Lesson Plan
John F. Kennedy Center

Jazz music, Dance and Poetry

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Students view video and become familiar with the type of movement in jazz dance.  In this jazz dance lesson, students write a cinquain about jazz dance.  Students recognize the elements of jazz dance and the type of music...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Swing Your Partner! It's A Virtual Square Dance

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore the Wessels Living History Farm website and research how to do a square dance. They read a story, listen to an explanation of barn dances, and participate in various square dances.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Aztec Dance

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders study Aztec dance to learn about their culture and civilization. In this Aztec study lesson, 7th graders watch a video of Aztec dancers and describe the dance on an index card. Students visit a website to learn the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African Americans Seen Through the Eyes of the Newsreel Cameraman

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders learn about this history of jazz music. In this musical influences lesson, 5th graders read God Bless the Childand listen to a recording of it. Students create a KWL chart on jazz and early 1900s music and dance. Students...
Activity
Library of Congress

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The Harlem Renaissance brought forth many American art forms including jazz, and the writings of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Using a carefully curated set of documents from the Library of Congress, pupils see the cultural...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changes of Musical Elements in Popular Music Through the Decades

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners probe samples of European classical, American jazz, and rock and roll to analyze the similarities and differences. The styles and form of these three types of music are examined for tempo, timbre, and rhythm.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, Dance of the Floreadores, Waltz of the Flowers in the Meter of Duke

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students contrast the meter and style of two different versions of the musical piece, "Waltz of the Flowers." Duke Ellington's meter in the "Dance of the Floreadores" is compared to Tchaikovsky's version in the "Nutcracker."
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross, Moanin,' Payin' Your Dues

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the musical styles of call and response and the blues while delving into the difficult lives of many jazz musicians. Travelling in the South was challenging for black musicians during this time and the difficulties are...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music in West Africa

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore power and the symbols of power in West African music. They discuss the music of West Africa and compare it to African American music of today. In addition, they investigate musical instruments of Africa, identify the...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Voices of Louisiana Worksheet

For Students 7th - 8th
In this voices of Louisiana worksheet, students choose at least three quotations from the Voices of Louisiana webpage and look for clues about each person's folk groups and the genres they mention; for example, oral tradition, folk...
Handout
Midwest Clinic

Latin Rhythms: Mystery Unraveled

For Students 6th - 12th
There is an indescrible energy to Latin American music—but if you know your music theory, it's not so indescrible after all. A thorough packet provides definitions for terms like bolero, charanga, shekere, and tumbao before listing...
PPT
Curated OER

Bali and Indio Pop

For Teachers 7th - 9th
How has music influenced culture? This can be a great way to start this presentation on Bali and Indio pop. Balinese music from the past and how it has changed because of modern pop influences is covered in this informational resource....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Observational Drawing

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Learners create drawings using oil pastels that convey cultural, social and historical meaning. Drawings are evaluated on use of color planning, contour drawing, color blending, line and pattern.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-Duke Ellington

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students read Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the life of the 20th century composer. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Asian and Other Cultures

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students view and discuss a video showing different festivals celebrated in Asian cultures. They participate in a class survey of the different festivals celebrated in their own families and brainstorm the purposes for festivals. In...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

South American Cultures

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine South American festivals. In this cultural diversity lesson, students research Spanish cultural festivals and determine their purpose. Students write and conduct a survey about cultural festivals.
Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 5th - 8th
The Harlem Renaissance inspired a group of writers, musicians, and artists whose influence is still seen today.
Worksheet
Curated OER

The Role of Music in Time of War

For Students 9th
In this music and war worksheet, 9th graders read about the instruments and the types of music the are popular during times of war. They read about the Big Band era that took place during World War II before answering 5 associated...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Places We Love

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students examine how they and others express themselves. Using various writings and art, they discover the places they like to go in the world and share them with their classmates. They paint their favorite place and share their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Folktales: Uncle Cricket, the Soothsayer Lesson Ideas

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students read the Nicaraguan folktale, "Uncle Cricket, the Soothsayer," prior to participating in various activities. Among the ideas presented here are completing story maps, analyzing characters, summarizing the plot, writing...
Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Jazz and the African American Literary Tradition

For Students 9th - 10th
Article explores the influence of jazz on African American literature from the early history of jazz, noted jazz artists, the black-white tensions within jazz, to its literary influence after World War II.
eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: The Jazz Age: Redefining the Nation 1919 1929: A New Generation

For Students 11th - 12th
Looks at the new morality that emerged in the 1920s. It changed the role of women and the perception of African Americans, the latter facilitated by the Harlem Renaissance and its impact on the music and dance of the Jazz Age. Also...
Handout
Other

Dance Marathons

For Students 9th - 10th
Author describes the dance marathon craze in detail, from the fun sport it was in the 1920s to the desperate play for brief fame and fortune in the 1930s. Published in 2004.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: Low Brow and Middle Brow Culture

For Students 9th - 10th
A good overview of the popular culture in the Jazz Age. Read about the kinds of entertainment and literature enjoyed by the middle class in the 1920s.

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