Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz in America Lesson Plan 6

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students survey bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop. They explore how bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop reflected American culture and society in the 1940s and 1950s.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz in America Lesson Plan 7

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students survey free jazz and fusion. They explore how free jazz and fusion reflected American culture and society in the 1960s and 1970s.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz in America Lesson Plan 7

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The student will explore free jazz, fusion, and contemporary jazz. They will listen to avant garde, fusion, and pop recordings. In addition, they participate in a class discussion regarding jazz's contribution to and reflection of...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Braiding Rhythms: The Role of Bell Patterns in West African and Afro-Caribbean Music

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Africans transported to the Caribbean as part of the transatlantic slave trade brought with them a rich tradition of music and dance. Four lessons teach young musicians the rumba clave rhythm, cascara rhythm, and the 6/8 bell patterns...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

The Birth of an Icon: Learning and Performing the Origins of the Drum Set and Early Jazz Drumming in New Orleans, Louisiana

For Teachers 5th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Global Music Lesson Plans: Britten and Japan – Japan and the UK

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Pupils explore the links between Japanese and British culture. In this Japanese music lesson plan, students listen to their instructor present a lecture regarding Gagaku music and then perform "Te Lucis Ante Terminum" with Japanese...
Lesson Plan
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education

Instruments from Various Cultures

For Teachers 2nd
After a review of orchestral instruments and instrument families, learners make their own. They listen to the song "Simple Gifts" and identify the instruments heard in the piece. Then they draw an instrument of their own invention,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Come Tool Along With Me

For Teachers K - 12th
Students create metallic Bas-relief scultures using basic art supplies and the technique of "tooling" in this Art lesson with croos-curricular connections in Social Studies and Math. A scoring rubric is included for assessment and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Grand Canyon Suite

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Take a trip to the Grand Canyon! Lesson one explores how Ferde Grofe painted a musical landscape of America when he wrote the Grand Canyon Suite. Learners then examine art that shows the Grand Canyon in lesson two. Finally, lesson three...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating Your Own Rock Art

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders look at early art. In this visual arts lesson plan, 8th graders investigate the attributes of rock art, examine rock art, and create their own examples of rock art. Analysis and instructional worksheets are included.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native American Clay Pots

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore world culture by conducting an art project in class. In this Native American culture lesson, students identify the types of materials American Indians utilized in their artistic endeavors, specifically clay. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Three Arts in Retrograde

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students make connections between music, the other arts, and other curricular areas. They compare characteristics of two or more arts within a particular historical period or style and cite examples from various cultures.
Lesson Plan
Institute for Humane Education

In Your Face: Reclaiming Billboards

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Ads here, ads there, ads everywhere—but what do they communicate? Pupils discuss this topic and develop a list of personal values. They then work as creative directors at an advertising firm to create billboards that reflect community...
Lesson Plan
J. Paul Getty Trust

Narrating a Family Tradition

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
After examining a piece of art, scholars discuss what they see, paying close attention to details and space. A read-aloud introduces the topic of family traditions. Pupils interview their family members about a tradition in preparation...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

6th Grade Art

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders create "macquette" sculptures, which would be models for larger playground pieces.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

One Nation - Many Voices

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Learners examine art from various cultural backgrounds across Canada. They examine and analyze artworks illustrating various cultural groups. They explore the diverse nature of their community. They construct a visual map of their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Japan Teacher Implementation Plan/ Japanese Culture

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students in a variety of activities in order to appreciate the culture of Japan. The primary assessments are an art project and a written report. This lesson is extremely helpful because it includes the rubric for both projects.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Aesthetics and Affect in Music from Around the World

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore traditional music of different societies around the world by listening to number of different musical recordings, discuss how music makes them feel, examine how music is central to cultural traditions, and compose short...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Arriba Amigos!

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Young scholars explore how culture effects our world. In this culture instructional activity, students work in groups to do a web quest. Young scholars gather and analyze information to decide if Mayan ruins should be destroyed to build...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dancing with Dionysus

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders research Ancient Greek culture by acting in a play for the festival of Dionysus. In this Greek culture activity, 6th graders study an ancient Greek map and the Sarcophagus Dionysus from the Walters Art Museum website....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Discovering Russian Folk Dance

For Teachers 1st
First graders explore the art of Russian folk dancing. In this cultural traditions lesson, 1st graders research the Troika and incorporate attributes of the Russion folk dance into their own renditions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sundiata, Mali’s Lion King

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students investigate the history of Mali. In this African cultures lesson plan, students research the impact of Sundiata Keita as king of Mali, recognize the significance of historical Malian festivals, and create character masks to be...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Christmas Around the World

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Students demonstrate an understanding of how different cultures celebrate Christmas by participating in artistic, musical, culinary and role play activities.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Medieval and Renaissance Art: Botanical Symbolism

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students study the significance of flowers in art from two periods. In this Medieval and Renaissance art lesson, students research the presence and meaning of botanical illustrations in twelfth, thirtieth, and fourteenth century...