A reading of Robert Frost’s "The Road Not Taken" launches an interdisciplinary study of the connection between the meters of a poem and a melody. After identifying the number of beats in each line of the poem, young musicians use...

An extensive portfolio project encourages your kids to reflect on their personalities with multiple writing assignments. From activities on extended metaphors to writing about an important day in their lives, kids explore the way they...

Fifth graders explore the current jazz scene and how it reflects American culture. They listen to jazz recordings of current artists and speculate on which direction jazz is likely heading.

Students analyze the functions of musical scores as they relate to percussion instruments. They follow an audio and video presentation as they count and follow beat patterns.

In this music worksheet, students investigate the history of music and the musical style of the Caribbean islands. Students read a 1 page information sheet about the region and its music. Students answer 8 questions.

Learners practice math, language, and music skills. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students learn the song "Roll Over!" practicing repeating word patterns and subtraction skills. Learners improvise in the song by adding...

In this musical instrument learning exercise, students match the names of 9 instruments with the illustrations that go with them. This is intended for ESL use but is usable for anyone.

Students study the rhythm value of a half note, quarter note, whole note, and eighth note. They stamp a rhythm pattern and create a clay animation which demonstrates note value.

Students perform basic tumbling activities.  In this movement activity, students practice tumbling and balancing moves while listening to music.  Students are "frozen" into place while in certain positions.

This lesson plan focuses on how students can learn basic blues percussion patterns by considering the polyrhythms of African drumming and investigating how and why such drums were banned during slavery. Students will listen to several...

Middle schoolers study dotted eighth/sixteenth note rhythm pattern using percussion instruments and alternating from "corral to corral" in groups of 4-6. They play the pattern while listening to selected American western theme songs.

Students view and discuss The 25 Greatest Protest Songs video as compiled by VH1. They focus on when and why each of the songs were written, looking for patterns.

Students explore the connections between Langson Hughes and blues music. In this African American culture activity, students compare and contrast blues music with poetry and short stories by Langston Hughes.

Middle schoolers explore vocal music techniques.  For this vocal music lesson, students follow a series of warmup exercises modeled by the teacher, then participate in specific breathing and vocalizing exercises.

Students are presented with a story about two individuals running a race in which one is given a head start. Students must map the progress of the runners, create a chart examining patterns and graph the progress. In the end, students...

Students recite Willie Nelson's lyrics in one voice and then analyze their tone and vocabulary usage. They research Willie Nelson's history and dramatize the song: "On the Road Again."

Students explore Stephen Sondheim's contributions to musical theatre in the context of the dramatic cultural shift that occurred in American life in the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

Show your school spirit! Class members use instruments or sing along and employ what they have learned in the two previous lessons to perform their school's songs.

A series of lessons about dance would be a great addition to your physical education class. Straightforward as well as creative, it teaches the basic skills of dance movement. A rubric helps guide the dancers to let them know what steps...

In this creative music activity from Scientific American, students learn about musical notation and then design their own notations. Great web resource links are alsp provided

First graders investigate musical notes. In this music lesson, 1st graders discuss the values of each note by counting the beats accordingly.

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...

Students determine how music is produced through sound waves and how instruments produce music differently than others. They construct flutes out of straws and explore how to adjust the sound.

In this music worksheet, learners experiment at six stations around the room to explore different concepts related to music using tuning forks, water droppers, glasses, and moving tubes.