Curated OER
The Beatles
All you need is love! Find out how The Beatles met, what they recorded, and when they broke up. This resource could be a good way to set the stage or build a context for society in the 1960's and 70's, or as part of a music history lesson.
Curated OER
Driving Music
Students experience both playing a musical instrument and driving a car. The two experiences tied together by one engineer. The score appears as a road, with twists and turns representing the composer's suggested shifts in mood. This...
Acoustical Society of America
Generalizing How Musical Instruments Work
Sound, vibrations, resonance, and frequency are explored as learners use music to foster scientific inquiry. They engage in three different sound experiments and follow up discussions to foster a better understanding of how musical...
Acoustical Society of America
Musical Instruments
Mix it up and engage learners in a lesson on music and physical science. Using cups, strings, guitars, and voice, the class will experiment with sound vibration and frequency. They'll use each instrument and fill out a worksheet that...
Curated OER
Jazz in America
Students explore different instruments and what role they play in Jazz. They also each person's role in a democratic society.
Curated OER
Jazz in America
Students explore the Swing Era and its implications. They answer questions and listen to music from the era.
Curated OER
Stand Up and Sing: Music and Our Reform History
Students examine events of historical significance in music. In groups, they are given pieces of sheet music and work together to try to determine the social and political conditions of the time based on the lyrics. They write their own...
Center for Civic Education
The Power of Nonviolence: Music Can Change the World
Here is a fantastic activity through which class members discover how music has the ability to influence others in a meaningful way. After reviewing selected pieces and modern-day protest songs, learners will research other songs that...
VH1
Lessons for Hight School Music Classes: Lesson 1
The phrase, "You sold out" has been thrown around among musicians that have lent their talents to the corporate world. Here, the class engages in an interesting discussion on how musicians make a living and the influence of commercialism...
Curated OER
Music from the Silk Roads
Students explore different types of musical instruments. In this musical instrument lesson, students create a replica of a sheng. Students utilize this instrument to understand different types of breathing used in different sounds....
Curated OER
Dance: African Drumming
Students evaluate the messages in music. In this communication through music lesson plan, students listen to various musical selections and determine the message being conveyed in the song. Then, students create their own message as they...
Curated OER
Is Perception Reality? Writing Paradoxes in Poetry
Explore the paradox of the universe - or, at least, of popular music - with this lesson. Using the songs "Inaudible Melodies" by Jack Johnson and "She" by Green Day, your class will complete a graphic organizer to help them understand...
Curated OER
Intolerance in American History
Examine the United States through the lens of intolerance using this 2-week unit plan, which includes details for 13 days of instruction. Scholars study examples of prejudiced behavior throughout history, discuss issues in groups,...
Curated OER
GNP Simulation Using Foods in the Americas
Students explore food supply distribution. In this GNP distribution lesson, students participate in a simulation that requires them to eat foods from the American continents. Students are served according to their chance positions in...
Curated OER
Man in Conflict - Vietnam and Literature
Eleventh graders analyze the lyrics of protest music. In this Vietnam War lesson, 11th graders examine conflict as they consider the controversial nature of the war as evidenced in song lyrics. Students also consider the Iraq War and its...
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Performing Arts
The classical arts have made a lasting impact on our society and your advanced learners get to find out why. The activity starts as the children create a list of the arts found in society, they discuss how these art forms impact their...
Curated OER
Off the Record
Music reflects culture and culture is reflected in popular music. Reading an article on how hip-hop has affected the lives of two young men of different races launches an investigation of the development and influences of various musical...
Curated OER
Understanding the Music of the Civil Rights Movement
Students examine protest music and songs from the Civil Rights movement. For this music of the Civil Rights era lesson, students listen to selected music before working in groups to determine who the music was directed at, what social...
Curated OER
Music And Violence: What Message is Music Promoting To Our Youth
Young scholars analyze several pieces of music and videos to examine how popular musicians and their music affect us as individuals and as a society. The perception of society's ideals, hypocrisy in government, and injustice are explored.
Orlando Shakes
Les Misérables: Study Guide
A writer has the responsibility to defend the less fortunate members of society. At least that was the view of Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables. The novel is the subject of a study guide from Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Learners...
Syracuse University
Harlem Renaissance
The music and literature of the Harlem Renaissance defined American culture, including its poetry. Using a poem from the period, individuals explore its musical qualities and how it is reflective of the period. Then, they use what they...
American Museum of Natural History
What's This? Gold
Cell phones are likely made of gold—at least part of them! An interesting lesson explains the conventional and not-so-conventional uses of the popular element gold. From the Inca empire to modern-day technology, learners discover gold...
Curated OER
Rap as a Modern Poetic Form
Students write and listen to rap songs. They discover how common themes in rap are indicative of the problems, as well as the empowerments, that can be seen in our urban cultures today. They discover how rap is actually an evolution of...
Curated OER
Rockin’ the World: Rock and Roll and Social Protest in 20th Century America
Students explore protest songs. For this interdisciplinary lesson, students examine issues-based music by summarizing lyrics and revealing inferences, generalizations, conclusions, and points of view found in the songs.