Much of Latin American music owes its origins to the slave trade. Peoples from the Yoruban and Dahomean cultures brought with them the distinctive rhythms, time signatures, and eighth note patterns that now characterize Caribbean music....

Introduce young explorers to the music and history of Jamaican culture through game songs and dances. As a bonus, class members get to play simple songs transcribed for the recorder.

Africans transported to the Caribbean as part of the transatlantic slave trade brought with them a rich tradition of music and dance. Four lessons teach young musicians the rumba clave rhythm, cascara rhythm, and the 6/8 bell patterns...

When you hear the first few beats of "Despacito," the unrivaled Latin pop hit of 2017, you can't keep your feet from moving! A music analysis lesson plan examines the intoxicating hit by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee and introduces the...

Your learners will dance in their seats as this talented drummer connects math to music in a short video clip. Clayton Cameron shows how math puts the "cool" in various genres of music, including jazz, hip-hop, pop,...

Accompany the African folktale, Anansi the Spider, with a collection of five lessons, each equipped with supplemental activities. Lessons offer multidisciplinary reinforcement in English language arts, social studies, science,...

Students examine the Caribbean in terms of its music, art, and folklore. As a class, they listen to a folktale and discuss the difference between telling a story and reading a story. In groups, they write their own folktale and share...

Explore the story The Color of My Words by Lynn Joseph using this resource. Learners answer comprehension questions, fill in graphic organizers, and write a poem.

Hey Macarena! Third graders keep time while they sing a Latin Folk Song. To practice keeping a steady rhythm and singing in pitch, the class sings the Folk Song together and in a round while keeping a beat. They then learn to do the...

Students participate in a "Pirates of the Caribbean" tag game to demonstrate scooter skills and safety techniques. Students identify and discuss scooter safety rules, then play a tag game with each student (pirate) on a scooter, with...

Fourth graders examine the experiences of four immigrant groups. Class members brainstorm a list of misconceptions of those groups and discuss if these perceptions are still present today. Using maps, groups locate the countries of...

Des'ree's song "You Gotta Be" is used to model for language learners the forms that can be used to express necessity (must, have to, have got to). After examining the grammar in the song, the attention switches to a discussion of the...

High schoolers research the culture, geography, music, myths and legends of the Caribbean coast of Colombia using online tools. They determine how these factors influenced the writing style of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. They design and...

Students engage in a lesson which features a video trip to the Caribbean Island of Montserrat to teach about the human and physical characteristics of place and human/environmental interactions between the two. Students create their own...

Students sing music representing the Caribbean culture in the calypso style. They discover the role that the event of African slavery and the history of Carribean culture played in generating calypso music.

Students become familiar with the music of Trinidad. In this Caribbean music lesson, students listen to music from Trinidad and find it on the map. Students recognize the calypso beat and can imitate them. Students can create their own...

Fourth graders write a poem. In this jazz music lesson, 4th graders learn about the basics of jazz dance and practice basic movements. Students learn common terminology and listen to several recordings of jazz music. Students create a...

Learners study the state of the world before the slave trade. They explain the geography and economics of the slave trade. They explore primary sources and how historians use these sources to create historical interpretations.

Students are introduced to about Caribbean culture through the preparation and sampling of Caribbean food, as well as become familiar with Caribbean folk songs and poetry. They also experience blindness in order to form a deeper...

Students discover the significance of similarities and contrasts of three separate cultures of the United States through music. They take out maps and trace the expedition of the Spanish along the coasts of Mexico and North and South...

Students listen and respond to various forms of Caribbean music. In this music and culture lesson, students clap rhythms and respond to a sung call. Lyrics are analyzed for language blends and repetition. Music and culture from Puerto...

Students use the Internet to examine the land, customs and government of Jamaica. They also hear music from the island.

Fifth graders read The Cay as a shared literature experience. This lesson plan has many good activities across the curriculum to keep your students actively engaged in the story. They will do math, art, music, science and geography...

Students differentiate between metallic and non-metallic sounds. In this music lesson, students listen to the audio clip of "March" and march in time with the music. Students identify the metallic sounds in the music piece. Students...