Curated OER
Grade 2: Music/Valentine's Day
Play and sing a Valentine's song with your second graders. They'll follow along allow as you demonstrate how to sing and keep a steady beat on non-pitched percussive instruments. While the music instructional activity has a Valentine...
Curated OER
Peter and the Wolf: A Russian Fairy Tale
A wonderful presentation explains a musical fairy tale. Perfect for an independent work station or as a link to send home for homework, this slideshow comes equipped with full audio. Each character, theme, and instrument from the piece...
Orlando Shakes
Les Misérables: Study Guide
A writer has the responsibility to defend the less fortunate members of society. At least that was the view of Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables. The novel is the subject of a study guide from Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Learners...
Orlando Shakes
In the Heights: Study Guide
Before Hamilton, Lin Manuel-Miranda gained fame with In the Heights. A study guide prepares theater goers for a performance of the musical about a group of friends living in the New York City neighborhood of Washington Heights. Resources...
Curated OER
Getting Inside The Outsiders Through Music
Young scholars listen to popular music of the 50's and 60's to make literature connections to The Outsiders. In this popular culture lesson, students evaluate and analyze various songs and connect them with the themes in the literature...
Curated OER
Slices of American Pie: The 1960s Through Music
Eleventh graders examine political, cultural, and social movements through music. In this 1960s American history activity, 11th graders explore the music of the decade in order to better understand the complexity of the time period....
Curated OER
Musical Vocabulary
A large Christmas tree covered in words from around the world adorns this lesson plan. Pupils hunt through the list of Christmas words from around the world and circle the musical vocabulary words hidden among them. A fun activity that...
Curated OER
My (musical) Valentine
Get out those bells, sand blocks, and sticks! Your kindergarteners use their singing voices to ask and answer friendly questions while keeping rhythm. They take turns in a group and in pairs singing questions and answers while keeping...
Washington University in St. Louis
Teaching Jazz as American Culture
Jazz and the City, Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement, Jazz and Gender, Jazz and Literature, Jazz and the Arts, Jazz and Film. Here's a packet of unit plans organized around themes that reflect American culture. Each unit examines how...
Orlando Shakes
Shakespeare in Love: Study Guide
What word has two syllables and means a ray of moonlight? If young readers guessed moonbeam, they are correct! With the Shakespeare in Love study guide, participants test their guessing skills in an exciting game of Shakespeare Taboo...
Education.com
Pablo Picasso
Introduce your class to one of the most famous artists of the twentieth century. After reading a brief biography of Pablo Picasso, pupils create their own collages on the next page on the theme of music.
Curated OER
Symphonic Poetry
Students interpret the themes in Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, create a 6-line poem based on the themes in the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, and define musical terms related to the study of programmatic music in...
New York City Department of Education
What Did I Do to Be so Black and Blue: How Did Jazz Influence Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
How did jazz influence Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man? Class members read some of Ellison's non-fiction writings about blues and jazz, listen to records, watch videos, and engage in student-centered discussions. They then produce podcasts...
Curated OER
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 lesson, students view a film clip and create a song lyric, poem or short story developed around the Faust theme. Students perform or present their...
Curated OER
Fifties/Sixties Musical Playwriting Workshop
Students write a coherent script based on characterization, theme, conflict and emotional tone as found in the songs' lyrics and develop an understanding of the enjoyment that comes through discipline and hard work leading toward a...
Connecticut Gilbert & Sullivan Society
Jobs in the Musical Theater
Much like an iceberg, the actors you see on stage are only a fraction of the number of people involved in a theatrical production. Introduce theatre arts students to the roles played by the behind-the-scenes- personnel with an worksheet...
Smithsonian Institution
Latino Expression
How much of your daily life is influenced by Latin American music? Take a listen—the answer may surprise you! High schoolers keep a journal to note any instances they see Latino culture represented, including the media, their school, and...
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...
Smithsonian Institution
American Sabor Crossword
How much do you know about Latin American music? A crossword puzzle challenges learners to answer 24 questions about the history, genres, performers, and instruments of Latin American music.
Curated OER
Community Through Northwest Coast Art & Traditions
Students view video and watch an artist create a potlatch (gift necklace). In this community and resources lesson plan, students understand the culture of Northwest Coast Art & Traditions . Students create their own necklaces and...
Curated OER
Classical Music Connection-Popular Music - Connecting Pachelbel, Beethoven, and Mussorgsky to Disco and Rap
Students examine classical music and the "Art Rock" of 1967. They review classical themes in their original genre and discuss/analyze how pop musicians incorporate theses themes into a variety of pop music genres.
Curated OER
Melody: A Very Important Element of Music
Notes, lines, and spaces are the theme of this presentation. This is a basic lesson on music elements. As a first foray into music, this would be adequate, but it could be enhanced with additional information if so desired.
Curated OER
Cosmic Mobiles: Recycled Art
If you have a little left over tinsel and aluminum foil, your class can create these fun moon and star mobiles. Poster board or recycled cardboard become your moon and stars; the tinsel gives them sparkle. This would be a great activity...
Orlando Shakes
Man of La Mancha: Study Guide
It's the end of the sixteenth century in the middle of the Spanish Inquisition when a group of prisoners decides to dramatize the story of Don Quixote. A study guide provides a summary and other important information about the play Man...