Soft Schools
Interpreting Metaphors in Shakespeare
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." Shakespeare provides the examples on this worksheet that asks readers to identify the two things being compared and to explain the characteristics the two share.
Curated OER
Water Music
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.
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Eckstine, Stayhorn, and the Dorseys: Masters of Swing
Students explore the history of swing music. In this music history lesson, students research the Dorsey Brothers, Billy Eckstine, and William Strayhorn to learn about swing music. Students define swing, develop a timeline of events in...
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Comparison/Contrast Composer Study
Pupils choose two composers to research and complete a compare and contrast study of them. In this composer research lesson plan, students select two composers to research. Pupils use Internet sources, the library, and music class...
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Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, The Minstrels
Students explore "Stairway to Heaven". In this music history lesson, students examine the music and lyrics of the Led Zeppelin song. Students compare the song to Renaissance madrigal music.
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Rhythmic Travel Around the World
Students explore and play rhythm sticks while listening to songs from around the world. They locate the countries of origin on a map, and tap their rhythm sticks to the beat of the music.
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Hank Williams: Still Singing After All These Years
Students research the life and music of Hank Williams. They take a quiz on country music, watch a video about Hank Williams, research Williams' song lyrics, create a poster and write a bio poem about his life and work.
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Musical Plates
Students receive current data on the movement of plates on the earth's crust. These plates shift and the magnitude of their shift over time can be tracked. They track this velocity vector on a global map and determine the speed of the...
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Early Jazz
Students 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.
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Jazz's Beginnings
Pupils examine jazz's roots and their hybridization in New Orleans in the early 20th century. They listen to ragtime and jazz recordings, then complete worksheets imbedded in this plan.
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Music from a Place Called Half Moon
Students read the novel, Music from a Place Called Half Moon. They are assigned chapters to analyze for literary elements and to assign titles to the book chapters.
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Music and Dance Celebration
Third graders demonstrate effective use of a Venn Diagram Graphic Organizer by comparing and contrasting music and dance. They discover how different cultures around the world celebrate with music and dance.
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Understanding Human Rights Through Music And Poetry
Tenth graders discuss human rights. They brainstorm and listen to and read examples of music and poetry that deal with human rights and oppression. They choose one poem or song to analyze, looking for theme, oppression, and historical...
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I Went to the Crossroads: The Faust Theme in Music, Film and Literature
Students analyze song lyrics and discuss Faust theme in musical history. In this thematic instructional activity, students view a film clip and create a song lyric, poem or short story developed around the Faust theme. Students perform...
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Music: Follow the Drinking Gourd
Fourth graders use movement to express a concept. In this interdisciplinary lesson, 4th graders listen to the book, Follow the Drinking Gourd, which demonstrates the types of 'communication' used by slaves traveling the Underground...
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Develop Your Own Interpretation
Students use pieces of Andy Warhol's art to write critiques. Using different points of view, they answer discussion questions and share them with the class. They also interpret the art from a historian and artist point of view. They...
SoundTree
Notating Friedrich von Schiller’s Theme to “Ode to Joy.”
To demonstrate their skills with traditional and computer-assisted notation, young musicians notate and perform the first eight measures of Friedrich von Schiller's theme to "Ode to Joy."
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VH1 All Access Spotlight: Josh Groban
Students discuss the lyrics to You Raise Me Up, sung by Josh Groban, and identify the structure and markings in the song that show expressive qualities. They explore how composers use musical concepts to show meaning and mood in a piece...
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Rhythm and Art: Gesture Drawing
Students explore connections between non-verbal language and art. In this visual and auditory art lesson, students investigate the science of sound and principles of drawing. They then use various genres of music to directly apply that...
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Rhythm and Art: Gesture Drawing
Students make connection between music and art. For this integrated arts lesson, students complete gesture drawing activities as they listen to Cuban, flamenco, classical, jazz, and contemporary music.
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Storytellers: Pearl Jam, Lesson 1
Students examine the meaning of genre, and specifically investigate the musical genre of grunge. They view and discuss photos, watch the video, "VH1 Storytellers: Pearl Jam," answer discussion questions, and paraphrase the lyrics to a...
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Storytellers: Bruce Springsteen
Students use the correct music terminology to evaluate a performance, composition, and arrangement of the song "Blinded by the Light" by Bruce Springsteen and compare it to another version recorded by Manfred Man.
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Acoustical Science
Students explore musical instruments and the pitches and tones they make. In this acoustical science lesson, students create their own string instruments and explore how pitch is altered.
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Introduction To Melodic Notation: Sol-Mi
Second graders discover the use of melody in music and how it relates to simple songs and music notation. Students sing and move throughout this lesson. Emphasis is placed upon group and individual practice interpreting musical melodies.