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Singing The Blues with Garage Band
Students demonstrate writing lyrics for a twelve-bar blues pattern by writing two verses of a blues song and then recording themselves singing over a stock blues pattern using Apple's Garage Band. Requires a networked keyboard lab.
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Strike Up the Band
Students create song lyrics celebrating the history of labor unions serving the entertainment industry, then create posters illustrating the importance of each union to the industry they represent.
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Red, White, and Blue Notes
Students explore the history of major American music genres. Then, through mock radio shows, students examine the distinguishing features of each genre and how each has changed throughout the years.
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Lomax the Songhunter
Students write in their journals about the role of music in their lives. They discuss the media's use of music and watch a video clip about someone who prohibited the use of music. They create an illustration to show the folklife in...
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The Tabloid Ballad
High schoolers explore the poetic ballad. They examine the rhythm of a typical ballad and listen to recitations of sample ballads. They choose an article from a supermarket tabloid and write a comical ballad using rhythms and...
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"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
Second graders sing the son "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." They are asked:"How many of you have looked at the stars in the sky on a clear night? Have you ever wished on a star? What did you wish?" Students are explained the concept...
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THE PEN VS. THE SWORD: LYRICAL RESPONSES TO A NATION AT WAR
Students brainstorm lists of songs that were written in response to American wars; consider the patterns in the lists they create.
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AT THE CORRAL
Students study dotted eighth/sixteenth note rhythm pattern using percussion instruments and alternating from "corral to corral" in groups of 4-6. They play the pattern while listening to selected American western theme songs.
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Exploring the Self
Students examine a variety of songs, poems, and books exploring and analyzing the theme of self reliance and being true to one's self. They write a poem, essay, or letter that captures their true spirit and individuality and then they...
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Why Does It Matter? Teaching Tolerance in an Unforgiving Society
Students listen to the song "Scarecrow" by Melissa Etheridge and draw what they think the song is about. They discover the song is about a man who was attacked. They again express their feelings about the song through drawing. Finally...
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No Form of Tobacco is Safe
Students create an advertisement to convince children to stay away from tobacco products. In this smoking prevention lesson, students discuss the health effects of tobacco use and evaluate current tobacco ads. Students work in small...
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Trash or Treasure?
Students explore their experiences and reflect on how one person can make a difference in our world. In this service learning lesson plan, students analyze themes in music related to encouragement. Students perform a service learning...
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Woody Guthrie: Ain't Got No Home
Learners examine the music of Woody Guthrie and how the political and economic climate influenced his work. They read and discuss online articles, define key vocabulary words, take a Political Orientation Survey, and write a position...
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And We Were All in One Place: Youth Culture and the Rock Festival
Students explore historical youth culture events. In this youth culture lesson, students discover details regarding the Altamont, Woodstock, and Monterey concerts. Students conduct research that regarding the rock festivals and...
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The Impact of the IWW on the Nation or Who were the Wobblies?
Learners evaluate the role labor groups had on the U.S. Government in the early 1900's. In this teaching American history lesson, students complete several activities, including response writing and listening to music, that...
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Understanding Community Environment
In this understanding community environment instructional activity, students, after exploring 5 parts of a study unit (link provided), choose a project (make a video, book, game, plan a garden or nature map, collect data, write a rap or...
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I Spy Poetry
Students identify and interpret the rhythm and form of the I Spy poem.
They then integrate art, music, literature, technology, and writing with poetry. Students also write their own poem based on the picture they printed from the I Spy...
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Storytellers: Bruce Springsteen
Students use the music of Bruce Springsteen to learn literature techniques.
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Major Intervals
Students listen to a recording of "Happy Birthday" and practice playing the first two notes of the song on the keyboard discovering that the two notes make up a major 2nd interval. They listen to "Mary Had a Little Lamb" to explain the...
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Early Industrialization
Eighth graders analyze primary source documents emphasizing young people in factory labor (mill workers during 1840-1860). They study hours of labor, ages of laborers, reasons for working, and working conditions. They write a poem or song.
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The Heart of Human Experience: Cultura Azteca
First graders explore Aztec culture to gain understanding of relationship between music, recreation, and culture. Seven lessons on one page.
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GET UP, STAND UP: Fighting for Rights Around the World
Students explore basic human rights as they explore music by black artists. In this human rights lesson, students examine music as a cultural reflection of the justice issues. Students analyze Jamaican roots reggae of the 70s, American...
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#3 Differential Calculus
Students create models of the Mean Value Theorem. In this Mean Value lesson, students use their knowledge of derivatives and exponential functions to explore the Mean Value Theorem. They illustrate the meaning of the throrem,...