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Education World

Black History Month Rap

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Young scholars write a rap or hip-hop lyric about the life of a famous Black American. They explore famous Black Americans in history and explore how the rap form compares to other forms of poetic expression.
Interactive
Curated OER

Outstanding African Americans Activity

For Students 5th - 10th
Challenge historians to investigate influential African-Americans through this online research activity. Learners undertake this task using online links, some of which require investigative searching. Print the worksheet out first, so...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trey and Dave go to Africa: Music

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Trey from Phish and Dave from the Dave Mathews Band took a trip to Africa to explore music, culture, and history. Your class watches this episode from VH1's Music Studio to understand how African culture and music have influenced modern...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Get Your Mojo Workin': Part 1 Writing Your Very Own Blues Tune!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Upper graders listen to the blues. They discuss blues scale, read a description of the blues, and work together to write an original piece. A instructional activity like this ties into American history and African-American musical...
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 a little-known group that...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Billie Holiday's Song "Strange Fruit"

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pupils analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of the anti-lynching...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The South, the North and the Great Migration: Blues and Literature

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Here is a complex lesson plan that interweaves the history of the Jim Crow South and the Great Migration with the study of poetry, art, and blues music from the Harlem Renaissance. The plan helps young historians develop a deep...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Poetry: Songs of Protest and Pride

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students are introduced to various time periods in history in which African Americans wrote songs and poetry to cope. In groups, they travel between different stations to listen or read poems and music from the Civil War period, Civil...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Poetry: Family and Traditions

For Teachers K - 3rd
Learners are introduced to the elements of African-American poetry. As a class, they are read different types of poems to discover there are different styles of poems and practice rhyming words. They share information on their family...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduce Vocabulary: Rap a Tap Tap (Dillon)

For Teachers K - 3rd
Explore the dancing prodigy and Depression-era African-American icon Bill Robinson as scholars learn new vocabulary words in context. As you read Leo Dillon's Rap a Tap Tap they listen for six new words: clatter, greet,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Music Styles: European Roots and African Influences - Lesson 3

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students describe some of the characteristics of country and blues music. They see how country music rose to a nationally known music style. They write a two-paragraph essay on what they think country music be like in the next 100 years.
Lesson Plan
Northern Nevada Council for the Social Studies

What Are the Origins and Influences of Rap Music?

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Considered an American art form, rap has its roots in places from Jamaica to the Bronx. Using a series of readings, comprehension questions, and videos, scholars explore the history of rap and its connections to the African diaspora....
Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

10 Ideas for Teaching Black History Month

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
Celebrate Black History Month with the help of 10 ideas that delve deep into the history, major events, contributions, famous African Americans, and sheds light on how scholars today can take a proactive stance on current civil rights...
Lesson Plan
John F. Kennedy Center

Musical Harlem: How Is Jazz Music Reflective of the Harlem Renaissance?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Bring jazz music and the Harlem Renaissance to light with a instructional activity that challenges scholars to research and create. Pupils delve deep into information materials to identify jazz terminology, compare types of jazz and jazz...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz Music and the Crisis Over School Desegregation

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers will learn to appreciate the civil rights movement with a focus on Little Rock, Arkansas. They will also acknowledge Louis Armstrong's unparalleled contributions to American music.
Unit Plan
Institut Obert de Catalunya

20th Century Music: Jazz

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Family Origins and American Cultural Pluralism

For Teachers K - 3rd
Young scholars explore, analyze and discuss family origins, special legacies, and racial/cultural groups in literature and art that exposes them to positive examples in African-American history and culture. They encounter examples from...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African-American Musicians

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Young scholars research three African-American musicians and compose a report based upon their research in this Music Appreciation lesson for the middle level classroom. The lesson could be adapted for various student levels and abilities.
Lesson Plan
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Center for Civic Education

The Power of Nonviolence: Music Can Change the World

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Here is a fantastic activity through which class members discover how music has the ability to influence others in a meaningful way. After reviewing selected pieces and modern-day protest songs, learners will research other songs that...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Scavenger Hunt

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
In this African American music history worksheet, students research the history of African American music. Students then answer the fifteen questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music: Off the Wall & Onto the Stage - Composing

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Kids explore Gullah music from Africa and then create original compositions based on what they've learned. They practice traditional melodies and rhythms then make some of their own, which they then perform for the class. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African Americans Seen Through the Eyes of the Newsreel Cameraman

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders learn about this history of jazz music. In this musical influences lesson, 5th graders read God Bless the Childand listen to a recording of it. Students create a KWL chart on jazz and early 1900s music and dance. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music of the Civil Rights Era, 1954-1968

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Young scholars experience the aesthetics of music and learn about freedom songs that motivated the Civil Rights activists. For this music history lesson, students learn how music can motivate and move listeners. Young scholars then...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Songs, Sounds and Stories from the Georgia Sea Islands

For Teachers K - 12th
American music is the result of the influence of many cultures, including the traditions brought by the African slaves. Young scholars study the polyrhythms, the call-and-response format, and the vocal improvisations of the Gullah...