Curated OER
From Page to Stage
Students, utilizing video clips and Web sites, compare specific passages from original texts to moments in Broadway musicals on which they were based, analyzing similarities and differences between them. They adapt literature into a...
Curated OER
Jazz in America Lesson Plan 5
Students survey Bebop and identify the basic terms associated with jazz.They experience the music of Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday and participate in a class discussion regarding jazz's contribution to and reflection of American...
Curated OER
Learning the Blues
Students take a virtual field trip to Memphis, Tennessee in their study of the blues, its characterisitics, founding fathers, and histororical influence on modern music. They compose blues lyrics that reflect present-day attitudes and...
Curated OER
Jazz in America Lesson Plan 8
Students explore the present and juture of jazz. They identify terms associated with jazz and listen to contemporary recordings. They participate in a class discussion regarding jazz's contribution to and reflection of American culture...
Curated OER
Jazz in America Lesson Plan 6
Young scholars survey bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop. They explore how bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop reflected American culture and society in the 1940s and 1950s.
Curated OER
Wynton's Tune
Young scholars examine the serigraph, "Wynton's Tune," by artist Faith Ringgold. They discuss the painting, listen to jazz music, create a drawing that tells a story inspired by their favorite music, and write sentences describing their...
Curated OER
Jazz in America Lesson Plan 7
Students survey free jazz and fusion. They explore how free jazz and fusion reflected American culture and society in the 1960s and 1970s.
Sargent Art
Rainsticks
This rainstick instructional activity isn't just about making art; it's about understanding Native American symbols and culture. Kids read about the use of rainsticks and why specific symbols were used to decorate them. They then make...
Curated OER
Music from the Silk Roads
Students explore different types of musical instruments. In this musical instrument lesson, students create a replica of a sheng. Students utilize this instrument to understand different types of breathing used in different sounds....
Curated OER
Native American Music and the Flute
Students study the role of the flute in Native American music while determining what an exemplary example of flute music sounds like. They develop a method of assessing a Native American flute performance. They perform a Native American...
San Francisco Symphony
Ballads for Americans
"Ballad for Americans" was a song written for performers participating in the Federal Arts Project, during The Depression. Learners will analyze the lyrics of the song and then create informational posters about other Federal Works...
San Francisco Symphony
Adding Music to Oklahoma History
To better understand Oklahoma state history, learners will use a website to find a song that supports or represents aspects of Oklahoma's history. They'll write three sentences defending their choice, and then they will create...
Smithsonian Institution
Spirits Across the Ocean: Yoruban and Dahomean Cultures in the Caribbean Brought by the Slave Trade
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....
Shakespeare in American Life
"Strike a Pose:" Music and Vogueing in The Winter's Tale
After class members have read and discussed Act III of The Winter’s Tale, groups select one line from Act III, scene i that they feel captures the essence of the entire scene. They then create a tableaux that best depicts the scene’s...
Dick Blick Art Materials
Percussive Pods
Combine the study of art, music, and history with an activity that asks kids to craft rattles out of slabs of clay.
Curated OER
Native American Music: Call-and-Response
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...
Curated OER
African-American Musicians
Students research three African-American musicians and compose a report based upon their research in this Music Appreciation lesson for the middle level classroom. The lesson could be adapted for various student levels and abilities.
Curated OER
Movie Music
Students discover film making by participating in a music performance. In this performance arts lesson, students perform music and physical acting to convey an already written script for their peers. Students collaborate with their...
Curated OER
Music of the Civil Rights Era, 1954-1968
Young scholars experience the aesthetics of music and learn about freedom songs that motivated the Civil Rights activists. In this music history lesson, students learn how music can motivate and move listeners. Young scholars then...
Curated OER
Boombox Classroom: Migration of Music
In this music worksheet, students complete two multiple choice questions about music moving from one culture to another. They write a sentence explaining why slavery is wrong. Students name types of music African-Americans brought with...
Curated OER
Giants of American Music
In this music activity, learners match a description with the following composers: George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, John Philip Sousa, Leonard Bernstein. Students also reflect on why they are called Giants of American Music.
Curated OER
Giants of American Music
For this music worksheet, students answer questions about composers George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, John Philip Sousa, and Leonard Bernstein. Students also reflect on why they are called the Giants of American Music.
Curated OER
Music Advocacy
Students view part of a video about advocating for music education. They discuss the importance of supporting music education in schools and create a presentation for the PTO, a news release about a local music event and/or scripts for a...
Curated OER
Appreciating the Men of Ballet from Dance in America: Born to be Wild: The Leading Men of the American Ballet Theatre
Students examine the role of men in the American Ballet Theatre. In this ballet lesson, students watch segments of the Great Performances video "Dance in America: Born to be Wild: The Leading Men of the American Ballet Theatre." Students...