San Francisco Symphony
Music Reflects History
Exploring the baroque era can be exciting and fun when it's done thorugh the arts. Middle schoolers examine the music and art history of the baroque era through research. They use their findings and class notes to create an expository...
Curated OER
Orchestral Scores
Eighth graders listen to Beethoven's Symphony Number Five and identify the instruments playing. They observe the score and discuss the movements, and at what time each instrument plays. Students choose an instrument and transcribe the...
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THE TRAVELS OF BABAR: An Adventure in Scale : The Instruments of the Orchestra
Students classify the classes of instruments of the orchestra: strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion. They aurally and visually identify the instruments of the orchestra. Students become actively engaged in live performances by...
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Radio Broadcasting Before Television
Students compare the radio to other forms of mass communication. In this Radio Broadcasting Before Television lesson, students learn the different types of radio shows in the 1920s and 30s. Students write and perform radio scripts...
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The Couplet
Students create the sounds of a thunderstorm with a symphony of body percussion to compose a couplet about rain using Microsoft word to publish. They are introduced to rhyming dictionaries and thesauruses and use Internet sources for...
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Dividing the Philanthropic Shares
Pupils define who volunteers are the and the types of jobs that they do. They identify various groups who volunteer in their community, and locate them on a city map.
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Peter and the Wolf: Instrument Listening Game
Listening to this piece of music will foster the students ability to recognize individual instruments and the sounds they create. The art of music inspires the students to become sensitive listeners able to make aesthetic judgements and...
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William Grant Still: "Afro-American Symphony"
Students learn basic improvisation of a four beat measure through a game using a four quarter note pattern. NOTE: The idea in this lesson is to teach the student to create something on the spot.
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Baroque Presentation
Students use Microsoft Publisher to create a concert program of music featuring a Baroque composer of their choice. They research their chosen composer using the provided internet links. They then create a computerized presentation.
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Nonprofits Are Necessaary
Students research community nonprofit organizations. They identify their purposes and graph them. The search telephone books, websites, and magazines for information on local organizations. They write in journals how nonprofit groups...
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Anne Frank Diorama
Students create a diorama of the Secret Annex in which Anne Frank and her family hid during the Holocaust. In this Anne Frank diorama instructional activity, students brainstorm a list of ideas about the Secret Annex. ...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Beethoven’s 5th
Time to pick up an instrument and practice the first part of Beethoven's symphony No.5. Young musicians discuss melody, rhythmic pattern, dynamics, and movements found in symphonic and orchestral pieces. They then practice and play the...
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Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson - Lesson 1
Appeal to your music lovers with this lesson. Middle and high schoolers listen to and describe music from contrasting styles. They identify the common elements between gospel and bluegrass music and have a class discussion regarding the...
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Lucha Music
Middle schoolers listen to four styles of Mexican music, and create percussion instruments which they use to play each style. Additionally, learners create Lucha Libre masks which are also a part of the colorful culture of Mexico. These...
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"The Emperor's New Clothes and Mahler's Ninth Symphony" Writing to Explain, Confidently and Efficiently, Even Physics!
Students combine their study of physics with their study of best practices when writing to inform. They communicate with experts using e-mail before creating a brochure based on their study of universal gravitation.
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West Virginia Def PB Wants You!
Students write, adapt, and compose a song related to the West Virginia State Museum. In this music instructional activity, students create a composition for a work of visual art. Students incorporate major and minor melodies.
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Who Wants To Be A Mini Maestro?
Students are introduced to classical music. They listen to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. They interview each other in regards to their feelings about the music and the paintings they produced while listening to the piece.
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Watch Your Conductor Like a Hawk
Young scholars focus their eyes on the conductor in music class. The teacher uses a music sheet to isolate the musical elements of tempo, balance, and blend.
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Jazz and Math: Rhythmic Innovations
Students watch a segment of the PBS Ken Burns JAZZ documentary about Buddy Bolden creating the "Big Four." They compare and contrast the rhythms of marches and jazz based on the examples in the film, and explore notation, subdivision of...
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Benjamin Franklin- Philanthropist
Students research and read a profile of Benjamin Franklin. In this philanthropic lesson, students research the projects of Benjamin Franklin and determine which were philanthropic, which were governmental and which were business...
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Ferde Grofe
Students participate in three different activities centered around Ferde Grofe. The different lessons are used to introduce music and the artist to the class. They listen to stories that music tells, and create their own sand painting...
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Musical Instruments
Learners invent a musical instrument to be played by them. They invent a nonstandard notation for music and compose a short piece to preform for the class using their instrument.
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Meet The Instruments Of The Orchestra
Students identify brass, woodwind, string, and percussion instruments and group them into appropriate families in this technology-based Music lesson for 2nd through 5th grades. Each students is required to have a handheld device or laptop.
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Words in the News First Woman Leads Baltimore Orchestra
Students complete vocabulary activities including worksheets in order to read an online article. They discuss typical male and female roles in a variety of situations.