Students explore women and music in the 20th century. In this music lesson, students study the relationship between literature and music through The Color Purple and music by Ethel Waters, MA Rainey, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ella...

Students become familiar with the celebration of Cinco de Mayo and the reasons Mexico fought for independence. In this Cinco de Mayo lesson, students write a KWL about Cinco De Mayo. Students explore celebration vocabulary  in...

Students create sunset silhouettes using watercolors, construction paper, glue, scissors, and paintbrushes in this early-elementary Visual Art instructional activity. The instructional activity includes a vocabulary list and a...

Students role play. In this equality lesson, students read a passage in Leviticus and describe people that would be considered strangers and how they are to be treated. Students discuss the concept of discrimination. Students role play...

Students complete a unit on melodies from various cultures. They watch an online program, analyze various melodies, write a short original melody, complete a worksheet, and compare/contrast three versions of "Amazing Grace."

Students complete a unit on musical harmony. They listen to examples of three part harmonies, watch a video, complete a data sheet, prepare a report on the history of harmony, and complete a multimedia report on music for the movies.

Information on the popular style of music called Motown that developed from a recording company of the same name.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica's Guide to Black History features the Soul Stirrers, an American gospel group who were one of the first male quintets and one of the most enduring male groups. Several singers emerged from the...

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Art Pepper, an American jazz musician noted for the beauty of his sound and his improvisations on alto saxophone, and a major figure in the 1950s in West Coast jazz (see cool jazz).

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Baby Dodds, an African-American musican, a leading early jazz percussionist and one of the first major jazz drummers on record.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Celia Cruz, a Cuban singer who reigned for decades as the "Queen of Salsa Music," electrifying audiences with her wide-ranging, soulful voice and rhythmically compelling style.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Clyde McPhatter, an American rhythm-and-blues singer popular in the 1950s whose emotional style anticipated soul music.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Coleman Hawkins, an American jazz musician whose improvisational mastery of the tenor saxophone, which had previously been viewed as little more than a novelty, helped establish it as one...

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Dexter Gordon, an American bop tenor saxophonist.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Herbie Hancock, an American keyboard player, songwriter, and bandleader, a prolific recording artist who achieved success as an incisive, harmonically provocative jazz pianist and then...

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Horace Pippin, an American folk painter known for his depictions of African American life and of the horrors of war.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features James Earl Jones, an American actor who made his name in leading stage roles in Shakespeare's Othello and in The Great White Hope, a play about the tragic career of the first black...

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Kathleen Battle, an American opera singer, among the finest coloratura sopranos of her time.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Louis Jordan, an American saxophonist-singer prominent in the 1940s and '50s who was a seminal figure in the development of both rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The bouncing, rhythmic...

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Willie Dixon, an American blues musician who, as record producer, bassist, and prolific songwriter, exerted a major influence on the post-World War II Chicago style.

This entry from Encyclopedia Brittanica's Guide to Black History features Robert L. Johnson, an American businessman, founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), and the first African American majority owner of a major professional...

This entry from Encyclopedia Brittanica's Guide to Black History features Ike Turner, an American rhythm-and-blues and soul performer and producer who was best known for his work with Tina Turner. This site, rich in detail and breadth of...

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features the Four Tops, an American vocal group that was one of Motown's most popular acts in the 1960s.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features the Platters, an American vocal ensemble, one of the foremost singing groups of the early days of rock and roll and also often associated with the doo-wop style.