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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simple Chordal Harmony

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Practice makes perfect, especially when playing a musical instrument. This lesson examines simple chordal harmony, melody, and playing with accompaniment. Learners listen to a series of songs that exemplify the concept then play a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Upward and Downward Motion of Melody

For Teachers 1st
First graders explore the notion of upward and downward melody motion. They hum, sing, and listen as the melody moves up and down. To show what they know, they put their thumbs up or down as the melody shifts.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Kindergarten Music Lesson

For Teachers K
Singing, clapping, moving up and down with the melody, it all sounds like a great music lesson. Kinder-musicians sing three different songs to practice memory, speaking, and movement skills. They'll move to the melody, build memory with...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Composing Your Melody

For Students 6th - 7th
In this music instructional activity, learners perform a given melody of four phrases. Students also improvise their own melodies using notes G, A, C, D, and E.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hello Girls

For Teachers 9th
Ninth grade girls get together to sing the song Hello Girls. They warm up with common voice exercises then work to maintain melody, harmony, pitch and tone. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Subtracting from Ten: Using Math with Music

For Teachers K - 1st
Students explore basic math functions by singing with their classmates. In this addition and subtraction lesson, students sing the song "5 Green and Speckled Frogs"and complete a list of subtraction problems. Students complete a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Independent Harmonies

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Independent harmonies, homophonic music, intervals, and melody are all part of music theory and practice. Prepare your budding musicians for the big time with these activities focused on playing with accompaniment. This instructional...
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PPT
Curated OER

the Baroque Period

For Teachers 8th
Baroque styles in music, together with trends in tone, melody, and form are summarized in these slides. The points given are short and relevant. There is only a small amount of information, so this would be best as an accompaniment to a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Singing "What's New With Me"

For Teachers K
Kindergarteners sing the song, "What's New With Me" adding rhythm with each go around. They clap, tap, and sing along with the teacher. Note: The song or song lyrics are not included.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Musical Composition Experience

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Upper graders having skills in music performance will extend their abilities through creative musical composition. They'll use Finale 2000 to explore facets of music composition, they'll then compose a piece for their instrument in C, F,...
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Organizer
Curated OER

Classical Period Music - 1750-1810

For Students 9th
In this classical music worksheet, students examine a graphic organizer that explains 7 characteristics of the music. They examine characteristics such as melody, timbre, texture, dynamics, and melody. There are no questions associated...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students sing "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" with others in small groups and as an entire class. Using correct posture, correct rhythms, and accurate pitches, students play improvised melodies as accompaniment to the song. This instructional...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Medieval Music (c500 - 1450)

For Students 8th
For this Medieval music worksheet, 8th graders read about the instruments and parts of the music, including harmony, melody, and unison. They answer 7 homework questions based on the reading.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Echo Me! - A Melodic Dictation and Tonal Memory Game

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students demonstrate five-finger hand positions (C, G, D, etc.) by playing short melodic phrases using only those notes in the given position and creating short melodies. Requires a networked keyboard lab.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students improvise then compose and notate melodies with appropriate accompaniments that are inspired by events that transpired during their summer vacations. Requires a networked keyboard lab.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Be An Incredible Songwriter

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students write songs about something incredible they have experienced or know about. They consider topics of events, dreams, ideas, feelings, or animals. They accompany themselves with small musical instruments while performing the songs...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Goldilocks and the Bears Make Their Pitch

For Teachers 1st
First graders listen to the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and identify the pitch of the bears' voices as high, medium, and low. They improvise on xylophones a melody to accompany the bears in the telling of the story.
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Lesson Plan
Berklee College of Music

Create Your Own Afro-Latin Groove

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The backbone of Latin American music is the beat! Young musicians work on blending Afro-Latin rhythms and beat patterns before incorporating the major pentatonic, minor pentatonic, and blues scales in their own compositions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Improvising Music

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students watch "The Greatest TV Moments: Sesame Street Music A to Z" and improvise melodic and rhythmic embellishments for the song "O What A Beautiful Morning" or "Rubber Duckie."
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Activity
Leading Learner

Using Music to Tell a Story or Describe a Scene

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Young composers demonstrate their understanding of the stylistic features of descriptive music, including pitch, tempo, dynamics, rhythm, and timbre, by developing a melody and countermelody for a main character in a story. As part of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Garage Band to Enhance 2nd Grade Composition

For Teachers 2nd
Your second graders can become composers with a little help from the Garage Band software. You pre-select several drum, piano, and guitar loops for the groups to choose from, then they put them together following an ABA looping pattern....
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Unit Plan
Johnny Mercer Foundation

The American Musical

For Teachers 7th
General music students learn about the history of popular American music by creating and performing a one-act musical. After researching and creating an American Musical timeline, class members write a song with lyrics using Jam Studio,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz: Expression through Improvisation

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students watch a video on improvisation. They improvise original melodies over given chord progressions. They develop criteria to evaluate the merits of improvisational performances and apply the criteria in their personal listening and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making Progress: From Chords to Melody

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students review chord progression while listening to tracks of music. They write melodies to fit a given chord progression. They sing their melodies and analyze how it compares to the original melody.