What motivated Europeans to explore the New World, and what effects did their exploration have on Native American populations? The second installment of a 16-part American Passages series prompts pupils to watch a video and read several...

The 41 slides in a professional development seminar model how to use close reading techniques to examine the many layers of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. In addition to passages from the novel, slides provide biographical...

What were the driving forces behind American expansion in the nineteenth century, and what were its effects? Scholars watch a video, read biographies, engage in discussion, write journals and poetry, draw, and create a multimedia...

What was music like during the Stone Age? Learners listen to a CD entitled, Art of Primitive Sound as they consider the culture of people in the Stone Age. They use objects found in nature to create instruments, and then...

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...

The backbone of Latin American music is the beat! Young musicians work on blending Afro-Latin rhythms and beat patterns before incorporating the major pentatonic, minor pentatonic, and blues scales in their own compositions.

My, how Japan has changed! From Hogaku to karaoke, this slide show provides an overview of the culture, instruments, and periods of transition through Japanese music. Here you will find 21 text-rich slides which are great for note taking.

To better understand who George Washington was and why we celebrated the bicentennial, pupils read a story and complete a worksheet. They sing and talk about the song, "Yankee Doodle Dandy" as they march around the room.

Budding artists study the history and significance behind ancient mosaics and mosaic murals. They study multiple examples of ancient mosaics, sketch a design, and use clay tiles to create thoughtful mosaics of their own. 

Students discuss various ways families and communities pass down oral and visual art forms to younger generations. This multi-subject introductory lesson prepares students to create a project about their own families.

Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their eyes Were Watching God has been highly praised and severely criticized for its depiction of African American folk culture. A set of primary source materials, including photographs, articles, essays, and...

Based in sound Educational Theory, this lesson uses art to convey the story of Ponce de Leon. Mild to moderately disabled students hear the story of the Fountain of Youth, examine a paining of Ponce de Leon, and act out a scene as Ponce...

Journey through highlights of the late 19th and early 20th century with your history class. Topics covered are the highlights of Theodore Roosevelt's presidency, the Spanish American War, the building of the Panama Canal, and World War...

The evolution of modern dance, and the dance history of many of the key figures in the development of this uniquely American form, are the focus of a 13-page packet that includes photos of revolutionaries.

Ninth graders examine mariachi music and its different musical forms.  In this music history lesson plan, 9th graders compare and contrast mariachi music from its beginnings to the present.  Students research different aspects...

Watching Great Performances’ Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Chicago launches an investigation into and discussion of how the electric guitar and guitarists have changed the sound of the blues over time. An engaging way to...

Using Walt Whitman's Song of Myself and Hart Crane's The Bridge as models, class groups first craft their own epic poems for 1900 and, using primary sources, create a multi-media presentation that captures the sights and...

Take a quick tour through the last 350 years of music composition with an interactive timeline tool. As learners scroll through the years, they see which composers were born and working during the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern...

How much do you know about Latin American music? A crossword puzzle challenges learners to answer 24 questions about the history, genres, performers, and instruments of Latin American music.

A reading of Tanya Lee Stones' biography of Ella Fitzgerald lets middle schoolers get up close and personal with the First Lady of Jazz. Stone recounts details of Fitzgerald's life from her early days through her experiences as a teenage...

Learners analyze the movement of the blues from rural Mississippi to urban Chicago and how place and the environment affected the development of the blues. They define the blues, where it originated and how and why it moved to Chicago....

How are films made? As part of their study of film, middle schoolers investigate the pre-production, production, and post-production process and consider the role of the director, the screenwriter, production designer, cinematographer,...

Introduce young thespians to all aspects of the theater. A syllabus for a one-semester drama course provides lessons that take learners from the history of drama to the many facets of play production.