Smithsonian Institution
Songs, Sounds and Stories from the Georgia Sea Islands
American music is the result of the influence of many cultures, including the traditions brought by the African slaves. Young scholars study the polyrhythms, the call-and-response format, and the vocal improvisations of the Gullah...
Curated OER
Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross, Moanin,' Payin' Your Dues
Middle schoolers examine the musical styles of call and response and the blues while delving into the difficult lives of many jazz musicians. Travelling in the South was challenging for black musicians during this time and the...
Curated OER
Rockin' Chair, Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden
Young scholars examine the life and music of Louis Armstrong, the first great jazz musician. The musical techniques of call and response is listened to and then copied in musical conversations in this lesson.
Curated OER
Jazz: Expression through Improvisation
Students watch a video on improvisation. They improvise original melodies over given chord progressions. They develop criteria to evaluate the merits of improvisational performances and apply the criteria in their personal listening and...
Curated OER
Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music In America - Gospel Beginnings
Students identify musical characteristics of gospel and sing a gospel selection. They practice the call and response technique. After going through individual parts, they sing the entire song with piano accompaniment.
Curated OER
Epic Improvisation
Really? Rapping The Odyssey? Really. A discussion of the oral tradition of story telling and its links to Epic poetry sets the stage for a series of activities that encourage improvisation to integrate music into other classrooms....
Curated OER
Inter-City Jazz Songbook Project
Students choose a city with famous musical highlights and create a tourist brochure.
Curated OER
What Is Cool?
Students compare versions of the song, "So What," recorded by Miles Davis and Marcus Miller. They explore the Ken Burns Website to discover more about Davis and journal their thoughts about him and his music.
Curated OER
Blues Improvisation
Students practice playing and improvising while playing the 12 bar blues. They practice compositional skills, evaluate and perform musical pieces focused on the blues.
Smithsonian Institution
African American Music: Let’s Sing and Play Clapping Games
Two lessons focus on making a beat. Using popular African American music of its time, scholars listen and analyze the rhythm then recreate it with hands drums, and cups.
Curated OER
Everybody's Boppin', Lambert, Hendricks and Ross
Students probe the musical style of scat singing with imitation instruments. While listening to the musical pieces, they identify when one singer finishes and another begins. The singing groups' styles are contrasted in this lesson.
Curated OER
African American Music
Students investigate a variety of sites to gather relevant information for a
presentation about African American musical forms in this general Music lesson for middle school and high school. Resource links are provided to aid instruction.
Curated OER
New York State Testing Program English Language Arts Test Book 1--Grade 8 (2008)
In this New York State Testing Program English Language Arts Test worksheet, students listen to an article twice while taking notes. Students then answer reading comprehension questions and write an essay using details and examples from...