Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Elements of Music—How do Composers Plan?
The introduction to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and the finale of his Symphony No. 4 provide young musicians with an opportunity to investigate the music elements composers employ to develop the themes they want to create. They compare the...
Curated OER
The City Symphony- The Original Reality Show
Students discuss the purpose of city symphonies that were used in the past. In groups, they compare and contrast the social systems of a school and city to create their own city symphony video together. They also write what is known as...
San Francisco Symphony
Going West
Now this sounds like a fun lesson! Youngsters learn about pioneer life and the Westward Movement. First, they listen to the Copland's "Appalachian Spring," and then they discuss the elements of music found in the piece. They...
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Respecting the Differences of Others
Fifth graders discover the importance of respecting the differences of people around the world in different situations in order to avoid conflict and promote peace. Students compare the sounds of a symphony and the instruments creating...
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Student Opinion: Do You Spend Too Much Time on Smart Phones Playing 'Stupid Games'?
This versatile resource from The New York Times website provides a short opinion piece on smart phones and the amount of time we spend playing games on them as well as several possible writing prompts pupils could consider in response to...
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The Math Of African Music
Pupils practice rhythms and fractions on African drums in this Music activity mixing Math skills and music notation. The activity also includes ideas for assessment and state and national benchmarks met.
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Not Your Grandma's Music: A Lesson in Music History
Students experience and discuss the different musical periods such as Baroque, Classical and Romantic. In this music lesson, students discover musical theory and apply it to the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods. Students will...
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Music: Instruments of the Orchestra
Pupils identify various musical instruments and explain their roles in an orchestra. Following a Powerpoint presentation, students discuss what they have discovered in small groups. Then, each groups devises four questions based on the...
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Reading: I Have a Dream: Speech by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963
In this future time reading comprehension worksheet, students read an excerpt from "I Have a Dream" and then respond to 3 multiple choice questions.
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Orchestral Scores
Eighth graders listen to Beethoven's Symphony Number Five and identify the instruments playing. They observe the score and discuss the movements, and at what time each instrument plays. Students choose an instrument and transcribe the...
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Reading the Waves
Students view video segments which reveal the parts of sound and what factors control sound. The viewing and post-viewing activities serve to reinforce the video segments using worksheets and hands-out experiments.
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William Grant Still: "Afro-American Symphony"
Students learn basic improvisation of a four beat measure through a game using a four quarter note pattern. NOTE: The idea in this lesson is to teach the student to create something on the spot.
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Verbs: Present Tense
In this present tense verb worksheet, students read about occupation activities in sentences with bold print nouns. Students complete seven sentences inserting the verb that goes with the bolded noun in the first sentence.
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Identifying Instruments and Families
Fourth graders complete with the class a KWL chart and discuss prior knowledge of orchestras. They visit websites to discover instruments and families of the orchestra and discuss appropriate audience behavior prior to going to a concert...
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GCSE Notes 2000: Classical Music
Classical period music is defined by its characteristics and distinctive sound. A set of notes assists upper graders in recalling and analyzing music from the classical period based on musical terminology. An example analysis of Eine...
San Francisco Symphony
Biographical Slideshow
Biographies can be a fun topic for any history project. Learners choose one famous person that lived between 1865 and 1930 to research. They gather information, work on reading comprehension, and use what they find to create slide shows...
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Ferde Grofe
Students participate in three different activities centered around Ferde Grofe. The different lessons are used to introduce music and the artist to the class. They listen to stories that music tells, and create their own sand painting...
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Nonprofits Are Necessaary
Students research community nonprofit organizations. They identify their purposes and graph them. The search telephone books, websites, and magazines for information on local organizations. They write in journals how nonprofit groups...
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The Couplet
Students create the sounds of a thunderstorm with a symphony of body percussion to compose a couplet about rain using Microsoft word to publish. They are introduced to rhyming dictionaries and thesauruses and use Internet sources for...
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William Grant Still: "Afro-American Symphony"
Students learn basic improvisation of a four beat measure through a game using a four quarter note pattern. NOTE: The idea in this lesson is to teach the student to create something on the spot.
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Benjamin Franklin- Philanthropist
Students research and read a profile of Benjamin Franklin. In this philanthropic lesson, students research the projects of Benjamin Franklin and determine which were philanthropic, which were governmental and which were business...
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Jazz and Math: Rhythmic Innovations
Students watch a segment of the PBS Ken Burns JAZZ documentary about Buddy Bolden creating the "Big Four." They compare and contrast the rhythms of marches and jazz based on the examples in the film, and explore notation, subdivision of...
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Summer Festivals
In this summer festival worksheet, students read a 7-paragraph article about European summer festivals and respond to 6 short answer questions. Vocabulary words and definitions are included.
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Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music in America - Lesson 3
Students listen to many examples of Motown music and explain the relationship between the word "Motown" and the city of Detroit. They examine and identify distinctive musical elements of the early "Motown Sound."