Curated OER
Playin' the Blues
Students explore history and sounds of blues music, construct instruments from scrap materials, and compose music to accompany lyrics of songs for kids.
Curated OER
Get Your Mojo Workin': Part 1 Writing Your Very Own Blues Tune!
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...
Curated OER
The History of the "Blues"
Take a quick tour through the history of Blues. Elementary learners will find this presentation easy to understand and full of interesting information. There are web links that direct viewers to additional information but none that...
Digital Public Library of America
Women and the Blues
A 12-piece primary source packet sets the tone for a study of the role women played in the origins, development, and impact of blues music. Legends like Bessie Smith, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Mamie Smith, and Ida Cox are featured, as are...
Curated OER
Country's Music
Jazz, Blue Grass, Hip Hop, Swing. Gospel, R&B, Ragtime, Disco. So many music genres born in the USA. After reading an article about the fate of New Orlean's Jazz after Hurricane Katrina, class members investigate the life cycles of...
Smithsonian Institution
The Birth of an Icon: Learning and Performing the Origins of the Drum Set and Early Jazz Drumming in New Orleans, Louisiana
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 introduces young musicians to...
Curated OER
Langston Hughes and the Blues
Students explore the connections between Langson Hughes and blues music. For this African American culture lesson, students compare and contrast blues music with poetry and short stories by Langston Hughes.
Curated OER
The blues highway: An integration of music with geography
Learners analyze the movement of the blues from rural Mississippi to urban Chicago and how place and the environment affected the development of the blues. They define the blues, where it originated and how and why it moved to Chicago....
Curated OER
Poets Got Them Blues
Contemplate what music learners listen to and why they listen. Can they find poetry within music lyrics? Specifically hone in on blues lyrics and ruminate upon the social issues prevalent in the themes. Particular song lyrics coincide...
Curated OER
Mississippi Delta Blues Moves: Second in a Series of Three with Barb Hoffman and Steve Hoskins, MGM
Students complete a graphic organizer reviewing Barb Hoffman's prior lesson," Slave Songs (1840-1876)" as well as listen to and discuss Delta Blues music samples. Students research one Delta Blues singer and write a "color coded"...
Curated OER
Learning the Blues
Students become familiar with the characteristic form and sound of the blues, then learn about the history and evolution of the blues in relationship to the African-American experience. Students examine the structure and language of...
Curated OER
My Way
Students culminate a humanities project by improvising music to accompany a video of a particular era in US history.
Curated OER
Jazz Talk
Students analyze the origins of jazz music by examining work songs, spirituals, blues, and gospel songs as well as works of poetry from African American artists. They create their own poems from either the narrative, dramatic, or lyric...
Curated OER
The Princess and the Frog
Young scholars study the sounds of New Orleans jazz, its origins, and its influences. In this jazz music lesson plan, students listen to various jazz songs and discuss the songs. Young scholars use the worksheet 'Jazz: the Universal...
Curated OER
Rockin’ the World: Rock and Roll and Social Protest in 20th Century America
Young scholars explore protest songs. In this interdisciplinary lesson plan, students examine issues-based music by summarizing lyrics and revealing inferences, generalizations, conclusions, and points of view found in the songs.
Curated OER
Lesson: Looking Closer: The Artwork of Shinique Smith
A critical discussion regarding the nature of Shinique Smith's second-hand clothing art is the foundation for the activity. Critical thinkers fully analyze the meaning behind her work, taking close consideration of where the clothing...
Curated OER
Banding Together
Students explore the effect that a particular culture can have on popular music. They develop their own music groups, each representing a style of music and a historical culture and perform their group's concert for the class.
Curated OER
Rock Around the Map
Students research the geographical histories of various musical genres and make maps that note important places in music history. They Write geographical biographies about one of their favorite musical artists.
Curated OER
Swing Your Partner! It's A Virtual Square Dance
Students explore the Wessels Living History Farm website and research how to do a square dance. They read a story, listen to an explanation of barn dances, and participate in various square dances.
Curated OER
The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance inspired a group of writers, musicians, and artists whose influence is still seen today.
Curated OER
Regional Songs in the Southern American Experience
Young scholars write a song about transportation in 100 years after comparing and discussing "Proud Mary" and "The Midnight Special".
South Carolina Educational Television
Etv: Gullah Net: Got the Blues
Learn about music called the Blues, and then write, play, and sing an original blues song.