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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Affirmation, Assimilation, and Acculturation: Middle School

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Name That Tune

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Integrating technology and music can be a snap with lessons like this one! Kids in a junior high band class took to the Internet to download and practice playing their instrument with a computer generated back up band. They practice...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

"Eine Kleine Nachtmusik"

For Students 7th - 12th
Mozart was an amazing composer and "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" was one of his best-loved orchestral pieces. This handout provides a brief description of the instruments for which it was written, and how each section and part should be...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Down a 4th, Up a 5th

For Students 3rd - 8th
It's time to practice those sharps. Young musicians write the order of sharps by counting down a fourth and up a fifth. This is a great way to teach sharps to emergent musical note readers. 
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Handout
Fun Music Company

Working Out the Key

For Students 2nd - 12th
"Gimme an E minor!" Or any key for that matter. But how do you figure out the key of a piece of music? Here's a worksheet that shows young musicians three easy steps to help them identify the key of a piece of music.
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Handout
Fun Music Company

Completing Measures with Rests

For Students 2nd - 12th
Rests. Eighth rests, quarter rests, and half rests are the focus of a one-page instructional activity that asks music theory students to complete a series of measures with rests and bar lines.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Focus on Harmony

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Harmony is the focus of this band lesson plan. Upper graders play the Star Spangled Banner, while focusing on harmony, chords, and musical voice. This lesson plan includes several suggested cross-curricular activities.
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Unit Plan
Johnny Mercer Foundation

Project-Based Songwriting

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Project-based learning in a music theory class? Take note. Young songwriters compose, record, copyright, and promote their original songs. They even design their own CD cover.
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Worksheet
Music Teaching Resources

Note Naming Worksheet 1

For Students 3rd - 6th
Can you name this note? Young musicians are asked to name each of the notes pictured on a music worksheet and then to place these notes on a staff.
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Activity
Canada's National Arts Center

Vivaldi and The Four Seasons

For Students 4th - 6th
Did you know that Vivaldi’s orchestra was largely made up of girls from an orphanage? Fun facts like this fill a 34-page teacher's kit designed to accompany a cross-curricular study of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Musical Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars analyze lyrics of their favorite songs as examples of alliteration, metaphor, Onomatopoeia, personification, rhyme, and simile to determine the purpose of these devices in poetry. They use their analysis to create a...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 7th - 12th
A reading of Walter Dean Myers' "Harlem" sets the stage for studying the literature, art, and music of the Harlem Renaissance. The lesson begins with a review of the social, political, and economic conditions of the 1920s and 1930s that...
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Activity
Can Teach

Pass the Melody

For Teachers K - 4th
Get a jam session started in your elementary music class! Learners engage in melody transitions by singing a familiar song and passing on the tune to the next person.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Fill-In: Nicki Minaj

For Students 7th - 9th
Nicki Minaj is a pop and fashion icon to today's youth. Here, they will read an article about her and what she wore to the MTV Music Awards. They read the article, then attempt to fill in the missing words from several of the paragraphs....
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Worksheet
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Curated OER

Comparing Poems

For Students 4th - 6th Standards
Young literary analysts compare two poems by the same author. Readers look for slant rhyme, observe the beat and rhythm of each, and search for repeated vowel sounds. After re-reading, they observe the lack of punctuation and the stanza...
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Handout
Fun Music Company

Relative Major and Minor

For Students 2nd - 12th
It's all relative. Young music theorists are asked to count to three and identify the relative major and minor keys of keys that share the same signature.
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Worksheet
Fun Music Company

Name the Instrument

For Students 2nd - 8th
Here's a word scramble activity that asks kids to identify a series of instruments and then transpose the circled letters to reveal the name of the world's oldest playable musical instrument.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Grade 10 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 6

For Teachers 10th Standards
Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club brings together the central ideas of identity, ambition, expectations, and relationships. As high schoolers read an excerpt from the chapter "Two Kinds," they note how Jing-Mei's connection to music relates to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Elizabeth Peyton: Pictures of Royalty: The Imagined

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Elizabeth Peyton is an artist who creates images of people (often famous) that she doesn't personally know. These images become part of her imagined community. Learners analyze her work, her community of imagined friends, and then create...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tears of Joy Theatre Presents Anansi the Spider

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Accompany the African folktale, Anansi the Spider, with a collection of five lessons, each equipped with supplemental activities. Lessons offer multidisciplinary reinforcement in English language arts, social studies, science, and arts...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Expressions of Culture, History and Politics Through Art and Music

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze a piece of music to identify its political, cultural, and historical messages. They discuss relationships between art, history, culture and aesthetics and examine how Hawaiian artists transmit cultural traditions,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Paint & Paper: Free-Form Musical Art

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Students explore painting their feelings as they enjoy this musical art activity. In this early childhood visual art lesson, students use paint to respond to music.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music Around the World: United Nations Week

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students discover the United Nations through the use of musical examples and performance. This two day lesson requires two forty-five minute sections and delivers information about different cultures around the world. Emphasis is on...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Analyzing and Describing Music

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learners analyze instrumental music.  In this instrumental music lesson plan, students investigate musical works of art.  Learners describe the instruments they hear and discover the relationship between music and other disciplines. 

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