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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning the Blues

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students take a virtual field trip to Memphis, Tennessee in their study of the blues, its characterisitics, founding fathers, and histororical influence on modern music. They compose blues lyrics that reflect present-day attitudes and...
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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

The Vocal Blues: Created in the Deep South of the U.S.

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Bring the sounds of the deep South vocal blues to the classroom with a Smithsonian Folkways lesson. In preparation, scholars listen to and count the 12 bar blues patterns in several works and identify the I, II, IV, and V chords as well...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Playin' the Blues

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students explore history and sounds of blues music, construct instruments from scrap materials, and compose music to accompany lyrics of songs for kids.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Get Your Mojo Workin': Part 1 Writing Your Very Own Blues Tune!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Upper graders listen to the blues. They discuss blues scale, read a description of the blues, and work together to write an original piece. A lesson like this ties into American history and African-American musical contributions very...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Country's Music

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Jazz, Blue Grass, Hip Hop, Swing. Gospel, R&B, Ragtime, Disco. So many music genres born in the USA. After reading an article about the fate of New Orlean's Jazz after Hurricane Katrina, class members investigate the life cycles of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Chicago - Chicago Blues

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Watching Great Performances’ Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Chicago launches an investigation into and discussion of how the electric guitar and guitarists have changed the sound of the blues over time. An engaging way to...
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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

The Birth of an Icon: Learning and Performing the Origins of the Drum Set and Early Jazz Drumming in New Orleans, Louisiana

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Bass drum, snare drum, tom-toms, cymbals. Perched behind their drum sets, wielding their drum sticks and wire brushes, drummers lay the grove and are the heartbeat of a band's performance. A dynamic instructional activity introduces...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Langston Hughes and the Blues

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Young scholars explore the connections between Langson Hughes and blues music. In this African American culture lesson, students compare and contrast blues music with poetry and short stories by Langston Hughes.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The blues highway: An integration of music with geography

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze the movement of the blues from rural Mississippi to urban Chicago and how place and the environment affected the development of the blues. They define the blues, where it originated and how and why it moved to Chicago....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music and Animation: 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Music has been used to convey thoughts, feelings, and the human condition for thousands of years. Your class will analyze several songs hear in the animated classic, "Charlie Brown." They will listen to several jazz pieces from the show,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poets Got Them Blues

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Contemplate what music learners listen to and why they listen. Can they find poetry within music lyrics? Specifically hone in on blues lyrics and ruminate upon the social issues prevalent in the themes. Particular song lyrics coincide...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mississippi Delta Blues Moves: Second in a Series of Three with Barb Hoffman and Steve Hoskins, MGM

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students complete a graphic organizer reviewing Barb Hoffman's prior activity," Slave Songs (1840-1876)" as well as listen to and discuss Delta Blues music samples. Students research one Delta Blues singer and write a "color coded"...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music Education, The Blues

For Teachers Pre-K - 6th
This lesson examines both the content and form of lyrics in blues songs. In addition to highlighting the basic musical form of a blues song, it also addresses the use of floating verses in blues music, both within the context of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making Music and Playing the Blues

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars research how musical instruments have changed over time. They discover how math is used in music. They describe musical instruments from photographs as well.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning the Blues

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students become familiar with the characteristic form and sound of the blues, then learn about the history and evolution of the blues in relationship to the African-American experience. Students examine the structure and language of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Red, White, and Blue Notes

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the history of major American music genres. Then, through mock radio shows, students examine the distinguishing features of each genre and how each has changed throughout the years.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My Way

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students culminate a humanities project by improvising music to accompany a video of a particular era in US history.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Responses To Twentieth Century Music: A High School Art Curriculum

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students explore their own responses to sound by hearing the music as a regular part of the class structure. They develop an awareness that certain art evokes certain sounds and moods and develop an intuitive responses to the music.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Music Genres

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Learners research and listen to a variety of American music genres and create a written comparison between three of the styles.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

VH1 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll Lesson 3

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students examine female artists who perform in the genres of rhythm & blues, jazz, soul, and hip-hop/rap. They compose lyrics and melody in one of these genres.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Folk Traditions in the Blues

For Teachers All
Click here to download a PDF of this lesson. (2.8 MB) Overview This lesson will enable teachers to use the blues to explore selected topics in African American folklore. Students will learn about some of the African American cultural...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

And You Don't Stop - 30 Years of Hip-Hop, Episode 2, Lesson 3

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers discuss how Run-D.M.C. brought Hip Hop into mainstream popularity. They discuss why melding two styles of music is popular and what the results have been through history. They take two songs and combine elements to make a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz Talk

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners analyze the origins of jazz music by examining work songs, spirituals, blues, and gospel songs as well as works of poetry from African American artists. They create their own poems from either the narrative, dramatic, or lyric...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music Styles

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Young scholars identify many genres of music and connect styles of music with various cultures. They watch "The Greatest TV Moments: Sesame Street Music A to Z" and list music styles: folk, jazz, rock, etc.