When you hear the first few beats of "Despacito," the unrivaled Latin pop hit of 2017, you can't keep your feet from moving! A music analysis lesson plan examines the intoxicating hit by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee and introduces the...

Discover the rich cultural traditions and remarkable ingenuity of indigenous people and African slaves by learning about one of the most popular percussion instruments in the world today.

Students identify the various emotions created by different types of music. They Identify role of music in creating various emotions for film and television . They observe and practice various ways of playing percussion instruments. They...

Want to put some feet in your head? Check out an online lesson about spondees, dactyls, and anapests to bring new structure to your poetic forms.

Young scholars write rhyming poems using rebus. With pictures instead of words, authors create original work about things they love. 

Add a little fun and fancy to English language arts with an activity that challenges scholars to write a limerick. Authors follow five rules in order to compose an original poem that contains a specific rhyme scheme. 

What makes a great poem sound so good? Learn the rhythmic secrets of poetry with an explanatory online lesson.

Music lyrics offer messages. Some lyrics offer positive messages, some negative, some reflective, some explosive. Class members investigate the powerful messages in the lyrics of popular rap songs by first reading one student's essay on...

An author study provides learners the opportunity to explore in depth the life of, the influences on, and the works of a single literary figure. Introduce middle schoolers to Langston Hughes with a unit that models how to approach an...

All types of organisms sync behaviors using biological clocks. But how do those biological clocks work? It turns out the moon is in control! Part of a larger series exploring biology, the video presents an exploration of this phenomenon...

Young theatre artists engage in a scavenger hunt to acquaint themselves with set design. The challenge is to search the site and match a separate maquette with each of the 24 clues.

Perfect for music specialists, classroom teachers, and substitutes, a packet of 18 games includes complete lessons as well as short activities for when you have some extra time at the end of class.

Have everything you need to know about the elements of poetry with a nine-page handout. Split into four categories—word sounds, meanings, arrangement, and imagery—budding poets may reference terms, read definitions, descriptions, and...

Project-based learning in a music theory class? Take note. Young songwriters compose, record, copyright, and promote their original songs. They even design their own CD cover.

Young composers demonstrate their understanding of the stylistic features of descriptive music, including pitch, tempo, dynamics, rhythm, and timbre, by developing a melody and countermelody for a main character in a story. As part of...

Imagine a show with no dialogue and no narrative, but only noise and confusion. And yet by the end of a performance, the entire audience is feeling the rhythm. Welcome to STOMP. Find out what all the noise is about with a study guide...

What do Johann Sebastian Bach and Miles Davis have in common? Much more than class members might imagine. The comparison of these two famous composers is just one lesson in a unit that investigates many facets of the music industry...

How do Poe's choices of imagery, rhythm and rhyme scheme, and structure help build the desired single effect of "The Raven"? After listening to a dramatic reading of the poem, class members consider whether Poe's choices do create a...

After reading the poem, Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, scholars examine each stanza in order to complete the challenge—organizing stanzas to recreate the poem in its correct order. A grand conversation follows the activity...

Class members explore the concepts of texture in music and musical arrangements by examining Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo" and "Harlem Airshaft."

Gustav Holst's The Planets provide young musicians an opportunity to examine how composers can create a suite: a collection of smaller pieces grouped to explore a single topic. After listening to "Jupiter," they examine "Mars" in detail,...

Honor the great poet, Shel Silverstein with eighteen activities and lessons showcasing his collection of poems from the book, Every Thing On It. Activities challenge scholars to rhyme words, make inferences, recite a poem, and more! 

After watching a video of Peter and the Wolf, and identifying the instruments used to represent each character, class members use rhythm instruments to represent the actions in the song, "What Would I do."

After reading chapter 14 of the story Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, scholars take part in a read aloud of the poem If by Rudyard Kipling and compare it to the reading of Bud, Not Buddy. Learners then go deeper into the poem...