Curated OER
Get Your Mojo Workin': Part 1 Writing Your Very Own Blues Tune!
Upper graders listen to the blues. They discuss blues scale, read a description of the blues, and work together to write an original piece. A lesson like this ties into American history and African-American musical contributions very...
Syracuse University
Harlem Renaissance
The music and literature of the Harlem Renaissance defined American culture, including its poetry. Using a poem from the period, individuals explore its musical qualities and how it is reflective of the period. Then, they use what they...
Curated OER
Black Music: Its Message and Meaning
Students develop an appreciation for modern black music from a historical, political and lyrical perspective. They examine the political and the historical surge of the civil rights movement of the 1960's and how this surge directly or...
Curated OER
Lesson Plans for 2nd grade Japan Unit
Second graders explore the music and dance of Japan in this five lessons unit. Aspects of Janpanese and American culture are compared. The food, holidays, clothing, and the school day of the two countries are discussed.
Teaching Tolerance
Musical Movement Showcase
Young performing artists create a song or choreograph a dance to illustrate a theme in a text they are reading. Step-by-step directions are included.
Library of Congress
The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance brought forth many American art forms including jazz, and the writings of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Using a carefully curated set of documents from the Library of Congress, pupils see the cultural...
Curated OER
A Matter of Survival
Fourth graders dance with inspiration from wild animals. In this creative movement instructional activity, 4th graders watch a video clip and then move like an animal might move in their natural surroundings.
Curated OER
Tango Stories
Students listen to tango music and research the country it came from. In this music lesson plan, students find that tango music comes from Argentina. They listen and dance to the music and then write stories.
Anti-Defamation League
10 Ideas for Teaching Black History Month
Celebrate Black History Month with the help of 10 ideas that delve deep into the history, major events, contributions, famous African Americans, and sheds light on how scholars today can take a proactive stance on current civil rights...
Curated OER
We Are The Freedom Riders
Students consider the role of the Freedom Riders. In this American Civil Rights instructional activity, students watch videos, listen to lectures, and conduct research regarding the participants in the Freedom Ride protest. Several...
Curated OER
Feminism Does Not Have to be an F-Word
Learners 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. Learners compare the lyrics of the songs...
Curated OER
Dancin' to the Times
Fifth graders work in groups in order to research a specific music era or dance style to share with the class. They have studied different music styles that are included in the lesson and now they have the choice to research one. There...
Mississippi Whole School Initiative
Dream Big...With Your Eyes Wide Open
For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...
Curated OER
What Really Happened?
Sixth graders recreate scenes from the theories about the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. In this history and theatre lesson, 6th graders review the story of Earhart using a flip chart. Students work on one act plays to depict one of...
Curated OER
The 1980s Series - Breakdancing
Learners examine how breakdancing influenced Keith Haring. They translate a flat image into movement. They breakdance along to music of the 1980's to experience the energy and innovation of that decade. They create flipbooks of their own...
Curated OER
Dali & Desnos: Surrealism in Poetry and Art
Students research the surrealism movement and its primary artists. Language is also analyzed, and students will create their own original poem utilizing surrealistic techniques.
Curated OER
Kidding Around In The 1980s
Students examine pop culture of the 1980s. In this historical time period lesson plan, students view a Smurfs cartoon from the 1980s and discuss its similarities and differences to cartoons today. Students work in groups to...
Curated OER
Graffiti Project
Learners inspect performing arts by participating in a class presentation. In this art collage instructional activity, students examine the graffiti art created on New York subways and discuss the life of Keith Haring. Learners create...
Curated OER
Hoe Down: An Integrated Unit on Social, Folk & Square Dancing
Fifth graders experience the movements required to perform social, folk and square dancing. They describe each dance movement. Students discuss the elements found in folk art, folk music, and fold dance.
Curated OER
Enhancing Peer Relationships
Students work in pairs while addressing the social dilemma of who gets to be the leader and who follows, a common strain in relationships. They, in pairs, dance to a variety of music, each taking turns being the "leader" of the dance.
Curated OER
Moving Objects
Students discover the history of the United States by examining the Great Migration. In this U.S. History instructional activity, students research the immigration movement on the Internet and complete a worksheet about the large...
Curated OER
Focused Learning Lesson: American History
Eleventh graders examine the 1920s which was known as the "Roaring Twenties". They identify the Harlem Renaissance, Prohibition, and the Women's Suffrage movement.
Curated OER
Barn Dance
Students will read historical realistic fiction, examine and recount the cultural similarities and diffferences between life and times of those characters in the story and their own life. Listen to music and learn a dance to accompany...
Curated OER
Stories of Life in Canada
Students examine Canadian history through William Kurelek's artwork. In this art analysis lesson, students discuss the ideas expressed in the picture book A Prairie Boy's Winter and A Prairie Boy's Summer. Students view the film Kurelek,...