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 Country Study and PowerPoint Presentation

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate the geography of Africa.  In this African culture lesson, students research the lifestyles of African residents and create a PowerPoint presentation based on a single African country.  Students share their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dance: Discovering the Culture of Gullah

For Teachers 5th - 7th
It's wonderful to see a lesson that incorporates art, movement, and writing. These three forms of creative expression are explored as learners dance to music from the Gullah people of West Africa. They analyze several paintings, listen...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music In America - Gospel Beginnings

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners identify musical characteristics of gospel and sing a gospel selection. They practice the call and response technique. After going through individual parts, they sing the entire song with piano accompaniment.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning the Blues

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students take a virtual field trip to Memphis, Tennessee in their study of the blues, its characterisitics, founding fathers, and histororical influence on modern music. They compose blues lyrics that reflect present-day attitudes and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tears of Joy Theatre Presents Anansi the Spider

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Accompany the African folktale, Anansi the Spider, with a collection of five lessons, each equipped with supplemental activities. Lessons offer multidisciplinary reinforcement in English language arts, social studies, science,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wynton's Tune

For Teachers K - 8th
Young scholars examine the serigraph, "Wynton's Tune," by artist Faith Ringgold. They discuss the painting, listen to jazz music, create a drawing that tells a story inspired by their favorite music, and write sentences describing their...
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...
Lesson Plan
1
1
August House

Anansi And Turtle Go To Dinner

For Teachers Pre-K - K Standards
That tricky Anansi! Join him and Turtle in the story Anansi and Turtle Go to Dinner by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk, based on the African folktale. Kids answer comprehension questions and sing songs about spiders before creating spider...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Math Of African Music

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students practice rhythms and fractions on African drums in this Music lesson mixing Math skills and music notation. The lesson also includes ideas for assessment and state and national benchmarks met.
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
Curated OER

Music of Puerto Rico

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders study about the musical rhythms and instruments of Puerto Rico. Then they construct their own instruments using recycled products. Students listen to different genres of music and define them. Students focus on the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hispanic Arts: Visual Arts, Dance and Music

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Learners observe global cultures by listening to music and watching videos. In this Latin American dance lesson plan, students define merengue, salsa and other dances from the Hispanic culture while listening to Latin rhythm music....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"ART ZOO 'Blacks in the Westward Movement', 'What Can You Do with a Portrait', and 'Of Beetles, Worms, and Leaves of Grass'"

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students study black history, examine portraits and portrait making and create their own portraits, and  investigate their natural environment. This humanities lesson provides a text that can be used to teach lessons in black...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mood in Music

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students portray the mood of a piece of music in a drawing.  In this mood in music lesson, students discuss how music creates a mood.  Students listen to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," "The Wreck of The Wreck of the Edmund...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tradition through storytelling and music

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students discover how storytelling can shape a person's tradition.Students examine different methods of storytelling such as music, biographies, and African folktales. They then demonstrate their knowledge of storytelling by writing...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music in West Africa

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore power and the symbols of power in West African music. They discuss the music of West Africa and compare it to African American music of today. In addition, they investigate musical instruments of Africa, identify the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African Popular Music

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students explore popular music of West Africa. In this musicians lesson, students complete listening tasks that challenge them to analyze the music of Oumou Sangare, Angelique Kidjo, and Baaba Maal.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Similarities Between African Folktales And French Folktales

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students study the importance of the Storyteller in ancient times as well as in modern times. They realize that this is an art essential to the development and evolution of the mind and that today more than ever we need to rely on...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Syncopation and Rhythm in Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Rap Music

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students recognize and clap the syncopated rhythmic beat of a rap song and identify recurring rhythmic pattern in the excerpt of "Dance of the Adolescents" from Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music Styles

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Young scholars identify many genres of music and connect styles of music with various cultures. They watch "The Greatest TV Moments: Sesame Street Music A to Z" and list music styles: folk, jazz, rock, etc.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music In America - Lesson 1

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify many careers within the music industry such as producer, A&R representative and recording studio engineer. They connect achievements of noted artists with their roles in the music industry.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music in America - Lesson 3

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students listen to many examples of Motown music and explain the relationship between the word "Motown" and the city of Detroit. They examine and identify distinctive musical elements of the early "Motown Sound."
Lesson Plan
August House

The Clever Monkey Rides Again

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
How very clever. No need to monkey around with this resource. Rob Cleveland's version of the West African tale, "The Clever Monkey Rides Again," is used as the basis for multiple of cross-curricular activities including exercises...