Lesson Plan
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Building Blocks and Healthy Snacks

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students complete several activities to study healthy snacks. In this healthy diet lesson, students sing a song about healthy snacks. Students then make a list of the healthy snacks in the song and vote for their favorite.  Students...
Lesson Plan
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Fifties/Sixties Musical Playwriting Workshop

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
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There Are So Many Stars

For Teachers Pre-K - 3rd
Students explore the night sky. In this astronomy lesson, students discover a song about the stars in the sky and participate in a flannel board activity pertaining to the song.
Lesson Plan
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US Presidential Election Process and the Campaign Trail

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students campaign for president. In this presidential election lesson, students discuss the process of electing presidents, write their own campaign songs, research a campaign train schedule, and create campaign maps.
Lesson Plan
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Cover the Music

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore U.S. history by listening to musical pieces in class. In this Civil War era lesson, students discuss the types of musical instruments that were available to soldiers during the war and the themes of their songs. Students...
Lesson Plan
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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders discover the thematic connections between classical literary and popular song lyrics.  In this English lesson, 11th graders research a specific topic to be presented to the class.  Students analyze song lyrics...
Lesson Plan
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Roll Over! (There Were Ten In The Bed)

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Students practice math, language, and music skills. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students learn the song "Roll Over!" practicing repeating word patterns and subtraction skills. Students improvise in the song by adding...
Lesson Plan
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Patriotic Arts: Influencing Canadians At War

For Teachers 3rd - 7th
Students study how war has shaped Canadian life, patriotism, propaganda, and music. They research primary source documents, novels, videos, and songs before celebrating Remembrance Day.
Lesson Plan
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B is for Banana

For Teachers K - 6th
Learners practice and perform the song "B is for Banana" using their knowledge of basic rhythms in 4/4 and student-created rhythm accompaniment based on speech. This excellent lesson is provided by the MENC (National Association for...
Lesson Plan
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Keep on Pushing: Popular Music and the Civil Rights Movement

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers explore music that exemplified the Civil Rights Movement. In this music and history lesson, students research 1960's protest songs, Motown recorded music, and rap of the 1990's to consider the power of music and its...
Lesson Plan
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Woody Guthrie and The Grapes of Wrath

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students examine American idealism. For this literature and music lesson, students analyze the lyrics of Woody Guthrie songs as well as the themes of Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. Students examine parallels between the characters in the...
Lesson Plan
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The Cold War

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders explore the origins of the Cold War.  In this Cold War lesson, 10th graders analyze selected songs and identify what historical events they reference.  Students create a musical collage or timeline for the period...
Lesson Plan
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Scops, Rappers and You: Historians with Style!

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Learners examine the epic poem Beowulf. In this analyzing poetry lesson, student compare listen to the Will Smith song "Wild, Wild West" and read Beowulf. Students analyze the song and the poem. Learners then research an influential...
Lesson Plan
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The Chicken Dance

For Teachers All
Introduction of a modern folk dance that emphasizes the coordination of both fine and gross motor skills within the melodic structure of the song. The pupils will be able to identify the main parts of an accordion and discuss the...
Lesson Plan
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Using Cross-Genre Comparisons to Find the Message in Hip-Hop

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students analyze two cross -genre songs written in the early 1980s for lyrical content and social commentary. They consider the artistic merit of hip hop music in today's culture.
Lesson Plan
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Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the American dream. In this contemporary music lesson, students analyze the lyrics of songs by Neil Diamond, Bruce Springsteen, and David Massengill. Students create 3-D representations of the American dream and write...
Lesson Plan
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Individual vs. Social Responsibility: From Camus to the Cure

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students explore the individual's role in society. In this social responsibility lesson, students analyze Camus's The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus as well as Borges's "Rosendo's Tale." Students compare the themes of the pieces to...
Lesson Plan
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I Went to the Crossroads: The Faust Theme in Music, Film and Literature

For Teachers 7th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
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Holiday Giving From the Classroom

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students participate in a holiday giving activity to learn about community involvement. In this community outreach instructional activity, students discuss giving and receiving as well as the gift of time. Students prepare songs and...
Lesson Plan
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How Many Apple Seeds?

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students complete activities for an apple themed lesson plan. In this math and language arts lesson plan, students read an apple book and guess how many seeds are in an apple. Students draw pictures of apples and use a bobby pin to take...
Lesson Plan
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Feminism Does Not Have to be an F-Word

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students analyze social activism messages in music. In this feminism lesson, students explore selected music that expresses sentiments voiced in the women liberation movement in the United States. Students compare the lyrics of the songs...
Lesson Plan
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Helping Others

For Teachers K - 1st
Students explore community service.  In this character development and community instructional activity, students sing a song based on the fable The Lion and the Mouse. Students participate in a discussion about kindness, and...
Lesson Plan
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Syncopation and Rhythm in Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Rap Music

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners recognize and clap the syncopated rhythmic beat of a rap song and identify recurring rhythmic pattern in the excerpt of "Dance of the Adolescents" from Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.
Lesson Plan
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Under the Umbrella

For Teachers K - 1st
Pupils study the letter-sound recognition of the /u/ by reciting a tongue twister, writing the letter in both upper and lower case, and identify words with the letter 'u' in them. Next, they sing a song, and listen to a story while...