Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changes of Musical Elements in Popular Music Through the Decades

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners probe samples of European classical, American jazz, and rock and roll to analyze the similarities and differences. The styles and form of these three types of music are examined for tempo, timbre, and rhythm.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Write a Rap Song

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students compose lyrics for a rap song. In this music instructional activity, students choose a topic, such as "Our School," and use rhyming words to compose a rap song. Students perform the song for their classmates.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Describing Drum Beats in Native American Music

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students analyze the drum patterns and changing styles of the music and dance for the Native American song and dance "Owl Dance." They listen to a recording of "Owl Dance," discuss the cultural context of the song, and perform the song.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native American Music: Call-and-Response

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students are introduced to call-and-response form of Native American song and dance. They identify and describe a call-and-response form as used in "0 Hal'Lwe." Male students will perform "0 Hal'Lwe" in call-and-response style with drum...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Grand Canyon Suite

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Take a trip to the Grand Canyon! Lesson one explores how Ferde Grofe painted a musical landscape of America when he wrote the Grand Canyon Suite. Learners then examine art that shows the Grand Canyon in lesson two. Finally, lesson three...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Historical Comparison of Anti-War Music

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explain that, how in this world of increasing awareness and interdependence, music can act as a magnet to draw people together. They research and compare anti-war songs from many different generations.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hispanic Arts: Visual Arts, Dance and Music

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Learners observe global cultures by listening to music and watching videos. In this Latin American dance lesson plan, students define merengue, salsa and other dances from the Hispanic culture while listening to Latin rhythm music....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music of the Great Depression

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders take a closer look at the music of the Great Depression. For this 1930's America lesson, 11th graders read and analyze the provided lyrics of 6 songs from the era. Students then compose their own lyrics for songs that...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating Music

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students explore the music soldiers listen to before and after battle. They attempt to develop an understanding of the role music plays in this conflict. They create their own lyrics to attempt to construct a pro-war and anti-war song.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sharing Your Music - Lesson 5

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students observe that music can communicate positive social messages. They create a theme concert with a positive social message after watching a video of famous artists playing on Sesame Street.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music To My Ears: The District of Columbia Quarter

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Learners practice identifying different genres of music by creating posters.  In this music appreciation lesson, students research Duke Ellington and complete worksheets based on his style of music, Jazz.  Learners collaborate...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Twelve-Bar Blues

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine blues music. In this music genres lesson plan, students discover details about the history of the musical genre and compositional techniques. Students then compose melodies of their own with 12-bar blues chord progression.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Chicago - Chicago Blues

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Syracuse University

Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
PBS

The Sixties: Hitsville USA

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
James Jamerson. You probably heard him but may not have heard of him. But fans of Motown Records will certainly recognize his contributions to the sound that desegregated popular music during the 1960s. Challenge young history...
Lesson Plan
Berklee College of Music

Create Your Own Afro-Latin Groove

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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.
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

History of Ponce de Leon in Florida

For Teachers 6th - 8th
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...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Black Diamond

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
Score a home run with this packet of information on the very first player of the Negro League to be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame — cultural groundbreaker and sports legend Satchel Paige. These worksheets include a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Draw Me the Music

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners explore and investigate the foundation and history of jazz music. They listen to various pieces of music while creating drawings, develop a timeline of jazz history, and read and discuss biographies of famous jazz musicians.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

West Virginia State Museum Lesson Plan: West Virginia Music

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students compare and contrast music about West Virginia. In this West Virginia history lesson, students analyze popular music so that they may gain an understanding of the relationships between songs and history. Students then create...
Lesson Plan
National First Ladies' Library

Ragtime: The First "American" Music?

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Learners investigate the concept of ragtime music and the times associated with it in American history. They conduct research using a variety of resources and listen to a sample before writing down some of the results of the information...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Influence of Musical Folk Traditions in the Poetry of Langston Hughes and Nicolás Guillén

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students listen and explore how African-American culture relates to learning Spanish as a foreign language. Poetry, music, and history are utilized while learning about Langston Hughes and Nicolas Guillen.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

More Folk Songs

For Teachers 1st
First graders explain that texts of folk music are handed down by tradition. They sing two folk songs.

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