Young explorers may not be able to travel the Silk Road but they can listen to music that was played on instruments of the time and create their own songs with the help of an interesting interactive resource. 

Music and poetry are vehicles that can tell many stories. Learners read the poem "The Song of the Murdered Jewish People" by Itzhak Katzenelson, then listen to the requiem it inspired; composed by Zlata Razdolina. Excellent...

Meet some of the people who made headlines during the 1920s. You'll be introduced to names of famous musicians, politicians, bad guys, athletes, reformers, and writers of the time. Images of each individual along with a brief about their...

Learners read a newspaper article about the controversial taxation of an orchestra. They define vocabulary, complete comprehension worksheets, analyze the use of verb forms in the article and take a 'true or false' quiz.

Trey from Phish and Dave from the Dave Mathews Band took a trip to Africa to explore music, culture, and history. Your class watches this episode from VH1's Music Studio to understand how African culture and music have influenced modern...

The backbone of Latin American music is the beat! Young musicians work on blending Afro-Latin rhythms and beat patterns before incorporating the major pentatonic, minor pentatonic, and blues scales in their own compositions.

Before there was Beyonce, before there was Madonna, before there was Cher, there was Ella. Introduce Ella Fitzgerald, The First Lady of Jazz, with a reading comprehension exercise that presents a brief biography of her life and then asks...

Music around the globe may sound different, but it always tends to function partly as a mode of communicating religion, rights of passage, and oral tradition. Delve into the world of Russian music. Folk, peasant, Cossack, and...

Fifth graders discover the importance of respecting the differences of people around the world in different situations in order to avoid conflict and promote peace. Students compare the sounds of a symphony and the instruments creating...

Students contrast the meter and style of two different versions of the musical piece, "Waltz of the Flowers." Duke Ellington's meter in the "Dance of the Floreadores" is compared to Tchaikovsky's version in the "Nutcracker."

First graders listen to music as the impetus to learn about the concept of Japanese harmony as it is understood in Japanese culture. They use the New Seeker's song, "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing," to compare America and Japan...

Language learners get into the swing of things with a jazzy lesson about similes. They read an article about Duke Ellington, listen to samples of his music, and then try their hand at crafting similes to describe his improvisational and...

High schoolers explore a period of European history in which musicians have used theri musical talents and abilities to survive and rise above extremely difficult situations. The psychological uses of music by the Nazis is examined in...

Students examine the significance of nonprofit organizations in a democratic society. They conduct research on a selected nonprofit organization, complete a questionnaire, and present their findings to the class.

Students explore and investigate the foundation and history of jazz music. They listen to various pieces of music while creating drawings, develop a timeline of jazz history, and read and discuss biographies of famous jazz musicians.

Students explore the sounds of the estuary. In this wetlands lesson, students discuss how to simulate the sounds of nature. Students write and record a musical score featuring the sounds of the wetlands.

Students develop an understanding of the role of a musician, composer, and conductor. In this musician lesson plan, students examine the District of Columbia quarter and see that Duke Ellington is on the reverse side. They define...

Pupils consider how Duke Ellington impacted the rise of jazz music. In this jazz music lesson, students listen to a lecture regarding the life and work of Ellington. Pupils also watch a video regarding Ellington and discuss music of the...

Students research the Dark Ages using books, the Internet, and other media. In this Dark Ages lesson plan, students study poetry, music, art, and the architecture of the Dark Ages.

Students react to a series of statements about Beethoven, then read a news article about the sale of a 179-year-old manuscript by the musical genius. In this current events lesson plan, the teacher introduces the article with a...

Music is a wonderful tool you can add to enhance the learning process for every subject. Here is a list of music selections that are categorized by subject, along with some neat teaching suggestions. You'll find songs suited to...

Pupils locate Japan on a map or globe and describe the relative location of Japan. They use the Internet to investigate cultural characteristics of children in the United States and in Japan. They use a Venn Diagram as an organizational...

Upper elementary schoolers listen to and reproduce the rythm of Mary Lou William's musical piece, "Scratchin' in the Gravel." The swing song was written at a time that women did not play jazz. She broke the rules by playing and writing...

Learners read and discuss 'Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra: Mixing Treasures by Duke Ellington and Edvard Grieg,' exploring how jazz transformed European music and the influence jazz has had on modern music. They write musical reviews.