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Melody Words
Fourth graders compose a melody by placing words on the music staff. They play their melody words for the class.
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Soundtrack to War
Students discuss the important role of music in lives of soldiers stationed in Iraq. They identify and demonstrate skills in creating compositions with limited resources, similar in concept to the soldiers viewed in the documentary.
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Fundamentals of Good Musicianship
Students examine how to analyze musical performances and utilize practice techniques to improve their performances. They listen and evaluate another student's performance, then reverse roles with their partner.
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Recorder Ensemble
Third graders listen to and identify the lines and space of the treble staff and demonstrate how to sight-read to play the recorder. They answer comprehension questions regarding letter names of the musical alphabet and left and right...
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What I Did On My Summer Vacation
Students improvise then compose and notate melodies with appropriate accompaniments that are inspired by events that transpired during their summer vacations. Requires a networked keyboard lab.
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Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf"
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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Songwriting
Learners watch the "The Greatest TV Moments: Sesame Street Music A to Z" video and brainstorm what the songs may be about. They choose a theme for a song, write a short topic-related poem, and compose music for it.
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Rhythm Stars
Students listen, clap, compose and identify various rhythms. For this rhythm lesson, students practice rhythm with rhythm cards. Students become familiar with stick notation. Students glue Popsicle sticks to illustrate rhythms.
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Overture to 'William Tell' by Gioacchino Rossini
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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Energy and Mass-Same Things But Different!
In this energy and mass activity, learners read about Einstein's formula, E=mc2 and they solve six problems. They convert from different energy units to different mass units using a given formula.
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Rhythm Counting
Students perform various rhythms and melodies in unison on their individual instruments. Assessment is performed on the last day of the lesson with each student playing individually for the class. This lesson meets national standards...
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Original Rhythm Compositions for Poetry
Students create and perform original musical compositions using poetry as a basis for the creative process. This cross-curricular two-day lesson can be done in two 45 minute class periods. Students evaluate performances as part of...
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Composing Project
Students design, compose, and present short musical compositions for keyboard in this lesson plan meant for the high school choir class. This lesson can be adapted to any time frame, but the author suggests a considerable amount of time...
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Spooky Notes
Second graders move to, sing, compose, and interpret various musical techniques through the use of "America", Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers", and a song called "Skin and Bones". Emphasis is placed upon identifying names and values...
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Frere Jacgues
Second graders identify different rhythmic notation and perform simple rhythmic patterns with the group, applying them to performing the song "Frere Jacques" vocally. Emphasis is placed on meeting State and National Standards for the Arts.
Library of Congress
Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Fugitive Slave Act
From the time of its publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin has been controversial. To better understand the debate, class members first examine a broadside decrying the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and then two newspaper reviews of the novel...
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ABBA - Lesson 2
Students identify and notate the musical device known as a "hook". They notate and perform rhythmic and melodic patterns in the ABBA song "Mamma Mia".
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Rehearsal and Sightreading Techniques
Eighth graders prepare the two pieces "American Celebration" and "Patriotic Bits and Pieces" for an upcoming performance. This lesson is a forty-five minute lesson geared towards a middle school advanced band (8th Grade). National and...
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Fifty States In Rhyme
Students perform "Fifty States in Rhyme" with correct posture, correct rhythms, and accurate pitches. They also identify and perform such musical terms as tone color, tempo, dynamics, phrases, and accents. Emphasis is placed on the...
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Younger Generation
Students discuss the composer Aaron Copland and the lyricist Ira Gershwin and their significance in/contributions to American music of their time while singing the song "Younger Generation" in the choir setting. Emphasis is placed on...
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Eensy Weensy Spider Lesson Plan
Students create their own versions of The Eensy-Weensy Spider. In this creative writing lesson, students read The Eensy-Weensy Spider and imagine what else the spider could do. Students then draw a picture depicting the spider engaged...
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The Rhythm of R & B - Lesson 8
Students describe some of the distinguishing characteristics background rhythms used in R&B. They perform typical R&B accompaniment patterns and develop their own horn section to play background rhythms.
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Hole Hole Bushi
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.