Curated OER
Pop Culture Icons: Medieval Music
Kids compare and contrast music from the past to the present. They listen to and review the characteristics of Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Pop music. Then, they discuss the differences in each and how musical icons from the past...
Film English
Music
Some emotions are indescribable, but sometimes you have to try! After brainstorming adjectives that describe emotions, pupils watch a quick film, at first with no sound. Partners share their adjectives and come up with descriptions for...
Berklee College of Music
Create Your Own Afro-Latin Groove
The backbone of Latin American music is the beat! Young musicians work on blending Afro-Latin rhythms and beat patterns before incorporating the major pentatonic, minor pentatonic, and blues scales in their own compositions.
ESL Holiday Lessons
Kwanzaa
Teach English language learners about the week-long holiday of Kwanzaa that is celebrated around the world during December. It includes holiday-themed reading comprehension passages, phrase matching, fill-in-the-blanks, and journaling...
Curated OER
Holiday Poetry and Music
Students discuss Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and family traditions. After brainstorming how holidays are celebrated, students write a poem about a chosen holiday and create their own hand-made instrument. They share their poems...
Curated OER
Grand Canyon Suite
Take a trip to the Grand Canyon! Lesson one explores how Ferde Grofe painted a musical landscape of America when he wrote the Grand Canyon Suite. Learners then examine art that shows the Grand Canyon in lesson two. Finally, lesson three...
Curated OER
Music Theories
Explore the inception and evolution of hip-hop music as a springboard for writing music reviews and researching other genres of music. Learners will read and discuss the Times' article, From Underground Music to Fashion Statement to then...
Curated OER
Investigating Brass Instruments and Pitch
Students observe the sounds of different brass instruments in order to understand how to create different pitches. In this musical instructional activity, students create a "brass" instrument from everyday household objects. The students...
Curated OER
Short and Sweet Science
Readers learn how to summarize scientific text and evaluate the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges in writing summaries. They select science-related articles you've pulled and collected from the New York Times and, with a partner,...
Curated OER
Pens, Paper and ... Cellphones?
Students consider the benefits that so-called disruptive technology can have in the classroom, then design class activities that feature such technology prominently. They write essays responding (as students) to their classmates'...
Curated OER
Modern Minstrelsy: Exploring Racist Stereotypes in Literature and Life
Satires may be designed to expose a bias to ridicule but if misunderstood can they reinforce that bias? Langston Hughes poem, “Minstrel Man” opens a discussion of racist stereotypes, the minstrel tradition, and the musical, “The...
Curated OER
Theater Arts/Creative Movement Lesson Plan
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...
Concordia College Archives
Introduction and Student Inquiry
Introduce young musicians to the history of and different styles of music with an inquiry-based learning activity that asks them to play detectives to determine the similarities and differences among the sheet music found at a series of...
Curated OER
Experiencing "Romeo and Juliet"
Ninth graders read and analyze the William Shakespeare play "Romeo and Juliet" and compare it to the 1996 modern version of the play and the movie "West Side Story." They write an essay comparing and contrasting the three versions.
Curated OER
Black Tiger Academy Martial Arts Fitness Unit – Lesson 11
“Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.”—Lao Tzu. Black Tiger Academy’s martial arts lesson 11 of 20 has a written script to guide the class through an introductory meditation lesson. It's actually quite...
August House
Anansi And Turtle Go To Dinner
That tricky Anansi! Join him and Turtle in the story Anansi and Turtle Go to Dinner by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk, based on the African folktale. Kids answer comprehension questions and sing songs about spiders before creating spider...
Curated OER
And Then One Night, The Making of Dead Man Walking: Classroom Content
High schoolers examine how art and music help to define and unify a social movement and also how they can function as symbols of protest. They watch KQED program And Then One Night: The Making of Dead Man Walking and discuss what happens...
Curated OER
Carnival of the Animals and Aquarium and Magic Fish
Engage little learners in this moderately developed three-lesson unit on the composer Camille Saint-Saens and his piece "The Carnival of Animals." Each lesson includes a listening, discussion, and an art project to engage your class in...
Curated OER
A Musical Accent Activity
Budding instrumentalists take on the task of reading accent marks and playing them correctly. They practice playing the provided rhythm or beat, focusing on emphasizing notes that have accents over them. The handout included provides...
Curated OER
"Music Be the Food of Love:" Found Poetry with Shakespeare and Hip-Hop
Lines from Shakespeare and from hip-hop artists provide learners with an opportunity to examine the literary devices these artists use to express their ideas about love. Groups use the provided lines to craft found poems, and then the...
PBS
Copyright and Fair Use
When is using someone else's copyrighted material appropriate? Learn about copyright and fair use with a lesson from PBS.org. Scholars read through a reference sheet about authors' rights and users' rights, and then create posters...
Curated OER
Day and Night
Good Night, Moon is a classic little ones absolutely love. It's a sweet book that can be used, as in this instructional activity, to start a conversation about the difference between night and day. After reading the story, the class...
Curated OER
Rhythm and Art: Rhythm Collage
High schoolers create a collage in response to musical rhythm. In this visual arts lesson plan, students will better understand the connection between visual arts and musical rhythm. High schoolers will follow the teacher's model of...
Curated OER
MTV and Othello
After reading Acts III and IV of Othello, give your class a fun, interactive, music-related activity. Begin by asking students about songs they have heard in movies or plays. Let them look up the lyrics online and ruminate about the...