Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

The Harlem Renaissance Movement and its Music

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Harlem Renaissance lesson plans can bring the music, poetry, and literature of this time period alive.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz in America Lesson Plan 7

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The student will explore free jazz, fusion, and contemporary jazz. They will listen to avant garde, fusion, and pop recordings. In addition, they participate in a class discussion regarding jazz's contribution to and reflection of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz In America

For Teachers K - 12th
Students gain a fundamental understanding of the role of jazz in the Harlem Renaissance. They explain its historical significance and cultural implications.
Handout
Penguin Books

Up Close: Ella Fitzgerald

For Students 5th - 7th Standards
A reading of Tanya Lee Stones' biography of Ella Fitzgerald lets middle schoolers get up close and personal with the First Lady of Jazz. Stone recounts details of Fitzgerald's life from her early days through her experiences as a teenage...
Unit Plan
Smithsonian Institution

The Music of the Mardi Gras Indians

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed
The traditions, costumes, and the music of the Mardi Gras Indians, African-Americans and those with African American or Native American Heritage are the focus of a unit that introduces class members to a little-known group that...
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

Feelin' Swing, Part 2

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Upper elementary schoolers listen to and reproduce the rythm of Mary Lou William's musical piece, "Scratchin' in the Gravel." The swing song was written at a time that women did not play jazz. She broke the rules by playing and writing...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Jazz Talk Show

For Teachers 4th - 8th
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.
Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Becoming Visible

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The television and interstate highways both came of age in 1950s America. Scholars use film, text, and discussion to explore how these and other cultural icons shaped the literature of the time. Pupils also create a family history...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ella Fitzgerald: Something to Live For

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students examine the basic characteristics of jazz, and its relationship to African-American culture and history. They listen to examples of jazz, conduct research, and create a 20th century timeline of music and historical events.
Worksheet
Curated OER

International Jazz Day

For Students 5th - 10th
In this International Jazz Day worksheet, students complete activities such as reading a passage, phrase matching, fill in the blanks, correct words, multiple choice, spelling, sequencing, scrambled sentences, writing questions, survey,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Duking It Out

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students read and discuss 'Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra: Mixing Treasures by Duke Ellington and Edvard Grieg,' exploring how jazz transformed European music and the influence jazz has had on modern music. They write musical reviews.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

VH1 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll Lesson 3

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Young scholars examine female artists who perform in the genres of rhythm & blues, jazz, soul, and hip-hop/rap. They compose lyrics and melody in one of these genres.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music To My Ears: The District of Columbia Quarter

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Learners practice identifying different genres of music by creating posters.  In this music appreciation lesson, students research Duke Ellington and complete worksheets based on his style of music, Jazz.  Learners collaborate...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bud, Not Buddy

For Teachers 5th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sharing Your Music - Lesson 5

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students observe that music can communicate positive social messages. They create a theme concert with a positive social message after watching a video of famous artists playing on Sesame Street.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Giants of American Music

For Students 2nd - 3rd
In this music learning exercise, students match a description with the following composers: George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, John Philip Sousa, Leonard Bernstein. Students also reflect on why they are called Giants of American Music.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tradition through storytelling and music

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students discover how storytelling can shape a person's tradition.Students examine different methods of storytelling such as music, biographies, and African folktales. They then demonstrate their knowledge of storytelling by writing...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Syncopation and Rhythm in Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Rap Music

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students 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
Curated OER

Jazz: An Expression of Cooperation - Lesson 3

For Teachers 7th - 12th
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.
Worksheet
Look! We're Learning!

Ella Fitzgerald Biography Mini-Unit

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
Before there was Beyonce, before there was Madonna, before there was Cher, there was Ella. Introduce Ella Fitzgerald, The First Lady of Jazz, with a reading comprehension exercise that presents a brief biography of her life and then asks...
Lesson Plan
PBS

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 7th - 12th
A reading of Walter Dean Myers' "Harlem" sets the stage for studying the literature, art, and music of the Harlem Renaissance. The lesson begins with a review of the social, political, and economic conditions of the 1920s and 1930s that...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Signin' the Blues with Rock, Rap 'n Roll

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders listen to recordings and study jazz and the blues music. They identify the instrumentation and explore the 12-bar blues progression. After experimenting with different sound, 6th graders create their own arrangement, with...
Lesson Plan
National First Ladies' Library

Ragtime: The First "American" Music?

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Learners investigate the concept of ragtime music and the times associated with it in American history. They conduct research using a variety of resources and listen to a sample before writing down some of the results of the information...

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