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The Bolero

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students discuss the structure of the musical film "The Bolero."  In this film arts lesson, students watch "The Bolero" before participating in discussion questions and watching a second performance of the same musical. ...
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Analyzing Two Dances and Making a Dance Map: The Nutcracker

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students discuss dance elements and create a dance map. They choose a dance theme and incorporate movement into their dance maps and choreography. They also experiment with different types of music.
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Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf"

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders study Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf." They explore the characters and the instruments that represent the characters. They create their own version of "Peter and the Wolf" for the purpose of introducing the...
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Listening Logs

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students hone their listening skills. They develop tools for approaching research into their own musical traditions and those of community and state and examine different ways of recording data. They design different types of research...
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Metallic Sounds

For Teachers K - 2nd
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...
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Bringing Stories to Life

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars perform short stories with sound effects and music they've created.  In this stories lesson, create effects of record from a file to complete a presented story.
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Scaling the Blues

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students identify musical characteristics of blues music and define the term 'scale.' They identify chromatic, major, pentatonic, and blues scales and label each key on a keyboard using letter names, sharps and flats.
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The Heart of Human Experience: Cultura Azteca

For Teachers 1st
First graders explore Aztec culture to gain understanding of relationship between music, recreation, and culture. Seven lessons on one page.
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The Nutcracker

For Teachers 1st
First graders define a ballet as a story told through dance. They listen to melodies and demonstrate beat and accent through body movement. They watch the ballet.
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From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students research the history, art, music, and architecture of Vienna and make an oral presentation based on their findings. They listen to segments of the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's celebration and design a musical extravaganza in...
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Once Upon a Time

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine how music and sound affect their creation of artwork. They view art images online, create three hybrid collage creatures, develop a list of hero characteristics, and write an adventure story for a character they have...
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Low and High with Ives

For Teachers 1st
First graders read the Poem "The Elephant" by Shel Silverstein and create a descriptive web in the shape of an animal. In this cross curricular music lesson plan, 1st graders recite a poem with rhythm, then listen to the song...
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Playing With Your Food

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students discover about the form and function of traditional musical instruments, then use this knowledge to create non-traditional instruments that replicate the sounds of traditional instruments. They use vegetables to create their...
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Song Writing

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners write an original song using music composition software such as Music Time. By doing this, students identify another use for the computer besides word processing and games.
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Water Water Water - Costume Designing

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students create costumes using recycled materials determined beforehand by the teacher in this High School Drama/Art lesson on costume designing. The example lesson is based around the title of "Water, Water, Water" but can be adapted...
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Celebration and Satire- Beginning Level

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students examine art elements in a late-19th-century self-portrait painting. In this visual arts activity, students analyze the painting "A Centennial of Independence" and identify the color, shape, and symbols in the art piece. Students...
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Quarter Rest Lesson

For Teachers 1st
First graders indicate the silent beats (rests) with an outward motion of the arms. They indicate a measure clapped out with a quarter rest, and a measure clapped out without a quarter rest.
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Red, White, and Blue Notes

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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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Creative Dancing

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students dance a Cossack dance.  In this dance lesson, students learn to keep the beat and follow a movement sequence to dance a Cossack Dance. 
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Percussion Instruments and Pitch

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students play string instruments to discover how the pitch changes on various string instruments.  In this pitch lesson, students listen to video clips and play an online music game.  Students become familiar with music...
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B-A-N-J-O: A Bluegrass Version of Bingo

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explain the history and relevance of the following instruments in bluegrass music: fiddle, guitar, dobro, banjo, mandolin and stand-up bass. They identify the defining characteristics of each bluegrass instrument and participate...
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Patriotic Songs

For Teachers 1st
First graders recognize patriotic songs of America. In this historical music lesson plan, 1st graders discuss the historical background of the song "Yankee Doodle" and repeat the lyrics after the instructor. Students read the lyrics to...
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Dizzy Gillespie

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students compare and contrast two songs by Dizzy Gillespie and identify elements of bebop. They construct a Web page about Gillespie and his music.
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Folk Dancing Fun

For Teachers 1st
First graders discuss different kinds of music they have heard. They listen to a short selection of folk music and discuss where they think it is from. Using a globe, the teacher shows students where the music is from. They spread out on...