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And Then One Night, The Making of Dead Man Walking: Classroom Content

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers examine how art and music help to define and unify a social movement and also how they can function as symbols of protest. They watch KQED program And Then One Night: The Making of Dead Man Walking and discuss what happens...
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Watch Your Conductor Like a Hawk

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Young scholars focus their eyes on the conductor in music class. The teacher uses a music sheet to isolate the musical elements of tempo, balance, and blend.
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Scaling the Blues

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Young scholars 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 Best of Baroque

For Teachers 6th
Students study about listening strategies, as well as the culture, music and two prominent composers of the Baroque period, namely J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel. They demonstrate their understanding of the content through several assessments.
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Isn't It Romantic?

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders investigate the ideas, literature, music, and art of the Romantic Movement. They apply romantic ideals to their original writing and art, analyze poetry, discuss key vocabulary, and analyze artwork from this era.
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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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Using the Patterns and Symbols of Mali Mud Cloth to Convey Identity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students participate in relating the role of the arts in defining identity. They examine the community in West African society and how members of that community define their role. They view how artifacts, music and performance can...
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Tone Poem Composing Project

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students explore role of music in storytelling by watching and discussing effect music has on perception of scene from movie, and using Sibelius program to compose single excerpt of music, considering dynamics, timbre, and articulation,...
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International Festival: Mexico

For Teachers Pre-K - K
Young scholars explore the culture of Mexico through music and food. In this multicultural lesson, students read the book Mexico and listen to samples of Mexican music. Young scholars use ingredients to make tacos.
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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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Glass Slipper Bullies

For Teachers Pre-K - 2nd
Students identify bullying behaviors through this cross curricular music and character education lesson. Learners read the story Cinderella and discuss how the stepsisters demonstrated bully behavior. Students create a new ending for the...
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Song Writing

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students 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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Carerrs in Song And Dance

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers write a job posting for a career in the performing arts. They view a Discovery Channel video as an introduction to the types of performing art careers are possible. They choose one that they are most interested in to...
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Dinosaur Stomp

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders write a dinosaur poem using information from a research activity. In this dinosaur poetry and music lesson, 2nd graders listen to the book Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp in music class. They work in small groups to...
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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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Overture to 'William Tell' by Gioacchino Rossini

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students create an awareness of how music creates a setting in a story or legend. They identify the instrumentation, dynamics and tempo used to create various settings for a musical story. They perform rhythmic patterns from listening...
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Low Brass: Tibet, Switzerland and Haiti

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students identify sounds played on instruments from around the world. For this music lesson, students listen to music played on various low brass instruments from Tibet, Switzerland and Haiti to determine the differences in pitch...
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The Bolero

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students discuss the structure of the musical film "The Bolero."  In this film arts instructional activity, students watch "The Bolero" before participating in discussion questions and watching a second performance of the same...
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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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Jazz and Math: Rhythmic Innovations

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners compare and contrast the rhythms of marches and jazz. They watch an excerpt about Buddy Bolden from the PBS Ken Burns Jazz documentary, compare/contrast march and jazz rhythms, complete a worksheet, and notate and perform jazz...
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Creative Dancing

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Young scholars dance a Cossack dance.  In this dance lesson plan, students learn to keep the beat and follow a movement sequence to dance a Cossack Dance. 
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Lift Every Voice and Sing

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students analyze sculpture, poetry, and music to gain an understanding of historical events. In this critical thinking skills lesson, students take a closer look at African-American history as they examine "Lift Every Voice and Sing'"...