Upper graders having skills in music performance will extend their abilities through creative musical composition. They'll use Finale 2000 to explore facets of music composition, they'll then compose a piece for their instrument in C, F,...

Put on some music and get moving as a way to represent the life cycle of a caterpillar. Kids listen to the story The Very Hungary Caterpillar, discuss the life cycle, then create vocal expression that represent each stage of the cycle....

The story behind the Star Spangled Banner sets off this singing and music lesson. Emergent singers study facts about Francis Scott Key and his famous song, they then discuss and practice singing the first verse paying close attention to...

Third graders create a rap using basic AB form composition. Evaluation of performances are based on rubric formed during the first activity by all students. This three to four day activity culminates in student performances and...

Students explore Folk Music in Iowa. For this folk music instructional activity, students discuss different types of folk music and how it relates to life in Iowa. They take the tune of a song and write their own lyrics to describe their...

Here is a series of five exercises intended to bring movement, dance, and theater into the classroom. Intended for special ed classes, but appropriate for any grade, learners will pantomime, play pretend, dance, move, and create...

Learners interpret the themes in Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, create a 6-line poem based on the themes in the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, and define musical terms related to the study of programmatic music in...

Music composition can be easy with a little software assistance. The class uses Garageband to listen to, write, sing, and record a blues song. They listen to the song provided through the software, write their own lyrics to the song,...

Students complete a unit of 9 lessons to learn about realism in music during the time of the Underground Railroad. In this music realism lesson, students learn about coded lyrics in the slave songs. Students complete 9 lessons using...

Learners complete activities for physical music analysis. In this physical music lesson, students read the biography for Lelavision musical sculptures, complete a sound and motion activity, and a making music activity. Learners also...

Students explore and investigate the foundation and history of jazz music. They listen to various pieces of music while creating drawings, develop a timeline of jazz history, and read and discuss biographies of famous jazz musicians.

Young scholars explore songs that tell stories over various decades and create a Garage band track for their voice.  For this story song lesson, students create a video for their song group.  Young scholars present a proposal...

Students create a new project. They are told that the Garage Band is a program that comes on Macintosh computers. Students are told that they project doesn't matter what tempo or key if they are recording live music. They go back to the...

Students explore music about water. They listen to various pieces of music, play instruments, and plan and create a piece of art that includes a water motif.

Young scholars identify the musical form of the 12-bar blues. They identify a problem from the "Farming in the 1940's" section and compose a 12-bar blues song. make comparisons between problems of the 1940's and today.

High schoolers combine creativity with the rigor of careful editing by adding music to their story. It forces them to focus on how they communicate the meaning of their story to the listener.

Pupils view PowerPoint presentation on organs, listen to music of pipe organ to gain understanding of its characteristics and acoustical qualities, define register and registration within voice, identify terminology related to registers,...

Second graders write a dinosaur poem using information from a research activity. In this dinosaur poetry and music lesson, 2nd graders listen to the book Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp in music class. They work in small groups to...

Students analyze the lyrics, instruments, sounds and technology from the song "Vertigo" by U2. They view a video presenting interviews with the band and complete a stage design for the live playing of the song.

Middle and high schoolers are walking into a world rife with strong political viewpoints and vocal opinions. Help to prepare them for controversial discussions with a instructional activity in which they choose, research, and learn more...

Students identify integral parts of jazz music by listening to Quincy Jones' We Be Doin' It. They note the bass and drum sounds, scat solos, and also sing parts of the ostinato and chorus.

Students perform a song, identify melodies, and discuss the history of folk songs.

Learners design, compose, and present short musical compositions for keyboard in this lesson plan meant for the high school choir class. This lesson can be adapted to any time frame, but the author suggests a considerable amount of time...

First graders determine that Spanish is the language spoken in Mexico before singing a number of Mexicans songs. They make maracas to use while singing Mexican songs. They sing the song, "La Cucaracha," in English realizing that it is a...