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Romare Bearden
Learners examine and discuss a collage by the artist Romare Bearden. They analyze the impact of jazz on art, listen to jazz, and create an original collage.
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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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Hearing the Poetry of Langston Hughes Through the Sounds of Jazz
Students have an appreciation of Langston Hughe's poetry and his use of jazz rhythms, have the ability to read poetry closely, and freewrite to gain a fresh perspective on music and literature.
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The Sting
In this music worksheet, students read an excerpt from the movie The Sting and identify the American composer, Scott Joplin, who found ragtime jazz music heard in the movie. They also respond to eight questions related to the excepts read.
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Lesson 12- Quincy Jones:What Makes an American Master?
Middle schoolers study the life of Quincy Jones and research black music for selected decades of the 20th Century. They discuss the qualities that help one create and sustain a successful career. They design a timeline of what their...
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Dancing Hands, Abstract Drawings
Students discover African musical rhythms by performing Ancestral Spirit Dances. In this musical lesson, students research Willis "Bing" Davis and the abstract work he created. Students listen to Yoruba drum music and...
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All That is Irish and More - Activity 1
Learners listen to examples of fiddle music and violin music to determine the similarities and differences between the two musical forms. A video link is included in this introductory lesson to fiddle music (Part One of Two).
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Rhythm Sticks
Second graders experience artistic perception of rhythm in music and see how to move their bodies and tap their sticks to the rhythm of a particular song.
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“And Still I Rise” Proud Black Women
Students examine the experiences of African American women. In this poetry instructional activity, students use their literary analysis skills to compare the poetry of Maya Angelou to rap music performed by Queen Latifah and Lauryn Hill.
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Langston Hughes: Dream Variations
Students examine African-American communal life. In this Langston Hughes lesson, students read poetry by Hughes in order to gain insight into the Harlem community. Students select artwork that represents their community.
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Bringing the Rain to the Kapiti Plain - Kenya
Students accompany music to the story Bringing the Rain to the Kapiti Plain - Kenya to show how sound and music can accompany story description. In this music lesson, students learn how to show sound during a story.
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Literature: Porgy and Bess
Students examine the various portrayals of African-Americans in literature, focusing on the opera, Porgy and Bess. They conduct Internet research on African-American culture between the two World Wars. Students write fictional or...
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What Does This Song Really Say?
Students investigate communication by analyzing lyrics from a song. In this music arts lesson, students discuss slavery, the Underground Railroad and African American traditions while listening to a song called "This Train." Students...
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Singing And Making Rhythm
First graders engage in a lesson that emphasizes the use of music to form a rhythmic beat that incorporates singing. They create a song in freestyle and some of them create a song. Students are assessed at using hand movement to track...
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Spoken Word Poetry
Students examine the spoken work poetry of Abiodun Oyewole. They discuss the West African Griot tradition, listen to spoken word poetry, write and perform a poem, and watch a video excerpt of a poetry workshop.
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Blues Improvisation
Students practice playing and improvising while playing the 12 bar blues. They practice compositional skills, evaluate and perform musical pieces focused on the blues.
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Jamaican Styles: Ska and Rock steady
For this Jamaican styles musical worksheet, students review and analyze two types of music from Jamaica while answering four detailed questions in complete sentences.
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The Language of the Civil Rights Movement:
Tenth graders study the poetry of the US Civil Rights movement and the Black Arts movement over a 12 day period. They author a website showing works of poetry that students have chosen to analyze and relate to these movements.
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Langston Hughes
Young scholars identify similarities between Hughes' poetry and music (jazz and the blues).
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Exploring Cultural Rituals
Learners analyze images and music of common rituals in America with those of other countries. They use worksheets to compare and contrast the events.
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Clerihew Dances III, 4 and 5
Third graders relate dance movements to chants. They tap out the rhythm of poetry on different body parts.
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Music Motivates
Students listen to songs from the Civil Rights movement. They explain how the music might have inspired African-Americans to be activists in the movement. They examine how the Civil Rights movement affected the common good.
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Courageous Voices that Shook the Nation to Action
Learners study Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. In this Martin Luther King, Jr. day lesson, students learn about the holiday for Dr. King through literature and music. Learners learn the lyrics to Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday' about...
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In My Dream
Students listen to recordings of early jazz and identify examples of ostinato and syncopation. They discuss important personalities from jazz cultures and take a quiz on aspects of jazz.