California Department of Education
Creating a Therapeutic Soundscape: Ambient Improvisations and Planned Catharsis (CTE)
How is music a form of therapy? Scholars explore the topic using the fourth and final instructional activity from the Changing One's Tune: A Music Therapy STEM series. Learners explore the relationship between music and the mind and...
California Department of Education
Instruments of Change: Making a Simple Stringed Instrument (CTE)
What materials and skills does a person need to build a simple working instrument? With the first of four lessons from the Changing One's Tune: A Music Therapy STEM Integrated Project series, scholars learn about the basic structure of...
California Department of Education
Tension and Release: Creating Mindful Harmony (CTE)
Perhaps the Doobie Brothers said it best when they sang, "Listen to the Music." With the third of four lessons from the Changing One's Tune: A Music Therapy STEM Integrated Project series, pupils discover the connection between music and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Glass Menagerie: Impact of Expressionism
Young scholars are challenged to write a realistic analysis of Tennessee Williams' nonrealistic memory play, The Glass Menagerie. Writers use the evidence gathered on their worksheets to craft an effective thesis and concluding statement...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Glass Menagerie: Key Themes
Using the list of expressionist techniques generated in the first lesson, groups analyze how Williams uses these techniques to develop one of the play's themes. The whole class then shares and discusses the examples they found where...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Glass Menagerie as Expressionist Theatre
The first lesson in a three-part unit has high schoolers examine The Glass Menagerie as an example of expressionist theatre. After reading a short article about expressionism, scholars list expressionist techniques in Tennessee...
K20 LEARN
Power To The People: Bill Of Rights Art
The works of Juane Quick-to-see Smith are featured in a lesson that asks pupils to consider the role artists play in bringing about social and political change. Scholars examine protest art by Smith and several street artists and...
K20 LEARN
Jazz In Oklahoma
When considering the possible hot spots of jazz in the United States, Oklahoma isn't the state that first comes to mind. However, it is the birthplace of several jazz musicians that influenced the evolution of the genre and Oklahoma City...
Institut Obert de Catalunya
20th Century Music: Jazz
A 67-page packet provides instructors with a complete course in the history of Jazz. Lessons look at the roots of jazz in early 20th century African American communities in the southern United States and continues to the New Orleans...
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...
PBS
The Harlem Renaissance
A reading of Walter Dean Myers' "Harlem" sets the stage for studying the literature, art, and music of the Harlem Renaissance. The activity begins with a review of the social, political, and economic conditions of the 1920s and 1930s...
EBSCO Industries
Music and Poetry
Song lyrics, like poems, are meant to be heard. After examining the literary devices in several poems, scholars examine the lyrics of popular songs and identify the sound devices and the figurative language writers use to create the...
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University
Are You My Mother? An Opinion Writing Unit
During a five-day lesson, scholars analyze written and visual art—primarily the poem, Mother to Son by Langston Hughes— identify facts, and write opinions. Learners read the poem several times, discuss, write, compare and...
Digital Public Library of America
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
A set of 14 primary sources provides background for a study of Lorraine Hansberry's drama, A Raisin in the Sun. Featured are images from stage productions of the play, white supremacy protests, a clip from a television interview, and...
John F. Kennedy Center
Harriet Tubman: Secret Messages Through Song
A lesson all about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad introduces scholars to African American spirituals. By way of reading, speaking, and listening, learners discover, analyze, and decode African American spirituals. They...
Digital Public Library of America
Women and the Blues
A 12-piece primary source packet sets the tone for a study of the role women played in the origins, development, and impact of blues music. Legends like Bessie Smith, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Mamie Smith, and Ida Cox are featured, as are...
John F. Kennedy Center
Harriet Tubman: An Informative and Impressionistic Look
Informational text and impressionistic art lead a lesson about Harriet Tubman. Working in teams, scholars examine a variety of resources. They analyze, compare, and contrast the work. Using their research findings, pupils create an...
John F. Kennedy Center
Harriet Tubman: Retelling History Through Dance and Drama
Scholars listen to several pieces of music in preparation for a discussion about how instruments and lyrics convey emotions. With Harriet Tubman as the focus, small groups create an original song or dance. A reflection piece concludes...
John F. Kennedy Center
Musical Harlem: How Is Jazz Music Reflective of the Harlem Renaissance?
Bring jazz music and the Harlem Renaissance to light with a instructional activity that challenges scholars to research and create. Pupils delve deep into information materials to identify jazz terminology, compare types of jazz and jazz...
Smithsonian Institution
Singing for Justice: Following the Musical Journey of “This Little Light of Mine”
Scholars go on a musical journey to discover the origin, importance, and evolution of the song, "This Little Light of Mine". Class members boost their voice talents and clap to the beat while learning the lyrics in both English and Zulu....
Smithsonian Institution
Songs, Sounds and Stories from the Georgia Sea Islands
American music is the result of the influence of many cultures, including the traditions brought by the African slaves. Young scholars study the polyrhythms, the call-and-response format, and the vocal improvisations of the Gullah...
Smithsonian Institution
Jamaican Song, Dance, and Play: Experiences with Jamaican Musical Traditions
Young musicians experience song, dance, and play of the Jamaican culture. Scholars listen for and recreate beats, they play tunes, make up original dances, and play a game that challenges pupils to pass stones to a specific beat.
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.
Smithsonian Institution
Spirits Across the Ocean: Yoruban and Dahomean Cultures in the Caribbean Brought by the Slave Trade
Much of Latin American music owes its origins to the slave trade. Peoples from the Yoruban and Dahomean cultures brought with them the distinctive rhythms, time signatures, and eighth note patterns that now characterize Caribbean music....