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What Is Cool?
Students compare versions of the song, "So What," recorded by Miles Davis and Marcus Miller. They explore the Ken Burns Website to discover more about Davis and journal their thoughts about him and his music.
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Look, Listen and Learn
Students brainstorm what they know about the performing arts and research an artist or song and its related genre. Students work in groups to create an online banner to attract peers to their performing arts genre.
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Jazz and Math: Rhythmic Innovations
Students 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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I Spy Poetry
Young scholars identify and interpret the rhythm and form of the I Spy poem.
They then integrate art, music, literature, technology, and writing with poetry. Students also write their own poem based on the picture they printed from the I...
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Creative Dancing
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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America, A Home for Every Culture
Students investigate the many cultures that are represented in America. For this American culture lesson, students look at the food, languages, music, and traditions that immigrants have contributed to the face of America. They complete...
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Percussion Instruments and Pitch
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 vocabulary.
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Tchaikovsky and the Nutcracker
Students study Peter Tchaikovsky, the author of the Nutcracker Suite. They listen to the associated music and view images of the author. They write a journal entry about their favorite part of the Nutcracker Suite.
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For The Record
Students create a database that catalogs their music collection of CD's and tapes. They sort, analyze and print selected database records in answer to questions about their favorite music recordings and performing artists. Each student...
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What's New?
Students act as teams of product managers for personal electronics companies. Each team evaluate new electronic devices in different product categories (such as handheld devices and portable music devices), and create product...
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Crossroads Blues
The crossroads, and the decisions made and entities met there, are a common theme in literature, pushing readers to examine the choices and encounters that shape life experience. The theme has also been explored in blues music, most...
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James Brown: Life and Times
Students trace James Brown's rise from "Little Junior" in Depression-era Augusta, Georgia, to the "Minister of the New Super Heavy Funk" and create a collage that captures his impact on American music.
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B-A-N-J-O: A Bluegrass Version of Bingo
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
First graders recognize patriotic songs of America. In this historical music lesson, 1st graders discuss the historical background of the song "Yankee Doodle" and repeat the lyrics after the instructor. Students read the lyrics to the...
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What is Timbre?
Students analyze the differences in similar songs. In this music appreciation activity, students discover the meaning of timbre and how it can drastically change similar pieces of music. Students sing two pieces of music with the rest...
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Yankee Doodle... More than Just a Catchy Tune
Students investigate the history of patriotic music and practice singing the tunes with classmates. For this U.S. History lesson, students examine lyrics of the traditional song "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and discuss the differing points of...
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Can You Compose?
Fourth graders investigate musical notes. In this music lesson, 4th graders compose a short song while clapping the rhythm and singing the syllables using the appropriate notes or rests.
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The Piano
Second graders read The Piano and become familiar with racial discrimination. In this racial discrimination book lesson, 2nd graders answer comprehension question to focus on the importance of the book. Students discuss the reader's...
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All Mixed Up
Students explore the emergence of bootlegs, also known as 'mash-ups' (the combination of two songs into one), on the Internet. By researching the musical origins of songs and creating and performing their own bootlegs, students gain a...
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Dizzy Gillespie
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
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...
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American Rhythms
Learners combine elements of music with poetry. In this creative writing lesson, students examine poems from a variety of authors with varying writing styles. Learners explore the different elements of poetry, including tone, rhythm,...
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Electronic Poetry Project
Students create a digital project to go with a poem. In this technology lesson, students pick a poem and create images to go with it. They make background music for the narration of their poem and attach it to a PowerPoint presentation.
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Que Llueva! It's Raining, It's Pouring!
Students learn to sing a song in another language. In this music lesson, students learn a song about rain in English and Spanish. Students listen to the song Que Llueva in Spanish and It's Raining, It's Pouring in English, sign it...