Students discuss the musical genre of spirituals and its influence on our musical history. They perform various songs, and read the student score for, Down By the Riverside.

Watching Great Performances’ Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Chicago launches an investigation into and discussion of how the electric guitar and guitarists have changed the sound of the blues over time. An engaging way to...

How is music like reading? First, listeners rank music from slowest to fastest. How does the music's pace affect your mood? How does this same theory compare to reading? Spark a discussion to identify the similarities. 

Ninth graders examine mariachi music and its different musical forms.  In this music history lesson plan, 9th graders compare and contrast mariachi music from its beginnings to the present.  Students research different aspects...

High schoolers compare and contrast the genres of poetry and hip-hop. They view a poetry slam and write about it in their journals. Learners view a Lauryn Hill music video and respond to it in their journals. They compare and contrast...

After reading the New York Times article "Virtuosos Becoming a Dime a Dozen," learners answer eight who, what, when, where, and why questions. They post their answers on the New York Times Education Blog. A fun way to get learners...

Kids read a New York Times article on the allure of boy bands, and then answer several questions via Blog post. They consider why boy bands are popular, why they are so expensive for record labels, and how they are similar to bands of...

In this story structure lesson, students read the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and identify the characters, setting and main themes of the book. They answer a list of study questions about the book.

Learners read an editorial on Valentine's Day and either fill in the blanks with their own words, or try to place the words from the word bank in the correct spots. This may be useful for English learners.

After reading chapter six of Ordinary People with your class, conduct this activity with your class. Turn the lights down, put on your softest voice, and have them try to imagine that they lost a close friend. Then, encourage them to...

Ten online questions are provided in this quiz on the book, All Quiet on the Western Front. While the questions are good and intended to check reading comprehension this site has quite a few unrelated ads. 

Take a trip to the Grand Canyon! Lesson one explores how Ferde Grofe painted a musical landscape of America when he wrote the Grand Canyon Suite. Learners then examine art that shows the Grand Canyon in lesson two. Finally, lesson three...

Here are two great lessons that work together and are inspired by the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. Young writers and actors will retell the story of "The Frog Prince" through games, improvisational script writing, and...

Introduce your young learners to opera by dressing up as Mozart and recounting some of the fascinating details of his life and music. After exploring the Metropolitan Opera's site for kids, the class listens to a reading of Kyra...

Really? Rapping The Odyssey? Really. A discussion of the oral tradition of story telling and its links to Epic poetry sets the stage for a series of activities that encourage improvisation to integrate music into other classrooms....

Though often used in shows of patriotism, Bruce Springsteen's 1985 song "Born in the U.S.A." is critical of America's role in the Vietnam war and its treatment of American veterans. High schoolers analyze the song's lyrics in an activity...

Much of Latin American music owes its origins to the slave trade. Peoples from the Yoruban and Dahomean cultures brought with them the distinctive rhythms, time signatures, and eighth note patterns that now characterize Caribbean music....

A lesson all about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad introduces scholars to African American spirituals. By way of reading, speaking, and listening, learners discover, analyze, and decode African American spirituals. They...

Make some beautiful music with a lesson about playing the recorder! After learning some of the basic fingering positions and notes, have kids practice their skills with two easy songs.

Prior to reading The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi, spark engagement, and step into the shoes of Charlotte Doyle through this guided imagery activity focusing on adventure and the emotions that may be felt along...

Introduce young learners to the read-aloud process with a short biographical passage about Ray Charles. After listening to the passage, class members respond to factual, inferential, and evaluative questions, and then create a timeline...

The music and literature of the Harlem Renaissance defined American culture, including its poetry. Using a poem from the period, individuals explore its musical qualities and how it is reflective of the period. Then, they use what they...

Practicing sight words is all fun and games with this app! Users hear, read, and spell words off the Dolch Word List. But that's not all! Players also get to create their own avatar, collect BINGO bugs, view their scores, and more within...

Introduce your class to one of the most famous artists of the twentieth century. After reading a brief biography of Pablo Picasso, pupils create their own collages on the next page on the theme of music.