Curated OER
American Rhythms
Students combine elements of music with poetry. For this creative writing lesson, students examine poems from a variety of authors with varying writing styles. Students explore the different elements of poetry, including tone, rhythm,...
Curated OER
Visualization of Rhythms in 4/4
First graders investigate musical notes. In this music lesson, 1st graders discuss the values of each note by counting the beats accordingly.
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Allen Ginsberg: Poetry and Politics
Students explore the poetry of Allen Ginsberg. They read and analyze poems by Allen Ginsberg, conduct Internet research, collect examples of art of the 60s, and create a presentation.
Curated OER
The Heart of Human Experience: Cultura Azteca
First graders explore Aztec culture to gain understanding of relationship between music, recreation, and culture. Seven lessons on one page.
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Life of a Navajo Weaver
Students explore Native American weaving patterns and dance movements. In this Native Americans lesson, students view examples of weaving patterns on the Internet and compare the patterns to a Native American dance. Students demonstrate...
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Lift Every Voice and Sing
Young scholars analyze sculpture, poetry, and music to gain an understanding of historical events. In this critical thinking skills lesson, students take a closer look at African-American history as they examine "Lift Every Voice and...
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Dali & Desnos
Young scholars explore surreal art and poetry. In this visual arts lesson, students examine works by André Breton, Robert Desnos, Salvador Dalí, and Joan Miro. Young scholars then apply the techniques in the works they analyze to their...
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An Introduction to Opera: The Emperor's New Clothes
Fifth graders are introduced to opera, its vocabulary, definitions and are given an opportunity to listen to an opera sung by children. They identify phrases and events in the story, "The Emperor's New Clothes." Each student creates a...
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Folk Dancing Fun
First graders discuss different kinds of music they have heard. They listen to a short selection of folk music and discuss where they think it is from. Using a globe, the teacher shows students where the music is from. They spread out on...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Charles Baudelaire: Poète Maudit (The Cursed Poet)
After learning the main ideas of the Decadent movement, students work in small groups to read and translate poems by the French poet Charles Baudelaire using basic etymology skills. They then read the accurate English translations to see...
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Moccasins Are Made for Dancing
Students explore two Native American legends. In this cultural traditions lesson, students read "The Legend of Blue Bonnet," and "The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush." Students then study basic Native American dance movements prior to...
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The Cleverest Thief
Students practice their reading comprehension while listening to a classic folktale from India. For this cultural storytelling lesson, students read the book The Cleverest Thief and complete word identification worksheets based on the...
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(In)fringe Benefits?
Young scholars explore the "Copy Left" movement, then analyze and discuss the key legal issues regarding intellectual property and copyright legislation in the context of global communication and the Internet.
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Woody Guthrie: Ain't Got No Home
Learners examine the music of Woody Guthrie and how the political and economic climate influenced his work. They read and discuss online articles, define key vocabulary words, take a Political Orientation Survey, and write a position...
Curated OER
Exploring Film Genres for Telling Hero Stories: Narrative Shorts
Learners research that a narrative film tells a story using camera movement, sound, lighting, editing and other film making techniques. The audience must be taken into consideration when making a film. They explore what makes their hero...
Curated OER
-Body in Motion - Axial and Locomotor
Students practice increasing their movement and dance vocabulary through axial motion and locomotor step skill-building. They work with a partner and create and perform short sequences utilizing the vocabulary their practicing. Each...
Curated OER
Moving Rhythms
Students explore the elements of tempo, beat and rhythm. They create rhythm patterns and an original dance. In groups, students perform their phrases for their peers. As a class, they explore choreographic principles, processes and...
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Locomotor Dances
Students explore and perform locomotor movements. With partners, they combine the locomotor movements into a simple dance. The partner identifies three movements they observed. Students may be grouped into dancers for a performance.
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Tempo Contrasts in partner Dances
Young scholars explore the differences in tempo through movement. In groups, students create an original dance phrase and illustrate both fast and slow movement. They share their observations and evaluate each dance according to...
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Kandinsky Color Studies
Students study the artist Wassily Kandinsky as well as his art and and music. In this art appreciation lesson, students view a variety of Kandinsky's work and circular color studies. Students relate the use of color to emotion and listen...
Curated OER
Global Music Lesson Plans: Singing Games - UK and Botswana
Students perform and compare two singing games from Botswana and from the United Kingdom. In this singing games lesson, students identify and respond to singing games and their changes in meter. Students compare the two singing games...
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Protest Music Video
High schoolers create an iMovie that expresses the meaning of a protest song from the 1960's or 1970's. They investigate the emotional and political overtones of the times and use images to interpret the song's meaning.
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Shadow Dances
Students explore the physical phenomenon of shadows through movement improvisation and dance. They create an original dance phrase based on this imagery. All students then reproduce accurately the movement choices of another dancer.
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The Ants Go Marching
Integrate art, math, life science, music, and fun in this beginning addition and subtraction activity. Children kinesthetically represent adding and subtracting numbers to 10; they stand up one at a time as you count forward and sit down...