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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
"People Everyday" offers class members an opportunity to develop their literacy analysis skills and to develop media literacy. Guided by an included list of discussion questions, groups examaine the word choice, literary devices used,...
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Jazz Talk
Learners analyze the origins of jazz music by examining work songs, spirituals, blues, and gospel songs as well as works of poetry from African American artists. They create their own poems from either the narrative, dramatic, or lyric...
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Top 10 Games of 2007
In this top ten games of 2007 instructional activity, students review each game and its genre and then answer four discussion questions, complete a writing task and then write an outline for a computer game story with a script.
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Jazz in America
Students learn the basic elements of music and gain an understanding of the elements found in Jazz.
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Music Video
Students explore songs that tell stories over various decades and create a Garage band track for their voice. In this story song lesson, students create a video for their song group. Students present a proposal to their teachers for...
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Rhythmic Travel Around the World
Pupils explore and play rhythm sticks while listening to songs from around the world. They locate the countries of origin on a map, and tap their rhythm sticks to the beat of the music.
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Eckstine, Stayhorn, and the Dorseys: Masters of Swing
Students explore the history of swing music. In this music history lesson, students research the Dorsey Brothers, Billy Eckstine, and William Strayhorn to learn about swing music. Students define swing, develop a timeline of events in...
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Duke Ellington and the Rise of Jazz in New York
Students consider how Duke Ellington impacted the rise of jazz music. For this jazz music lesson, students listen to a lecture regarding the life and work of Ellington. Students also watch a video regarding Ellington and discuss music of...
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Rock Around the Map
Students research the geographical histories of various musical genres and make maps that note important places in music history. They Write geographical biographies about one of their favorite musical artists.
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Haiku and Beyond: Exploring Genres of Japanese Literature
Fourth graders compare and contrast the literature of Japan as they study the culture, history and geography of the island nation. They read various genres of literature, describe geographic and landform features of Japan, and find...
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Right About Now… and Then
Students discuss significant figures in music history and read an article about the Smithsonian's Hip-Hop exhibit. In groups, they develop and curate an exhibition of hip-hop music and history using artifacts that represent relevant...
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Hip Hop and Geography
Young scholars study the various geographic regions of the U.S. and discuss how popular music is influenced by cultural/regional factors. Groups choose East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, or South in rap/hip hop music and create a...
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The Hare and the Water: A Tanzanian Folk Tale
"The Hare and the Water," a Tanzanian folk tale, lends a global perspective to literary analysis. Learners spend the first two days reading and storyboarding. On day three, they examine folk tale elements (worksheet included), and design...
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Bud, Not Buddy
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 research...
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VH1 Driven: Shakira, Lesson 3
Students watch a video about the life of Latin singer/pop star, Shakira and identify the elements that make her music unique. They explore Latin music and dance and research the music and dance of a specific Latin American country.
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200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons
Young scholars define the term "exoticism" and identify musical elements used by 19th and 20th century composers and modern pop icons to convey exoticism.
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VH1 And You Don't Stop - 30 Years of Hip-Hop
Students examine the origin and elements of Hip Hop music and the associated culture. They visit websites and listen to examples of the music.
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My Way
Students culminate a humanities project by improvising music to accompany a video of a particular era in US history.
San Francisco Symphony
The 20% of Beethoven
Compare Beethoven's fifth symphony to latin music and disco. Learners will listen to and discuss the elements found in the first part of Beethoven's composition. They'll then look for the same elements in Tito Puente and Bee Gees songs....
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Passing Down Family History Through Oral Tradition: Corridos
Students create and perform Corridos which are oral tradition ballads. In this Passing Down Family History Through Oral Tradition lesson, students interview family members using a predetermined list of questions. In addition, students...
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Voices of Louisiana Worksheet
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...
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200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons
Students discuss the style and characteristics of the Classical era and the genre of opera. They compare and contrast modern day popular icons to musical icons throughout history. They write original librettos to modern entertainment.
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Louisiana's Legendary Musicians
Learners identify and interpret what legendary traditional musicians of Louisiana that allows them to hear new genres of traditional music. They also identify what it means to be a legendary artist and read, write, and create a project...
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Green, Green, Green
First graders trave around the world celebrating St. Patty's Day and all things green! First, we start of in Ireland and travel our way down to Mexico for some green guacamole. They study dances from the two places.