Bring the sounds of the deep South vocal blues to the classroom with a Smithsonian Folkways lesson. In preparation, scholars listen to and count the 12 bar blues patterns in several works and identify the I, II, IV, and V chords as well...

Students explore the chord chart for 12-bar blues in C and then play the scales on the guitar. They play their scales at a moderate tempo and practice related arpeggios. After listening to "Band in the Box" music tracks, students...

Students practice playing and improvising while playing the 12 bar blues. They practice compositional skills, evaluate and perform musical pieces focused on the blues.

Learners examine blues music. In this music genres instructional activity, students discover details about the history of the musical genre and compositional techniques. Learners then compose melodies of their own with 12-bar blues chord...

Students identify the musical form of the 12-bar blues. They identify a problem from the "Farming in the 1940's" section and compose a 12-bar blues song. make comparisons between problems of the 1940's and today.

Sixth graders listen to recordings and study jazz and the blues music. They identify the instrumentation and explore the 12-bar blues progression. After experimenting with different sound, 6th graders create their own arrangement, with...

Students describe some of the distinguishing characteristics of blues music. They compare and analyze two versions of the same 12-bar blues song. They read and identify notation symbols for rhythm and tempo.

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...

Fourth graders utilize fraction bar manipulatives to compare a variety of fractions to the fraction value 1/2. Pupils are put into groups, and they begin to see how fractions that look completely different actually represent the same...

Students determine whom they consider "the best" performer in a variety of entertainment industries and discuss how to accurately measure greatness. They create bar graphs comparing statistics of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds and the 1998 New...

Learners sing a vocal improvisation on a 12-bar blues progression. After watching a video on Harry Connick Jr., students try their own scat singing on the two-measure break.

Students observe that there are myriad combinations of rhythms to choose from when improvising jazz and blues music, and recognize that while the variations seem infinite, they are in fact finite. They notate a 12 bar blues progression...

Pairs work together to determine whether unknown solutions are either acids or bases by using a red cabbage indicator solution. After determining the general pH of the unknown solution, classmates blow into the same indicator after...

Visual models support young mathematicians with exploring equivalent fractions. Starting with a quick warm-up problem, children go on to work through a series of guiding practice problems before working with a partner identifying and...

In this bar graphs worksheet, students, working with a partner, explore how to read and analyze the five answers to one mathematical bar graph.

Students learn the basic elements of blues and different lyric structures.

First graders measure the length of pipe cleaners to form worms using rulers to focus on inches. They record their results and graph the measurement of each pipe cleaner. They measure their pipe cleaner "worms" in various colors and...

Students study data about tornadoes in the United States while completing a worksheet. They develop a bar graph showing the number of tornadoes for the top ten states in the US. They find the median and mode of the data set.

Upper graders analyze basic concepts about the consumption, importation and exportation of the worlds oil production. They create several graphs to organize the data and draw conclusions about the overall use of oil in the world.

Middle schoolers engage in a lesson which shows them that celestial navigation is the art and science of finding one's geographic position by means of astronomical observations, particularly by measuring altitudes of celestial objects -...

Students analyze song lyrics and discuss Faust theme in musical history. In this thematic lesson, students view a film clip and create a song lyric, poem or short story developed around the Faust theme. Students perform or present their...

Students examine the artwork of Robert Henri. Using his pieces, they compare and contrast it to the works during the Harlem Renaissance. They create a HyperStudio project showing the Ashcan School of Art with music accompanying the...

Students examine female artists who perform in the genres of rhythm & blues, jazz, soul, and hip-hop/rap. They compose lyrics and melody in one of these genres.

Working with fractions that have unequal denominators is one of the most difficult concepts for young mathematicians to master. Here you will find a fine lesson that should help youngsters begin to get a grasp on this important...