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VH1 Fan Club
Students connect the diversity of American culture to the music of Dave Matthews Band and then create lyrics that emphasize how diversity pertains to their own life.
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Songs that Bring Us Together - Lesson 5
Learners compose song as a classroom effort. They write a one-paragraph essay about "message" songs in 100 years and include three ideas for topics along with the style of music (such as folk, rock, blues, rap, etc.) that would match.
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Swing Your Partner!
This was written for ESOL learners, but could work for any elementary class. Learners read about the American dance style known as Square Dancing. They explore its use in literature, write a friendly letter about it, and then use their...
San Francisco Symphony
Learning Adjectives through the Duke
Duke Ellington, jazz, and jive kick-off a fun and creative lesson on responding emotionally to music. The class will learn about jive talk used in the 1920s and the life and music of Duke Ellington. They'll listen to a selection of his...
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The Influence of Hip Hop
Young scholars consider the influence of Hip Hop on their own language use and various segments of American society; they reflect on and demonstrate their knowledge of Hip Hop vocabulary and its use.
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Shakespeare Was A Black Woman
"I all alone beweep my outcast state." After a discussion of the "Shakespeare in American Life" segment in which Maya Angelou's relates her reaction to Sonnet 29, class groups create and perform a scene about an outcast that includes the...
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Multimedia Storytelling
Experiment with multimedia storytelling. After watching a segment of American Family, first, middle and high schoolers tell a story about their families, clarifying the setting, characters, and script. They work on setting their story in...
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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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The Four Sacred Elements
Fourth graders observe the Four Sacred Elements image in PowerPoint as projected on a screen and discuss what they see and then summarize the details. They discuss what the image represents and how the Four Sacred Elements are an...
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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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Courageous Voices that Shook the Nation to Action
Learners study Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. In this Martin Luther King, Jr. day lesson plan, students learn about the holiday for Dr. King through literature and music. Learners learn the lyrics to Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday'...
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George Gershwin
Pupils explore the life and accomplishments of George Gershwin. They listen to Latin rhythms and practice the rhythmic parts. Students identify Latin instruments George Gershwin added to the orchestra. After practice, they perform a...
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All That is Irish and More - Activity 1
Students 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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The History of Rock and Roll: Part 8 - The 70's Have a Nice Day - Lesson 2
Students identify the characteristics and elements of large scale rock productions. They examine the similarities between the American Vaudeville shows and the large-scale rock theater productions of the 1970's.
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Moving and Grooving with Tempo
Students participate in activities involving folk music using movement to illustrate the musical concept of tempo. The use of a game is used in order to help maintain student involvement in the activity.
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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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Ojal??
Students listen to the song and fill in the lyrics on a worksheet. They translate the meaning of the song into English. They concentrate on the correct verb tenses in the song. This activity is used as a warm up for a verb Spanish...
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Lesson Plan for Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 (1938)
Students study the life and music of composer, Samuel Barber. In groups, representing trees, water, and stars they use interpretive dance to tell the story of the musical composition, 'Adagio for Strings, Op. 11' by Barber.
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Chasing Peter's Wolf
First graders listen to Prokoviev's Peter and the Wolf, relate the story to the music and identify instruments and their representative characters. They examine how music communicates events and images that help the listener to better...
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Jamaican Styles: Ska and Rock steady
In this Jamaican styles musical worksheet, learners review and analyze two types of music from Jamaica while answering four detailed questions in complete sentences.
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Baroque Composers
Fourth graders study Baroque composers. For this music lesson, rotate trough three stations, collecting information on particular Baroque composers. Worksheets, information cards, and procedure included.
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Patchwork Flag
Learners read the story By the Dawn's Early Light, sing the Star Spangled Banner, put the words together in sentence strips, make a list of American qualities, and more. Through learning with music in this American Patriotism lesson...
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Learning Crescendo and Decrescendo
Third graders examine the sounds and notes for crescendos and decrescendos. They attend a concert by a symphony orchestra and when they return to the classroom they identify the crescendos and decrescendos in music they hear.
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Listen, Observe, And Read a Biography on Who Shaped America?
Fifth graders research a person from American history who helped shape the nation. They investigate the person's life from childhood through their adult accomplishments and use the information to publish a book that includes research...