Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Improvising in the Birthplace of Jazz

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students recognize significant developments in New Orleans jazz music. They improvise blues licks using notes from a minor pentatonic scale.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz and Math: Improvisation Permutations

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners observe that there are myriad combinations of rhythms to choose from when improvising jazz and blues music, and recognize that while the variations seem infinite, they are in fact finite. They notate a 12 bar blues progression...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz in America

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students learn the basic elements of music and gain an understanding of the elements found in Jazz.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz In America - Lesson Plan 8

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore the current jazz scene and how it reflects American culture. They listen to jazz recordings of current artists and speculate on which direction jazz is likely heading.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz in America

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students explore different instruments and what role they play in Jazz. They also each person's role in a democratic society.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz in America

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students explore the Swing Era and its implications. They answer questions and listen to music from the era.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz in America

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders explore Jazz in America. They examine greats in Jazz, such as Duke Ellington. They are also to discuss the cultural implications of the music itself.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz in America

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students explore the Jazz of today and its future. They answer questions and listen to music.
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Curated OER

Great Gatsby's Jazz

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
As Nick wanders the grounds of Gatsby's mansion, he observes the behaviors of the rowdy guests and listens to the music pouring over the lawn. Bring the music of the jazz age into the classroom with Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues,"...
Lesson Plan5:53
TED-Ed

A-rhythm-etic. The Math Behind the Beats

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Your learners will dance in their seats as this talented drummer connects math to music in a short video clip. Clayton Cameron shows how math puts the "cool" in various genres of music, including jazz, hip-hop, pop,...
Lesson Plan
John F. Kennedy Center

Jazz music, Dance and Poetry

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Students view video and become familiar with the type of movement in jazz dance.  In this jazz dance lesson, students write a cinquain about jazz dance.  Students recognize the elements of jazz dance and the type of music...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Duke Ellington and the Rise of Jazz in New York

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students consider how Duke Ellington impacted the rise of jazz music. In this jazz music lesson, students listen to a lecture regarding the life and work of Ellington. Students also watch a video regarding Ellington and discuss music of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz and Math: Rhythmic Innovations

For Teachers 6th - 11th
Students watch a segment of the PBS Ken Burns JAZZ documentary about Buddy Bolden creating the "Big Four." They compare and contrast the rhythms of marches and jazz based on the examples in the film, and explore notation, subdivision of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Community and Culture

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders explore the rise of jazz music. In this Duke Ellington lesson, 4th graders watch video segments regarding Ellington's life and showcasing a performance of Ellington and his band. Students discuss the rhythm...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Jazz In Oklahoma

For Teachers 9th - 12th
When considering the possible hot spots of jazz in the United States, Oklahoma isn't the state that first comes to mind. However, it is the birthplace of several jazz musicians that influenced the evolution of the genre and Oklahoma City...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African Americans Seen Through the Eyes of the Newsreel Cameraman

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders learn about this history of jazz music. In this musical influences lesson, 5th graders read God Bless the Childand listen to a recording of it. Students create a KWL chart on jazz and early 1900s music and dance. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rhythm & Improv: Jazz & Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers analyze the elements of poetry and jazz. In this critical thinking skills lesson, students take a closer look at the rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, form, free verse, lyricism, and imagery that exist is jazz as well as...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Black and Blue: Jazz in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze the impact of jazz on the novel, "Invisible Man," by Ralph Ellison. They read and discuss excerpts of the novel, write an essay on the influence of jazz on Ralph Ellison as a writer, and view video excerpts on jazz...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

1920s Variety Show

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
To better understand the cultural achievements of the Harlem Renaissance and become familiar with its major figures, class members examine a painting by Aaron Douglas and a poem by Langston Hughes and compare how the artists develop...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Improvise a Short Story through Jazz

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students evaluate jazz music and a jazz music performance. They collaborate and create an improvised group short story. They improvise a musical piece on found objects.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Smithsonian Jazz Class: Ella Fitzgerald

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Young scholars play "Ella's Match Game" to learn an overview of Fitzgerald's life and career. In this Ella Fitzgerald lesson plan, students listen to excerpts of Fitzgerald's music and respond by creating writing prompts.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fats Waller, Handful of Keys

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Playing piano is great fun and playing jazz is even better. Kids watch a video of Fats Waller playing the song, "Handful of Keys," they then use either a piano key print out or Orff instruments to practice his signature stride piano...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Musical Traditions of Southern Louisiana

For Teachers 9th - 12th
This units gives young scholars opportunities to * Research the history and patterns of French settlement in Louisiana * Discover three types of music (New Orleans jazz, Cajun, Zydeco) which are representative of the Francophone presence...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Playin' the Blues

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students explore history and sounds of blues music, construct instruments from scrap materials, and compose music to accompany lyrics of songs for kids.

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