends as well as West African Trickster Tales. They note when music could be used to enhance the tales, and then write...
Curated OER
Crawford Grill: Opening the Doors of Opportunity
Analyze the role the Crawford Grill played in the history of Jazz music. Budding historians research interviews and video clips to learn about the Crawford Grill in Pennsylvania and black music history. The lesson culminates when...
Curated OER
Foreign Language Lip-Sync Karaoke Contest
Teach your class about foreign language through transcribing lyrics. They will transcribe the lyrics of a song in a foreign language and use the lyrics to create a cloze activity as they listen and speak the language with their...
University of North Carolina
Oral History
There's no better way to learn something than to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. A handout on oral history, part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, explains how to conduct interviews and use the information...
Curated OER
Soundtrack to War
Middle schoolers discuss the important role of music in lives of soldiers stationed in Iraq. They identify and demonstrate skills in creating compositions with limited resources, similar in concept to the soldiers viewed in the documentary.
Curated OER
Blues Improvisation
Students practice playing and improvising while playing the 12 bar blues. They practice compositional skills, evaluate and perform musical pieces focused on the blues.
Curated OER
Making Use of Fieldwork
Students transcribe, analyze, and archive fieldwork and create a team project drawn from fieldwork. They brainstorm a list of reasons why preservation of collected materials is important and explore the online archives of the American...
Curated OER
Outside interview
Students refine their fieldwork skill by conducting interviews. From the position of an outsider, they conduct research and interviews. Student interviews are maintained as a part of a portfolio. Interview kits and assessment...
Curated OER
A Round and A Round
Learners practice singing rounds in daily warm-ups for 2 weeks prior to beginning this composition lesson. Students incorporate movement to the rhythm of each syllable, discuss syllables of words and their relationship to note values and...
Curated OER
Describe an Instrument
Young scholars research an instrument. Similarities and differences are looked at among various instruments. One could select the instruments a student researches or one could assign the instrument. When comparing the instruments...
Curated OER
Cells Vocabulary Quiz
In this cells vocabulary worksheet, students draw lines to match 12 words pertaining to cells to their meanings. Prior knowledge is assumed.
Curated OER
Geese and Sandhill Cranes of Nebraska
Young scholars gather information on the geese and cranes found in Nebraska. Students explore ways they can help save their habitats. Also, young scholars use additional general information they connect artwork to their research topic.
PBS
Mpr: The Meaning of Sioux Music and Song
This site from the Minnesota Public Radio provides the text of a 1915 article written by musician and self-trained anthropologist, Frances Densmore. Densmore spent years studying the music and culture of the Teton Sioux and other native...
Other
World Music Central: Paco De Lucia
An in depth biography on Paco de Lucia, Spanish Flamenco guitarist. Also provides discography and a transcribed interview with the musician.
Other
Del Mar College: Bach's Method of Transcription
This site provides a comprehensive account of how Bach's BWV 964 method of transcription was derived with particular interest for interpreting what musical ideas were deemed important by Bach. Especially handy for guitarists who are...
Library of Congress
Loc: Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier
At this site from the Library of Congress, you can listen to an 82-year-old Virginia fiddler, Henry Reed, playing tunes recorded in the 1960's. Many of the tunes have been transcribed and the notation can be viewed on line as well. The...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Can Machines Read Your Emotions?
Computers can beat us in board games, transcribe speech, and instantly identify almost any object. But will future robots go further by learning to figure out what we're feeling? Kostas Karpouzis imagines a future where machines and the...