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The Modern Day Minstrel - Lesson 1
Learners identify and describe the various roles that musicians fulfill. They recognize various genres of music. They identify and interview musicians in the community and invite them to come in and talk about their roles as musicians.
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The Power of Music
High schoolers analyze the music Shakespeare chose for his play The Tempest. They seek to research why he alluded to popular music and contemporary artists. Students make connections between their own musical knowledge/tastes/interests...
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Louis Armstrong Hot Five
Students investigate the history and development of jazz by studying the Louis Armstrong Hot Five. They listen to music and define how Armstrong strengthened the concept of the solo as a part of jazz. They complete guided listening lessons.
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Poetry In the World Around Us
Students engage in a instructional activity which is designed as a literacy connection to science lessons on the effects of water on plants. This instructional activity uses an excellent Reading Rainbow episode on the effect of drought,...
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From Mark Twain to David Bowie: The Artistic Persona vs. The Individual
Students explore the concept of public image. In this public persona lesson, students discover what public image is and discuss the role of an author's life when interpreting pieces of their work.
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My Little Island
Learners engage in a lesson plan which features a video trip to the Caribbean Island of Montserrat to teach about the human and physical characteristics of place and human/environmental interactions between the two. Students create their...
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I Heard It on the Radio
Students develop a portfolio of information of contemporary musicians or individuals from the music industry.
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Mending Walls: Barriers in Communications
Students explore a literal and figurative wall. In this communication lesson, students examine and discuss barriers in communication as they analyze Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and Robert Frost's "Mending Wall".
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Experiencing "Romeo and Juliet"
Ninth graders read and analyze the William Shakespeare play "Romeo and Juliet" and compare it to the 1996 modern version of the play and the movie "West Side Story." They write an essay comparing and contrasting the three versions.
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iRock
Students explore, listen to and analyze songs that helped define rock and roll music. They read and discuss the article, "They're All Oldies, Dad Included." Research on contemporary artists is conducted and then the students choose who...
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Folk Traditions in the Blues
Click here to download a PDF of this lesson. (2.8 MB) Overview This lesson will enable teachers to use the blues to explore selected topics in African American folklore. Students will learn about some of the African American cultural...
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Freedom, Power and the People
Students analyze how social change has affected artistic expression and popular culture. the explain the influence of media on contemporary American culture.
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American Colonists Protest Song
Students explore the role of protest songs. In this early American history lesson, students research the acts passed by the British that angered colonists. Students then listen to protest songs from contemporary American history prior to...
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And Then One Night, The Making of Dead Man Walking: Classroom Content
Students examine how art and music help to define and unify a social movement and also how they can function as symbols of protest. They watch KQED program And Then One Night: The Making of Dead Man Walking and discuss what happens when...
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40th Anniversary of Woodstock
Lessons can help students understand the significance of Woodstock, the 1960's, and the history of the times.
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Using the Patterns and Symbols of Mali Mud Cloth to Convey Identity
Young scholars participate in relating the role of the arts in defining identity. They examine the community in West African society and how members of that community define their role. They view how artifacts, music and performance can...
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The Art of Social Protest
Students investigate how art and music define and unify a social movement. They decide how art and music can act as symbols of protest. They view both contemporary and historical examples of art as a tool for protest and design an art...
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Masks and Aesop's Fables
Students study and perform Aesop's fables. In this Aesop's fables lesson, students read and/or listen to a number of the famous fables. They make masks based on the characters and perform a fable using the masks. They write about the...
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American Indians
Students research early Indian adaptations in this lesson. They research the different American Indian tribes. They also research and compare the tribes' rituals, daily lives, and their impact on the Europeans who came later to the...
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The Warrior Role in Greek Society
Students are introduced to the various gods and goddesses in ancient Greek mythology. In groups, they use print and electronic resources to research the ways Greek culture has influenced the modern world. To end the activity, they...
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Modern Counterculture Movements
Students prepare a presentation examining anti-establishment activity by groups in society today. They prepare a presentation, on poster board or presentation software, about one contemporary protest group.
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Historic Heroes
Students recognize traits of heroes as depicted in music, art and literature. In this cross curricular lesson, students evaluate and analyze various works fo art from different cultures that depict heroes.
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Feminism Does Not Have to be an F-Word
Students analyze social activism messages in music. In this feminism lesson, students explore selected music that expresses sentiments voiced in the women liberation movement in the United States. Students compare the lyrics of the songs...
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Cyberspace
Students examine how the Internet has made music and art more available to the public. In this cyberspace lesson plan students create their own works of art.