Country Music Hall of Fame
Ray Charles and Country Music
Ray Charles used the pain and adversity from his life to influence an entire genre of American music. Learn about the musician's daily life, struggles and success, and powerful musical style with a thorough resource.
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.
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 lesson that challenges scholars to research and create. Pupils delve deep into information materials to identify jazz terminology, compare types of jazz and jazz musicians,...
Historic New Orleans Collection
Exploring Primary Sources: Music in New Orleans
Looking for a new and exciting way to teach young historians the art of primary source analysis? Jazz up your lesson with a resource that asks class members to analyze photos, travel documents, and letters written by some of New Orleans'...
Curated OER
Crawford Grill: Opening the Doors of Opportunity
Analyze the role the Crawford Grill played in the history of Jazz music. Budding historians research interviews and video clips to learn about the Crawford Grill in Pennsylvania and black music history. The lesson culminates when...
Music Teaching Resources
Note Naming Worksheet 1
Can you name this note? Young musicians are asked to name each of the notes pictured on a music worksheet and then to place these notes on a staff.
Curated OER
The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance inspired a group of writers, musicians, and artists whose influence is still seen today.
Penguin Books
Up Close: Ella Fitzgerald
A reading of Tanya Lee Stones' biography of Ella Fitzgerald lets middle schoolers get up close and personal with the First Lady of Jazz. Stone recounts details of Fitzgerald's life from her early days through her experiences as a teenage...
Curated OER
International Jazz Day
In this International Jazz Day worksheet, learners complete activities such as reading a passage, phrase matching, fill in the blanks, correct words, multiple choice, spelling, sequencing, scrambled sentences, writing questions, survey,...
Curated OER
A Cure for the School-Day Blues
Lessons on the Blues will have students singing for joy!
Curated OER
Rap Poetry
If you're looking to tie rap music into poetry writing, this would be a good presentation to use as you kick off your mini-unit. Learners are given a brief, but descriptive, history of rap music and rap poetry. The slides include...
Curated OER
Jazzing Up the Classroom
Tune-up mundane subjects with some lively jazz for a cross-currricular kick!
Curated OER
Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-Duke Ellington
Students read Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the life of the 20th century composer. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and...
Curated OER
The Great Migration
Students explore how migration to Harlem created a new life for African Americans. In this cross curricular lesson, students illustrate maps showing the migration, paint murals representing African American life in the South and create a...
Curated OER
Kandinsky Color Studies
Students study the artist Wassily Kandinsky as well as his art and and music. In this art appreciation lesson, students view a variety of Kandinsky's work and circular color studies. Students relate the use of color to emotion and listen...
Curated OER
THE FLOW OF MUSIC AND POETRY
Students explore their feelings about rain through art, music, and poetry. They listen to music as they think about rain and determine how they feel about rain. Students create either poetry or artwork about as they listen to music...
Curated OER
Romare Bearden
Students examine and discuss a collage by the artist Romare Bearden. They analyze the impact of jazz on art, listen to jazz, and create an original collage.