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In My Dream
Students listen to recordings of early jazz and identify examples of ostinato and syncopation. They discuss important personalities from jazz cultures and take a quiz on aspects of jazz.
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Rainbow Joe and Me
Young scholars complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Rainbow Joe and Me. In this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, answer short answer questions, have...
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Blue Jazz Scale
Learners engage in a study of music that includes the Blue Jazz scale. They listen to pieces of music in the targeted style while becoming familiar with the scale. Students then describe how the scale is built and demonstrate by playing...
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The Great Migration
Students explore how migration to Harlem created a new life for African Americans. In this cross curricular lesson, students illustrate maps showing the migration, paint murals representing African American life in the South and...
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Responses To Twentieth Century Music: A High School Art Curriculum
Students explore their own responses to sound by hearing the music as a regular part of the class structure. They develop an awareness that certain art evokes certain sounds and moods and develop an intuitive responses to the music.
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ELA Lesson Plan Focusing on Artists and Composers
Young scholars research a selected composer and artist. They write a biography about each one and include information about at least two works created by the chosen artist or composer. Students note similar characteristics of their...
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Visual Aural Impressions
Students view a piece of impressionist art, listen to a piece of jazz music and then write a piece about the picture in the style of beat poets. They compare their writing and look for differences in their perceptions.
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Introduce Vocabulary: Charlie Parker Played Be Bop (Raschka)
Get in touch with Charlie Parker's jazz beats as learners explore new words in Chris Raschka's onomatopoeic book Charlie Parker Played Be Bop. Scholars are acquainted with some musical terminology before they hear these terms in the...
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Bambara's The Lesson
Twelfth graders read the short story The Lesson. They research the socio-economic and cultural context of the story and author. They examine the author's point of view. They analyze the first person narration in the story. They rewrite...
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African American Music
Students investigate a variety of sites to gather relevant information for a
presentation about African American musical forms in this general Music lesson for middle school and high school. Resource links are provided to aid instruction.
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Music Technology
Students use their practice book to complete their piano lessons. They examine the history of music and complete pages in a workbook. They create their own music by using the computer.
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Everybody's Boppin', Lambert, Hendricks and Ross
Young scholars probe the musical style of scat singing with imitation instruments. While listening to the musical pieces, they identify when one singer finishes and another begins. The singing groups' styles are contrasted in this lesson.
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All That is Irish and More - Activity 1
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).
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"The Block": Romare Bearden's and Mine
Students study Bearden's style of collage and create their own collage that reflects their neighborhood. They are read "The Block" and poems about neighborhoods and write one about theirs.
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Musical Roles
Students watch a videotape on the musical career of Aretha Franklin and explore the different careers in the music industry.
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Jammin' to Jazz
Learners 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.
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Bud, Not Buddy
Fifth graders read the book Bud, Not Buddy and participate in activities that generate understanding of the Great Depression. In this realistic fiction lesson, 5th graders read about a boy who grew up during this time. Students...
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A Jazz Talk Show
Students analyze and describe music while connecting it to history and culture. They gain experience in theatre arts skills and writing. They use the Internet to do research in order to find out the most about this subject.
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Listen Up! Swinging with some Big Band Music
Students read about the music and life of Glenn Miller. They listen to Miller's "Jeep Jockey Jump" and analyze the piece for instrumentation, formal structure and stylistic characteristics.
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Jazz: An Expression of Cooperation - Lesson 3
Students describe ways in which the principles of students or citizens working together are interrelated with those of musicians working together. They demonstrate their knowledge of the concept of "swing" in various jazz styles.
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Jazz: Expression through Improvisation
Pupils watch a video on improvisation. They improvise original melodies over given chord progressions. They develop criteria to evaluate the merits of improvisational performances and apply the criteria in their personal listening and...
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The Prairie Dog That Met the President
Young scholars study the history of jazz music. They listen to various examples of jazz music and complete a worksheet in which they must identify the individual instruments they hear and identify characteristics of the genre of jazz music.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Students study the life and music of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They practice listening for the downbeat of a musical selection. They participate in a physical exercise where they march around in a circle and clap to the...
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Smithsonian Jazz Class: Benny Carter
Students play "Benny's Match Game" to learn about the life and career of Benny Carter. Students listen to samples of Benny Carter's music and create written responses that evaluate his music.