Melody Teacher Resources

A song is only as memorable as its melody! Preschoolers and professional musicians alike know the value of a solid melody, no matter how complex the accompaniment is behind it. Teach music students about melodic lines with any number of our teacher-curated resources.

A scaffolded music theory activity teaches young musicians how to compose their own melody, which they can bring to a lesson on writing pop songs or composing music for a class recorder concert. Learners can pass the melody in a fun class game, or study the movement of pitch that comprises the melody in Raffi’s “Down by the Bay.”

Want to create a cross-curricular assignment between music and another class? Language arts students can find a possible melody in Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” or other stories, and a math lesson on time signatures ends with a melodic improvisation on classroom-made instruments. For an interdisciplinary music lesson that connects all subjects, check out an activity based on the Blue Man Group from Broadway, which brings the magic, science, and language of music to life.

The sweetest melody is your classroom is the sound of students learning, and at Lesson Planet, we want to help you keep the song going!

Showing 609 resources
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eBook
Children's Books Online

Children's Books Online: Mother Goose Melodies

For Students Pre-K - 1st
"Mother Goose Melodies", written circa 1850 by Willis P. Hazard, has been digitized and made available by the Rosetta Project. This 128 page book is appropriate for pre-readers.
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Lesson Plan
OpenStax

Open Stax: Catherine Schmidt Jones: The Shape of a Melody

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Here is a lesson plan that will allow your students to learn about melodies and their shapes. Recognizing when the notes are high or low and if they move up or down will help your students understand melodic contour.
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Website
Toby Rush

Music Theory: Species Counterpoint: Melody [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
A music theory worksheet regarding species counterpoint and melody. Requires Adobe Reader [PDF].
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eBook
Blackdog Media

Classic Reader: Melody by Laura E. Richards

For Students 3rd - 8th
This is the complete text of the children's novel "Melody" by Laura E. Richards.
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eBook
Blackdog Media

Classic Reader: A Christmas Melody by Henry S. Armstrong

For Students 9th - 10th
Read the short story "A Christmas Melody" by Henry S. Armstrong.
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Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Seraphic Melody

For Students 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read an autobiographical account of the narrator's discovery of a type of music he never knew existed. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
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Professional Doc
Province of British Columbia

British Columbia Ministry of Education: Music 8 to 10 [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This is a Music curriculum for Grades 8-10 from 1995. Included is a section on Melody per grade. Links and appendages are available at the end. Great resource for teachers.
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: Exploring the World of Music

For Students 9th - 10th
This 12-video series examines elements of music such as melody, harmony, rhythm, and texture, and how they are used in a wide variety of music genres in cultures around the world.
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Unit Plan
BBC

Bbc: Music Theory

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource presents a fun and interactive way to learn all about the elements of music. It offers links to information, definitions, assessments, and examples of melody, harmony and tonality, structure, tempo, metre and rhythm,...
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Lesson Plan
Writing Fix

Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Poetry Lesson: Paradox Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Jack Johnson's "Inaudible Melodies" creates an interesting paradox of how society perceives itself versus the reality of how society really behaves. After listening to a second song using paradox in order to further understand the...
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Primary
University of Florida

Baldwin Library: Mother Goose's Rhymes by Mc Loughlin Brothers

For Students 1st - 3rd
This is an online photocopy of the original text of the children's book Mother Goose's Rhymes or Mother Goose's Melodies by McLoughlin Brothers (1886), a collection of illustrated nursery rhymes.
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Activity
OpenStax

Open Stax: Catherine Schmidt Jones: Simple Chordal Harmony

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
This is an activity that teaches students how to add simple chords to a melody. Included are several activies and procedures to help with implementation.
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: I Could Be the Next Beethoven

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this lesson, students write the words and compose a melody for a school alma mater.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Patriotic Melodies

For Students 9th - 10th
The Library of Congress site profiles 26 American patriotic songs with commentary, supporting visual material, and recordings of "America the Beautiful," "Fanfare for the Common Man" and the like.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Patriotic Melodies

For Students 9th - 10th
The stories behind patriotic songs that have become part of American musical culture, such as "Anchors Away," "Over There," "U.S. Air Force Song," and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again." Drill into the site to find lyrics, listen to...
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Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Introduction to Polyphonic Singing

For Teachers 6th - 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart contains a step by step introduction to rhythm, melody, and polyphonic singing through the use of several canons.
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Activity
Kids' Wings

The Little Red Music Room

For Students 3rd - 5th
This site has curriculum based songs set to folk melodies. At this site teach language arts, science and math through songs.
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Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Stomp

For Students 3rd - 8th
In this video segment from Cyberchase, performers from STOMP! illustrate patterns using inventive and exciting rhythmic melodies.
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Professional Doc
American Institutes for Research

Center on Response to Intervention: Memo: Rti and Idea

For Teachers K - 1st
On January 21, 2011, OSEP's Director Melody Musgrove sent a memo to state directors of special education to clarify that RTI strategies cannot be used to delay or deny a timely evaluation for students suspected of having a disability....
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Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Bruno Mars: Don't Give Up

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Bruno Mars sings an inspirational melody all about perseverance. When something is new and difficult, it's important not to give up. Keep trying and you'll succeed! [1:57]
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Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Rhyme Time

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Find words that rhyme at the playground! Words like "girl" and "curl" end with the same sound. Discover even more rhymes with this rhyming melody. [0:50]
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Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Sesame Street: Song: Amigos

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Learn about friendship in this Spanish melody. Song also teaches Spanish vocabulary throughout the song. [1:15]
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Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Sesame Street: Job Song

For Students Pre-K - K
A melody about different types of jobs, like farmer and teacher. This resource introduces the concept of work and some of the jobs people can do to earn money. [1:39]
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eBook
University of Michigan

Making of America: Illustrated Poems of Oliver Wendell Holmes

For Students 9th - 10th
A complete, searchable text of "Illustrated Poems of Oliver Wendell Holmes," which was illustrated by George Randolph Barse and others.

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