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What's the Story?
Elvis Presley's music is the hook for this ESL lesson. Learners listen to an Elvis song, discuss the vocabulary words, and answer questions. This is a great way to have your class discuss new vocabulary.
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'Cross the Wide Missouri
Young scholars perform a song, identify melodies, and discuss the history of folk songs.
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George Gershwin
Students explore the life and accomplishments of George Gershwin. They listen to Latin rhythms and practice the rhythmic parts. Students identify Latin instruments George Gershwin added to the orchestra. After practice, they perform a...
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Contra Dance
Contra dance was brought to America by French Soldiers after the Revolutionary War. Contra dancing is done in lines, but with partners facing each other. Some moves one partner is moving forward while the other moves backwards. Some...
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Understanding Past and Present Labor Injustice through Music
Students explore early 19th century labor conditions through the use of period songs. In this tolerance lesson, students listen to period songs and respond. Students write their own song that protests unfair and dangerous working...
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Ray Charles
Learners read the book Ray Charles by Sharon Bell Mathis. For this biography lesson, students read about the life of Ray Charles. Learners answer pre-reading questions about senses, strengths, and weaknesses they have. The lesson...
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Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story - The Birth of Soul
Learners analyze various kinds of music. In this music instructional activity, students listen to music clips to determine the kind of music each clip is then they participate in a class discussion about the music and prepare a...
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Wyclef Jean for VH1 Storytellers
Students use recordings of Wyclef Jean's music to study and explore different styles and techniques.
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Storytellers: Bruce Springsteen
Students study rock and roll with the music of Bruce Springsteen.
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Music Activity at Family Math Night
Students work with a family member in placing all of the music notes on a staff board. They try to match the rhythm on the rhythm board and show their completed song to the teacher.
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Chicago Rhythms, Chicago Roots
Students view a video about different types of music. They examine the history of jazz, big band and rock back to the city of Chicago. They discover Chicago's music scene today and compare it to the past.
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Describing Music
Fifth graders listen to the 9th symphony and identify the tiri-ti rhythm. They identify the number of times they hear a phrase "turn, turn, turn". They then describe the meaning of one song and answer questions in class discussion.
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AT THE CORRAL
Learners 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.
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Gospel Beginnings - Lesson 1
Students identify genres of music that influenced musical style of Aretha Franklin. They identify musical characteristics of gospel and sing a gospel selection. They pay particular attention to the call and response style.
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Get On Board This Train
Students examine and discuss the African American Spiritual in a choir setting. They also sing the spiritual "Get On Board This Train" while using terms and techniques studied in the lesson plan.
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VH1 Driven: Jamie Foxx, Lesson 3
Students examine the blues, poetry, the Harlem Renaissance, and the 12-bar blues form. They watch a segment from the video, "VH1 Driven: Jamie Foxx," participate in a class discussion, and listen to songs by Ray Charles and a poem by...
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Meet Louis Prima!
Students discover the difference in major and minor tonality after a brief introduction to Louis Prima. They discuss swing dancing and Louis Prima's role in the "Jungle Book" as the character King Louis. Students listen to the song...
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Young scholars study the life and music of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They practice listening for the downbeat of a musical selection. They participate in a physical exercise where they march around in a circle and clap to the...
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Jazz: Expression through Improvisation
Students watch a video on improvisation. They improvise original melodies over given chord progressions. They develop criteria to evaluate the merits of improvisational performances and apply the criteria in their personal listening and...
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Improvise a Short Story through Jazz
Students evaluate jazz music and a jazz music performance. They collaborate and create an improvised group short story. They improvise a musical piece on found objects.
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Swing Your Partner! It's A Virtual Square Dance
Young scholars explore the Wessels Living History Farm website and research how to do a square dance. They read a story, listen to an explanation of barn dances, and participate in various square dances.
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VH1 Driven: Jamie Foxx, Lesson 2
Young scholars compare and contrast classical piano style with jazz piano style. They watch a segment of the video, "VH1 Driven: Jamie Foxx," participate in a class discussion of the music from the video, and develop a list of...
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Bam, Chi, Chi, Bam
Students create a class poem based on the song, Bam, Chi, Chi, Bam. The class participates in a brief discussion of the music of Jamaica and the feelings conveyed by this music. After listening to the song, students create a poem to...