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...

Students examine artwork by Thomas Hart Benton. In this interdisciplinary activity, students analyze the painting The Sources of Country Music, listen to folk music, and examine how recording technology and the movies shaped the images...

Students determine what it was like to serve as an Irish-American in the American Civil War. In this Irish folk song lesson, students use the provided worksheets to analyze selected Irish folk songs and make inferences about war...

Young scholars describe some of the distinguishing characteristics of rock, folk, blues, and country music. They identify two main musical roots of today's American popular music.

Student examine the basic characteristics of folklore. In this folklore lesson, students complete activities to identify two kinds of folk, folk groups, and folklife. Students list daily activities in their home, identify folk groups...

Students examine 19th century life for African-Americans. In this slavery instructional activity, students analyze the lyrics of slave songs and present their findings to their classmates.

Learners gain an understanding of early jazz. They study Dixieland and the Roaring Twenties. They examine the American historical significance and cultural implications of early jazz.

Learners transcribe, analyze, and archive fieldwork and create a team project drawn from fieldwork. They brainstorm a list of reasons why preservation of collected materials is important and explore the online archives of the American...

Students 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.

Students investigate the role of the buffalo soldiers. In this African American history lesson, students research the African American soldiers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Students discuss their findings and compose songs that...

Students survey bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop. They explore how bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop reflected American culture and society in the 1940s and 1950s.

Students survey free jazz and fusion. They explore how free jazz and fusion reflected American culture and society in the 1960s and 1970s.

Pupils research African American history and the Underground Railroad. In this African American history lesson, students discuss the Drinking Gourd. Pupils read 'If You Traveled the Underground Railroad' and discuss. Students work in...

Students explore protest songs. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students examine issues-based music by summarizing lyrics and revealing inferences, generalizations, conclusions, and points of view found in the songs.

Eleventh graders explore Jazz in America. They examine greats in Jazz, such as Duke Ellington. They are also to discuss the cultural implications of the music itself.

Students view the AMERICAN MASTERS entitled Joni Mitchell: Woman of Heart and Mind, examine the concept of influence, and explore how Joni Mitchell and her work have influenced others. Students read, interpret, and analyze her lyrics by...

Students analyze and perform an American social protest song. They describe its historical setting, consider the effectiveness of the music and recognize that popular music is a reflection of American culture.

Students examine how African Americans escaping slavery used storytelling to communicate. They listen to and read the lyrics for the song, Follow the Drinking Gourd, view the Reading Rainbow video, and write and illustrate their own story.

Students evaluate the role labor groups had on the U.S. Government in the early 1900's.  In this teaching American history lesson plan, students complete several activities, including response writing and listening to music, that...

Students create and perform Corridos which are oral tradition ballads. In this Passing Down Family History Through Oral Tradition lesson, students interview family members using a predetermined list of questions. In addition, students...

Second graders explore the music and dance of Japan in this five lessons unit. Aspects of Janpanese and American culture are compared. The food, holidays, clothing, and the school day of the two countries are discussed.

First graders listen to and discuss historical fiction and bigraphies from the early American time period. They role-play, draw, write stories and dress up to re-create events from these historical characters.

Students listen to examples of fiddle music and violin music to determine the similarities and differences between the two musical forms. A video link is included in this introductory activity to fiddle music (Part One of Two).

Students examine the various portrayals of African-Americans in literature, focusing on the opera, Porgy and Bess. They conduct Internet research on African-American culture between the two World Wars. Students write fictional or...