Curated OER
Grow a Musical Instrument
Music, culture, social studies, and plant growth all in one! Kids explore the various type of traditional African instruments that are made out of gourds. They then grow their own gourds and use them to create a wide variety of...
Music Fun
Musical Instruments
Membranophones? Aerophones? How about strings? Percussion? You need not be a music instructor to benefit from a packet of 24 worksheets that introduce aspiring musicians to the various instrument families.
K5 Learning
Musical Instruments to Play
Bring some music to your language arts lesson with a reading comprehension activity. Learners read an informational passage about different musical instruments before answering a series of comprehension and vocabulary questions.
Curated OER
Musical Instruments
Here is a complete workbook which leads children as they work through the art of making a musical instrument. The instrument made must be a percussion instrument. The workbook is incredibly thorough and does a good job of leading pupils...
Curated OER
Inventing a Musical Instrument, a Tool And a Toy
In this inventing a musical instrument, tool and toy worksheet, students look at all the materials they have available to them and as a team design a unique musical instrument, tool and toy.
Curated OER
Musical Instrument Families
Using graphics, and an easy-to-understand format, this resource outlines the different kinds of instruments and their characteristics. This presentation could be used as an introduction to instruments for students getting ready to...
Curated OER
Investigating Brass Instruments and Pitch
Students observe the sounds of different brass instruments in order to understand how to create different pitches. In this musical instructional activity, students create a "brass" instrument from everyday household objects. The students...
Curated OER
Teaching the Instruments of the Orchestra to Young Students using the San Francisco Symphony Kids’ Website
Using the San Francisco Children's Orchestra web site, first graders build listening and instrument identification skills. Each child wears head phones, listens to ID, and finds various instruments on the included worksheet.
Acoustical Society of America
Generalizing How Musical Instruments Work
Sound, vibrations, resonance, and frequency are explored as learners use music to foster scientific inquiry. They engage in three different sound experiments and follow up discussions to foster a better understanding of how musical...
Science 4 Inquiry
Musical Vibes with Palm Pipes
Ancient people used musical pipes as early as the third millennium BCE. Young scientists explore the workings of musical pipes to better understand the relationship with frequency, length of pipe, and sound waves. They determine the...
Curated OER
Energetic Musical Instruments
Students apply the principles and concepts associated with energy and the transfer of energy in an engineering context through the designing and making of a musical instrument. After the accomplishment of the design, students must...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Music
Music is the focus of the reading adventure pack. After reading, pupils complete hands-on activities. Scholars use household items to make shakers and cymbals. They listen to eclectic music by turning on the radio, borrowing music from...
Classics for Kids
Instruments Have a Family
Are the instruments in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in the same family as those in George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue? Elementary musicians work on their music theory and their instrumental ear as they listen to clips of famous...
Smithsonian Institution
African American Music: Let’s Sing and Play Clapping Games
Two lessons focus on making a beat. Using popular African American music of its time, scholars listen and analyze the rhythm then recreate it with hands drums, and cups.
Amani Project
The 5 Elements of Music
A series of activities teach young musicians that they don't need a room full of instruments to make music. The second activity in the Amani Project has participants use their hands, feet, and voices to demonstrate the five elements of...
New York City Department of Education
What Did I Do to Be so Black and Blue: How Did Jazz Influence Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
How did jazz influence Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man? Class members read some of Ellison's non-fiction writings about blues and jazz, listen to records, watch videos, and engage in student-centered discussions. They then produce podcasts...
Classics for Kids
Listen to the Music
Different pieces of music can elicit different emotions from audience members. A quick tempo can make you feel happy, while a largo piece may bring out a melancholy temperament. Elementary musicians learn more about the instruments...
Country Music Hall of Fame
Ray Charles and Country Music
Ray Charles used the pain and adversity from his life to influence an entire genre of American music. Learn about the musician's daily life, struggles and success, and powerful musical style with a thorough resource.
Amani Project
Make an Instrument
Create a little harmony with Amani Project! Young musicians create their instruments using found or recycled objects. As an introduction, class members first experiment with sounds they can make with their bodies (clapping, stomping...
Curated OER
Thrilling Information: Music and Reading
Here’s a cross-curricular program music activity that uses Peer Gynt to engage class members. Groups take one section of “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” choreograph their section of the tune to represent the story as they imagine it,...
Classics for Kids
Instrumental Sounds
What sound does a piccolo make? What's the difference between a violin and viola? What family does a timpani belong to? Take a tour through the different sections of an orchestra with an interactive reference tool.
Acoustical Society of America
Musical Instruments
Mix it up and engage learners in a lesson on music and physical science. Using cups, strings, guitars, and voice, the class will experiment with sound vibration and frequency. They'll use each instrument and fill out a worksheet that...
Curated OER
Rubber Band Banza
Third graders review ideas about sound and vibration to make their own stringed instrument. They review what a pictograph and bar graph are. Pupils conduct a survey within the classroom to choose the four favorite string instruments and...
Acoustical Society of America
Musical Instruments Part I - Woodwinds
What is the connection between sound and vibration? Learners find out as they conduct a series of experiments with instruments they create. The experiment is well explained, includes modifications for visuall and hearing impaired...