Curated OER
Learning the Blues
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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A Cure for the School-Day Blues
Lessons on the Blues will have students singing for joy!
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Country's Music
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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Sing the Blues
Students explore examples of this musical form, then write their own lyrics for a blues song.
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Whites, Blacks and the Blues
This lesson enables students to explore and measure the distance between blacks and whites in the past and present United States. By thinking about the intersections of whites, blacks, and others around the blues, students will deepen...
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US Geography, The Blues
This instructional activity enables teachers to use blues styles and performers to think about various geographical regions of the United States. By studying different blues styles from the Mississippi Delta, Texas, and the Piedmont...
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Music Education, The Blues
This lesson plan 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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Folk Traditions in the Blues
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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Crossroads Blues
The crossroads, and the decisions made and entities met there, are a common theme in literature, pushing readers to examine the choices and encounters that shape life experience. The theme has also been explored in blues music, most...
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History, African Americans, The Blues
This lesson enables teachers to use blues music to explore the history of African Americans in the 20th century. By studying the content of blues songs, students can learn about the experiences and struggles of the working-class...
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Learning the Blues
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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The Fed Ex Problem
In this Fed Ex instructional activity, students read a word problem about air travel and time to deliver packages and solve it. Students complete 1 problem.
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"Humor" Afro-American Symphony (Third Movement)
A fun way for young learners to explore music and their personal reaction to it, this worksheet includes a short reading passage about musician William Grant Still, a word scramble, a matching activity and two short writing prompts. Some...
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Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story - The Birth of Soul
Learners analyze various kinds of music. In this music lesson plan, students listen to music clips to determine the kind of music each clip is then they participate in a class discussion about the music and prepare a presentation.
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Teaching Economics and Rock and Roll: Unemployment
Students explore the consequences of unemployment. In this macroeconomics lesson, students listen to the songs “Johnny 99” and “Worried Man.” Students discuss the socioeconomic costs of unemployment as they analyze the songs.
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A Voice for the Times
Students make connections with events of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's with songs made popular by Aretha Franklin.
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What Do You Know About Tennessee?
In this online interactive Tennessee worksheet, learners respond to 10 multiple choice questions that require them to exhibit what they know about the state. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
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Folktales: Uncle Cricket, the Soothsayer Lesson Ideas
Learners read the Nicaraguan folktale, "Uncle Cricket, the Soothsayer," prior to participating in various activities. Among the ideas presented here are completing story maps, analyzing characters, summarizing the plot, writing...
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Regional Songs in the Southern American Experience
Students write a song about transportation in 100 years after comparing and discussing "Proud Mary" and "The Midnight Special".