Though often used in shows of patriotism, Bruce Springsteen's 1985 song "Born in the U.S.A." is critical of America's role in the Vietnam war and its treatment of American veterans. High schoolers analyze the song's lyrics in an activity...

Lines from Shakespeare and from hip-hop artists provide learners with an opportunity to examine the literary devices these artists use to express their ideas about love. Groups use the provided lines to craft found poems, and then the...

Third graders create a rap using basic AB form composition. Evaluation of performances are based on rubric formed during the first lesson by all students. This three to four day lesson culminates in student performances and evaluation.

Students demonstrate knowledge of musical instruments and the families of the orchestra. They acknowledge different voice types found in opera. Students interpret emotional expressions through listening. They compose sounds to express...

Here is a complete workbook which leads children as they work through the art of making a musical instrument. The instrument made must be a percussion instrument. The workbook is incredibly thorough and does a good job of leading pupils...

Students use iMovie to express the meaning and context of a protest song from the '60s or '70s. They explore different views of the protest movement and gain an understanding of the emotional and political overtones of the times.

Shell Silverstein’s “Sick” provides an opportunity for kids to demonstrate their understanding of syllables and phonemes. The class creates a list of descriptive words used in the poem that have more than one syllable, and brainstorm how...

Using graphics, and an easy-to-understand format, this resource outlines the different kinds of instruments and their characteristics. This presentation could be used as an introduction to instruments for young scholars getting ready to...

Research, art history, and web page creation! Sounds too good to be true. With tons of links and resources, the lesson provides you with everything needed to engage the class in an amazing art and research activity. They create...

Engage young mathematicians in learning about fractions with this cross-curricular math and music activity. After listening to and repeating different beat patterns, children realize that musical notes are just another way of...

Want to make some music but you don't have the instruments? Get a start on your percussion section with a creative bongo drum project! Young musicians use a coffee can, packing tape, and colorful paper to create the perfect percussive...

Students examine how pop art compliments music. In this arts lesson, students explore the elements of pop art and replicate those elements in their own piece of art.

Students identify and demonstrate movement elements in relation to musical notation. They clap to rhythms, beat on drums, match musical notes to speech patterns and use the rhythms of the their names to create a dance.

You could spend a full day discussing The Phantom of the Opera and not scratch the surface, but a set of lessons about the literary elements and themes of the musical production is a great start. Young thespians build upon the...

High schoolers analyze lyrics of their favorite songs as examples of alliteration, metaphor, Onomatopoeia, personification, rhyme, and simile to determine the purpose of these devices in poetry. They use their analysis to create a...

Review the 4/4 and 2/4 time signatures in music with a helpful music theory lesson plan. Young musicians experiment with electronic sounds and create their own musical performance using instruments made from materials found in the...

Fourth graders write a poem. For this jazz music lesson, 4th graders learn about the basics of jazz dance and practice basic movements. Students learn common terminology and listen to several recordings of jazz music. Students create a...

Assess your class's understanding of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility with a fun and creative final project. Using what they have learned about the novel's characters, they create presentations featuring music and images that...

Singing is a great way to build memory, music, and verbal communication skills. Little ones sing the song, "Old Mac Donald had a Farm." They make the sounds of each animal on the farm paying attention to signaling cues, singing high, and...

Spruce up a class reading of the children's book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback with this fun series of activities. Starting with a list of reading comprehension questions and key vocabulary to address during a teacher...

The perception of rhythms by reading and the ability to auditorily discriminate these rhythm patterns by listening to them performed by the teacher is practiced here. your students will work to create an eight-beat long rhythm pattern.

Explore concepts of audience, purpose and symbols in this lesson from Media Smarts that asks students to consider all the functions of music. Through a series of discussions and activities, your class will brainstorm possible functions...

Gustav Holst's The Planets provide young musicians an opportunity to examine how composers can create a suite: a collection of smaller pieces grouped to explore a single topic. After listening to "Jupiter," they examine "Mars" in...

There are a lot of great ideas to be found here. To better understand the connection between art and history, learners research several music and art pieces, then relate them to major social events. They study the lives and works...