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3-5: Rhythm Beginnings

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students explore tempo.  In this rhythm beginnings lesson, students differentiate between steady and unsteady beats.  Students clap a variety of tempo and then move to the tempo of a song. 
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In My Dream

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars discuss similarities in various pop songs over the second half of the 20th century and explore how musical management influences the careers and longevity of various artists.
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VH1 Fan Club Dave Matthews Band

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students study how the music of Dave Matthews Band is based on jazz, blues, bluegrass, rock and roll, and rap.
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Vitamin A

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students 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...
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Hole Hole Bushi

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders play a written rhythm pattern. They state when a rhythm pattern varies from a given pattern by listening to an ostinato. They state reasons why people migrate to different lands.
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Meet Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov!

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students listen to music and review instruments of the orchestra. They explore musical terms, solo, texture and theme of the music and discuss other features of the music. Students research and discuss the life of Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov.
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Nosferatu Expression and Diminished Chords

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore how to construct and play diminished triads and half and whole diminished chords on the keyboard. They create appropriate sounds to accompany sections of the movie "Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horrors." Students discuss the...
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VH1 Driven: Kanye West

For Teachers 7th - 12th
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.
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Hickory Dickory Dock Webquest

For Teachers K
Students listen to and read nursery rhymes. They discuss rhyming words. Students play a variety of computer games with rhymes, numbers and telling time. They retell the story through dramatic play, speech, and comprehension questions.
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200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students define the term "exoticism" and identify musical elements used by 19th and 20th century composers and modern pop icons to convey exoticism.
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VH1 Driven: Kanye West, Lesson 3

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students compose a beat in the style of Kanye West. They listen to and analyze the song, "Through the Wire" by Kanye West, compose a beat, and complete a worksheet.
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No Title

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learners, through musical improvisation and utilizing a video, demonstrate how music is used to advance a storyline. They are introduced to program music and as they enter the room they will see the opening scene from Jaws playing on the...
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VH1 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons Lesson 2

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students examine the origins of ragtime music in American and analyze its musical form.
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Ant-Like Antics

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students discover themselves and others through music. In this music and movement lesson, students express themselves through music and appreciate others doing the same.
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Bob Marley - Legend Episode #3 - Lesson 4

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students analyze and describe Reggae music using correct musical terms to discuss tonality, instrumentation, meter and tempo. They experiment with singing and dancing to Reggae music in a style appropriate to the genre.
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Digable Planets, K.B.'s Alley When Jazz Meets Hip-Hop

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the musical style of jazz and identify its elements while listening to hip-hop recordings. They select two styles of music and fuse them together in this lesson.
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Everybody's Boppin', Lambert, Hendricks and Ross

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students probe the musical style of scat singing with imitation instruments. While listening to the musical pieces, they identify when one singer finishes and another begins. The singing groups' styles are contrasted in this lesson.
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My Favorite Things

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders listen to the song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. In this singing lesson, 4th graders discuss the words of the song and also find where the note goes upward. Students write down what their favorite things are.
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Dynamics

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders recognize and identify the three types of balance. They analyze and identify the type of balance used in various works of art. Students create a symmetrically balanced work of art. They use a ruler, shape templates, an...
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String Instruments and Pitch

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students make predictions and explore how pitch is altered in string instruments. In this acoustic science lesson, students learn the types and parts of string instruments and create their own. They listen to classical music and identify...
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Timbre: Identifying the Tone Color of the Saxophone

For Teachers 6th - 7th
Students explore the concept of timbre. In this timbre lesson, students experience timbres produced by saxophones in contemporary music. Students explore the science behind the music.
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Small Group Acting: Enlivening Canadian History

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders role-play events in Canadian history. In small groups they develop a script, practice their skit, and perform a skit for the class depicting various events in Canadian history.
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Flip Libdub

For Teachers 10th - 12th
How do you translate songs from English to Spanish? Have your intermediate learners work in groups to choose a song, translate it, and record themselves singing the lyrics. Provide your class with more time or recommend some out of class...
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Music: Individual and Group Practice

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders, in groups and individually, perform various musical pieces on their instruments. After demonstrating how to play steady beats, they also play counter melodies to songs such as "Peace Like a River." While some students...