Folklore is composed of stories that convey cultural heritage and traditions. Many types of tales are listed as well as what they portray in various contexts and situations. Give your learners a brief description or definition of...

What a creative and engaging project to incorporate into your studies of the 1920s! Your young historians will work in groups to design a magazine discussing the political and cultural topics of the decade, each member writing one...

What word has two syllables and means a ray of moonlight? If young readers guessed moonbeam, they are correct! With the Shakespeare in Love study guide, participants test their guessing skills in an exciting game of Shakespeare Taboo...

Prepare class members for formative assessments of student thinking in reading (FAST-R) with a resource that compares Paul Laurence Dunbar's "Sympathy" and Maya Angelou's "Caged Bird." Readers respond to 10 multiple choice questions and...

Have you every known someone that marches to the beat of a different drum? That is exactly what Pippi from Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking does! Scholars complete a worksheet packet as they read about Pippi's outrageous...

Third graders recognize and identify the three types of balance. They analyze and identify the type of balance used in various works of art. Students create a symmetrically balanced work of art. They use a ruler, shape templates, an...

First graders listen to 4 songs and describe the tempo of each song. In this tempo lesson plan, 1st graders describe each song's temp and identify the type of word described in each song.

Second graders discover the rhythm in music. Students walk around in a circle, swinging a ribbon to the beat of music. While keeping a steady beat, 2nd graders respond to suggested alterations to their rhythm.

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...

Students examine how to evaluate what they are watching on television. They discuss hip hop music videos, compare/contrast them to other types of music videos, write a letter or press release about promoting positive teen stories, and...

Students discuss dance elements and create a dance map. They choose a dance theme and incorporate movement into their dance maps and choreography. They also experiment with different types of music.

Third graders practice reading rhythm patterns with different types of notes and meters. Using a counting system, they perform a sight reading exercise and take notes when needed. They use a form of technology to illustrate the music.

Students research similar types of instruments. In this instrument group lesson plan, students are presented with a webliography and grouped to do research. Each group creates a poster on the family of instruments, i.e. the woodwinds,...

Students analyze the growth of America from the 1880's-1920's. In this Industrialization era lesson, students use primary resources from the time period to investigate child labor, and determine the contribution of children to the...

Explore the concept of rhyme scheme within a Shakespearean sonnet. After writing out their favorite (appropriate!) rap song and explaining why they like it, middle schoolers define a rhyme scheme. Afterward, they examine a Shakespearean...

What do Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and The Odyssey have in common? Why, they are all epics, of course, and are presented here as examples of the literary term. If you are beginning a study of epics, consider previewing the terms included...

Here is a lesson that incorporates music writing, and reading literature. The class reads chapter eight from the C.S. Lewis classic The Magician's Nephew. Then, just like in the story, they use music as inspiration to create (write)...

Latin American culture is deeply embedded in American culture as a whole. From the Latin rock scene in San Francisco to the hip-hop world of New York, Latin American artists have influenced every genre of modern music. Learn about the...

Mexican folk songs offer an authentic look at WWII immigrant workers. This study of the U.S. Bracero Program sets historians up with context information so they can write their own corrido. The class reviews themes and formulas of...

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day by teaching your class how to do an Irish jig. This type of dance is very fast. Break it all down and teach each section of the dance thoroughly. There are plenty of hops, kicks, toe touches, and stomps in...

Students 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.

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.

Not only is Wassily Kandinsky fun to say, his art contains tons of angles. Learners discuss Kandinsky's music-inspired abstract art and four types of angles. They search one of his paintings for obtuse, right, straight, and acute angles,...

What makes a poem a poem? Give your class a basic understanding of some of the different aspects of poetry by showing them a slide show of poetic devices and elements. The presentation is quite long, so you might split it up into a few...