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Jazz it Up!
Young scholars research the history and contributions of Jazz in their local environments. They then design and create a wide variety of presentations to share with the class using as many mediums as possible.
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The Influence of Jazz Music in Twentieth Century Art
Learners examine the effect of music on society. While listening to music, they identify the beat, rhythm and write down their reaction to it. Listening to longer selections, they assign a color to the music and share it with the...
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Jazz and Math: Rhythmic Innovations
Students compare and contrast the rhythms of marches and jazz. They watch an excerpt about Buddy Bolden from the PBS Ken Burns Jazz documentary, compare/contrast march and jazz rhythms, complete a worksheet, and notate and perform jazz...
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Black and Blue: Jazz in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
Students analyze the impact of jazz on the novel, "Invisible Man," by Ralph Ellison. They read and discuss excerpts of the novel, write an essay on the influence of jazz on Ralph Ellison as a writer, and view video excerpts on jazz...
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"Jazz is About Freedom": Billie Holiday's Anti-lynching Song Strange Fruit
Working in small teams, learners analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of...
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"Jazz is About Collaboration": Jim Crow Laws And Segregation
Students explore development of jazz music in the 1930s by forming imaginary jazz bands which tour several cities in Depression-era America. Jazz band members create imaginary identities for themselves, develop publicity for their tour,...
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Ella Fitzgerald: Something to Live For
Students examine the basic characteristics of jazz, and its relationship to African-American culture and history. They listen to examples of jazz, conduct research, and create a 20th century timeline of music and historical events.
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Act 3: New York Introduction 1924-1925, Louis Armstrong
Students listen to and examine jazz recordings and listen for features (breaks and obbligato) that are typical of jazz music. In groups, they make up a short blues song of their own.
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Learning Through the Duke
Students examine the contributions of Duke Ellington to the field of jazz. They create an original poem using popular vocabulary from the 1920s, listen to the book, "Duke Ellington," and paint a picture while listening to music by Duke...
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Learning through The Duke
Students study Duke Ellington's contributions to the field of jazz. They write poetry using language that was popular in the 1920's. They listen to a piece of Duke Ellington jazz and respond with at painting.
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VH1 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll Lesson 3
Learners examine female artists who perform in the genres of rhythm & blues, jazz, soul, and hip-hop/rap. They compose lyrics and melody in one of these genres.
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Improvising in the Birthplace of Jazz
Learners recognize significant developments in New Orleans jazz music. They improvise blues licks using notes from a minor pentatonic scale.
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Jazz Forms and Improvisation
Students listen to an original recording of Louis Armstrong and discuss instrumentation. They identify an AABA song form as they listen. They list similarities between the following: traditional meets modern and small group vs. big band.
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Louis Armstrong
Students examine the life and music of Louis Armstrong. They listen to his music, play a Louis Armstrong matching game, and write in response to his music.
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Duking It Out
Students read and discuss 'Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra: Mixing Treasures by Duke Ellington and Edvard Grieg,' exploring how jazz transformed European music and the influence jazz has had on modern music. They write musical reviews.
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Smithsonian Jazz Class: Ella Fitzgerald
Students play "Ella's Match Game" to learn an overview of Fitzgerald's life and career. In this Ella Fitzgerald lesson, students listen to excerpts of Fitzgerald's music and respond by creating writing prompts.
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Bessie Smith
In this jazz history worksheet, students respond to 7 essay and short answer questions about the life and accomplishments of Bessie Smith.
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Ray Charles
Learners read the book Ray Charles by Sharon Bell Mathis. For this biography activity, students read about the life of Ray Charles. Learners answer pre-reading questions about senses, strengths, and weaknesses they have. The activity...
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The Princess and the Frog
Young scholars study the sounds of New Orleans jazz, its origins, and its influences. In this jazz music lesson, students listen to various jazz songs and discuss the songs. Young scholars use the worksheet 'Jazz: the Universal Language'...
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Duke Ellington
Students discover a variety of Duke Ellington compositions and the elements that make his sound unique. In this jazz lesson plan, students participate in a Duke Ellington Matching Game and an activity based on his music.
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Louis Armstrong
Pupils discover the music of Louis Armstrong. In this jazz lesson, students are introduced to Armstrong's trumpet and vocal art in a matching game, then listen to a sampling of his music and respond in writing.
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Migration of Music
In this music worksheet, students identify and define migration. They circle the different types of music created by the African-Americans who were brought to the New World. Students also explain why slavery is a bad thing.
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Jazz: Boombox Classroom
In this music worksheet, students read about improvisation. Students choose their favorite instrument, a saxophone or a bass, and draw a picture of it. Students can then do a small maze.
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Louis Armstrong
In this reading comprehension worksheet students read a biography of jazz musician Louis Armstrong. Students answer 6 questions.