Curated OER
Bullying Skit with Music
A simple lesson focusing on bullying, and how some learners don't even realize that they are bullying someone. A cleverly-written song is embedded. After singing it a few times, the class discusses each of the verses as they pertain to...
Curated OER
VH1 Driven: Kanye West, Lesson 2
Young scholars compose an original rap.  They discuss the career and music of Kanye West, discuss their pre-writing worksheet, and write an original rap using a Final Draft Worksheet.
Curated OER
VH1 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons Lesson 1
Students study the affect of a theme song can have on a show or performer. They compare and contrast an original television theme song with classical music.
Curated OER
Writing Lyrics
Students examine the themes and structure of a bluegrass song and identify the common themes in bluegrass music. They practice songwriting by rewriting the lyrics of "Oh! Susanna" as a bluegrass tune.
Curated OER
Rock Music
Learners create percussion instruments using limestone and other rocks. They use instruments to perform a song.
Curated OER
Follow The Leader - Soca Style
Here's a great warm-up activity to get your dancers up and moving. There are some very basic moves like hopping, sliding, marching, and bouncing in place. Add some hand and arm movements. Some days you could have slower music and some...
Curated OER
Rhythm and Rhyme
Youngsters listen to poetry and music to understand that words are made of sounds.  In this rhythm and rhyme activity, students create songbooks of healthy eating songs. They will also act out pantomimes and dance to the music....
Curated OER
Fitness Dance
Get those youngsters moving! The activities put together to music are every day warm-up exercises. Jogging in place, jumping jacks, arm circles, and toe touches are a few of the movements presented to get children moving. Teach them the...
Curated OER
Repetitive Song Form
Eighth graders discover different concepts for identifying musical structure and song form.  In this Music History lesson, 8th graders compare and contrast a Red Hot Chili Peppers song to an Andrea Bocelli's song. 
Curated OER
Garage Band
Fifth graders identify a pop rock music form that includes a verse, a chorus, and a bridge in ABABCBB form.  They demonstrate basic skills using the "Garage Band" application.  Students crate a piece of music using the garage band...
Curated OER
"Let's Write a Song"
Fourth graders brainstorm ideas that answer the question, "What is a song?" They determine the parts of a song, read lyrics, and listen to a song while identifying the chorus. They repeat the procedure with a new song before working in...
Curated OER
Palestrina's Alma Redemptoris Mater
Students investigates the concept of singing in a chorus and practice reaching certain notes. They sing correct pitches in four parts on a neutral syllable while also using correct phrasing for the lyrics to carry the tune. The students...
Curated OER
Songs that Bring Us Together - Lesson 5
Students compose song as a classroom effort. They write a one-paragraph essay about "message" songs in 100 years and include three ideas for topics along with the style of music (such as folk, rock, blues, rap, etc.) that would match.
Curated OER
VH1 Driven: Kanye West
Students watch a video excerpt about the life of Kanye West.  They draw connections between his life and their own and compose a rap song in the style of West, using his song, "Through the Wire" as an example.
Curated OER
Vitamin A
Learners identify and pat the beat. They move to and play quarter notes, half notes, and eighth notes to create a "factory" movement and instrument improvisation. Students get into groups of three. Each person in the group moves to one...
Curated OER
A Song for Today - Lesson 3
Students analyze musical and topical elements in popular songs and compose song as a classroom effort. They write a short paragraph evaluating the effectiveness of the song in conveying the message of the lyrics.
Curated OER
A-Tisket, A-Tasket
Students sing sections of Ella Fitzgerald's famous song "A Tisket, A Tasket," arranged by David Elliot, in this high school music lesson for women's chorus. Emphasis is placed on proper singing techniques and the use of correct "scat"...
Curated OER
Hello Girls
Ninth grade girls get together to sing the song Hello Girls. They warm up with common voice exercises then work to maintain melody, harmony, pitch and tone. 
Curated OER
Tony Bennett VH1 Storytellers for VH1 Save the Music
Students explore what messages lyrics give to their listeners. They use music from Tony Bennett and the Backstreet Boys.
Curated OER
Guitar - 12 Bar Blues
Students explore the chord chart for 12-bar blues in C and then play the scales on the guitar.  They play their scales at a  moderate tempo and practice related arpeggios.  After listening to "Band in the Box" music tracks, students...
Curated OER
Rhythm In Motion
Sixth graders work independently and with a partner to demonstrate proficiency of steady beat, meter and basic note values while creating written rhythmic patterns for class performance. State and National Standards are addressed.
San Francisco Symphony
The American Five - Pentatonic scales in early American melodies
Through vocal warm-ups and exercises, budding musicians will attempt to grasp the five pentatonic scales, commonly used in early American songs. They'll sing and work to identify the pitch, tone, melody, and scales being expressed in the...
Prestwick House
The Poetry of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan's selection as the 2016 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first songwriter ever to receive the honor, has focused the attention of a new generation on the work of the legendary artist. Class members...
Curated OER
Sanctus--Frank Martin
Twelfth graders complete a music listening log and then work in small groups to complete essays that answer a given set of questions about the music.