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Lesson Plan
Yale University

Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: How to Blues

For Teachers 6th - 8th
This site has ten lessons to teach about the blues in which students learn the geography, historical events and performers associated with the blues. The unit has been recognized by the American Music Education Initiative as one of the...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs: Cole Porter: You're the Top

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A high school lesson plan designed to delve deeper into the life of Cole Porter and the meaning in his music.
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Handout
PBS

Pbs: People and Discoveries: Kdka Begins to Broadcast 1920

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from PBS details the history of radio and KDKA (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) the first radio station to offer programming. Mentions: advertising, NBC Radio, mass culture.
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Unit Plan
PBS

Pbs: Continental Harmony

For Students 3rd - 8th
PBS presents several activities and lesson plans that cover the concepts of identifying different forms of music, learning about musical imagery, writing in response to music, and creating lyrics. The Sound Lounge has many interactive...
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Website
Other

David Holt: The Roots of Mountain Music

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a short history of the major influences that have combined to create mountain music, one of which is minstrel music. Provides a good decription of minstrel music in general. Includes names and descriptions of specific songs,...
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Website
Other

Harmonica Info and Tips

For Students 9th - 10th
Gives basic information about the harmonica in addition to tips for purchasing and playing one
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Activity
Chicago History Museum

Chicago History Museum: History Files: The Black Sox

For Students 9th - 10th
Media coverage of the 1919 World Series involving the players from this team and the scandal that became so well known.
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Handout
Other

The Guide to Musical Theatre: Bob Fosse American Choreographer

For Students 9th - 10th
Article about Bob Fosse musical revivals and new shows made in tribute to him, also includes information on Fosse dance style.
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Handout
Other

The Artist Al Jolson

For Students 9th - 10th
This site details Al Jolson's musical career. Check it out for some interesting information about the artist.
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Primary
Other

Studs Terkel an Interview With the Man Who Interviews

For Students 9th - 10th
Find out about this fascinating man in an interview with him by Kira Albin.
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Activity
Other

For Many, One: Eugenics in the Culture Wars of the 1920s

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the bizarre ideas of those who believed in the role of eugenics in society. Find out about "bad" heredity and "good" heredity and see the form from the Eugenics Society of America that determined the "fitness" of individual...
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Handout
Other

Dance Marathons

For Students 9th - 10th
Author describes the dance marathon craze in detail, from the fun sport it was in the 1920s to the desperate play for brief fame and fortune in the 1930s. Published in 2004.
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Handout
Other

"Blind" Boone: History

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides a thorough biography of one of the most influential but overlooked Ragtime composers, John William "Blind" Boone. The emphasis is on his lifetime and the tremendous success of his musical career despite his...
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Website
Other

Katherine Dunham Center for Arts and Humanities

For Students 9th - 10th
Brief description of the purpose of the Katherine Dunham Center for Arts and Humanities, directed by dancer/choreographer Katherine Dunham.
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Website
Other

Katherine Dunham Center for Arts and Humanities

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides information about Katherine Dunham, and the Katherine Dunham Center for Arts and Humanities.
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Website
Other

Nlbpa: Negro Leagues Baseball History

For Students 9th - 10th
Find out about the history of early Negro baseball beginnings in the late 19th century before reading about the advent of the Negro National League in the 1920s. Baseball was the American pastime for everyone in the 1920s and 1930s.
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Website
Other

Amistad Digital Resource: Pop Culture

For Students 9th - 10th
General overview of African American pop-culture in the mid 20th-century highlighting music, art, theater, and sports.
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Handout
IMDb

Internet Movie Database: Photos for Fred Astaire

For Students 9th - 10th
This Internet Movie Database site provides photos of Fred Astaire in many different films. About 45 images are offered.
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Website
Authors Calendar

Author's Calendar: Toni Morrison

For Students 9th - 10th
A detailed biography on the works of African American writer and 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature winner, Toni Morrison. Contains information on the themes and subject matters of her most famous books while also giving some information on...
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Article
Other

Pay the Piper: The Flute

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about playing the flute at this website, which is geared toward young students who are thinking about playing a musical instrument. Includes background information on this woodwind, and links to more information.
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Article
Other

Pay the Piper: The Trumpet & the Cornet

For Students 9th - 10th
This website, intended for young students wishing to play a musical instrument, discusses the "pros and cons" of playing the trumpet or cornet. The site provides background information on these brass instruments.
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Article
Other

African American Registry: Rose Mc Clendon: A Builder of the Black Stage

For Students 9th - 10th
A biography on the African American actress Rose McClendon (1884-1936 CE) who played a major role in the creation of a "Black Theater," in the United States.
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Article
Other

African American Registry: The Cakewalk, a Black Expression Through Dance

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource presents an article on the Cakewalk, a popular dance in the early 1900s that originated with black slaves impersonating their masters.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: Eye Contact: Ornette Coleman

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief audio discussion of Elaine de Kooning's charcoal drawing of saxophonist, Ornette Coleman. Interesting comments by Wendy Wicks Reaves, curator at the National Portrait Gallery.

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