Curated OER
Country's Music
Jazz, Blue Grass, Hip Hop, Swing. Gospel, R&B, Ragtime, Disco. So many music genres born in the USA. After reading an article about the fate of New Orlean's Jazz after Hurricane Katrina, class members investigate the life cycles of...
Smithsonian Institution
The Sounds of an Island: Jamaican Music for the Classroom
Introduce young explorers to the music and history of Jamaican culture through game songs and dances. As a bonus, class members get to play simple songs transcribed for the recorder.
Curated OER
Middle School General Music Unit Plans
Here's a collection of unit plans for middle school musicians. Topics include the mbira, opera, rhythm and culture, music in Africa, music in the movies, music theory and notation, blues and jazz, and the ocarina. Definitely worth a look.
Concordia College Archives
History and Musical Aesthetics
What are the musical elements that characterize a school's fight song or its alma mater? Class members listen to examples of fight songs and alma maters from various schools, play a listening game, and then create a list of the...
Curated OER
Thrilling Information: Music and Reading
Here’s a cross-curricular program music activity that uses Peer Gynt to engage class members. Groups take one section of “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” choreograph their section of the tune to represent the story as they imagine it,...
Curated OER
Jewish Folk Song: Ya Ba Bom
Singing is a wonderful way to express an idea of any kind. This instructional activity is written expressly for use in directing a high school chorus. They work on using four-part harmony, expression, and melodic intervals while singing...
Smithsonian Institution
Braiding Rhythms: The Role of Bell Patterns in West African and Afro-Caribbean Music
Africans transported to the Caribbean as part of the transatlantic slave trade brought with them a rich tradition of music and dance. Four lessons teach young musicians the rumba clave rhythm, cascara rhythm, and the 6/8 bell patterns...
Curated OER
Name That Tune
Integrating technology and music can be a snap with lessons like this one! Kids in a junior high band class took to the Internet to download and practice playing their instrument with a computer generated back up band. They practice...
Country Music Hall of Fame
Ray Charles and Country Music
Ray Charles used the pain and adversity from his life to influence an entire genre of American music. Learn about the musician's daily life, struggles and success, and powerful musical style with a thorough resource.
Curated OER
Kindergarten Music Lesson
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...
Curated OER
1920s Variety Show
To better understand the cultural achievements of the Harlem Renaissance and become familiar with its major figures, class members examine a painting by Aaron Douglas and a poem by Langston Hughes and compare how the artists develop...
Curated OER
Pop Culture Icons: Medieval Music
Kids compare and contrast music from the past to the present. They listen to and review the characteristics of Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Pop music. Then, they discuss the differences in each and how musical icons from the past...
Curated OER
Music and Animation: 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons
Music has been used to convey thoughts, feelings, and the human condition for thousands of years. Your class will analyze several songs hear in the animated classic, "Charlie Brown." They will listen to several jazz pieces from the show,...
Curated OER
Alicia Keys, Songs in A Minor
Need a musical lesson for your drama or performing arts class? VH1 has put together a really neat lesson, in which learners use biographical information about Alicia Keys to write and perform a one-act musical related to her life. This...
Curated OER
Great Balls of Fire - I Got Locomotor Skills
Teach and review elementary locomotor skills. Use "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis to get youngsters up and grooving to the beat! The dance steps are described in rich detail and you will have the class jumping, skipping,...
Curated OER
Ballet and Classical Music
Fourth graders explore ballet. In this dance and music humanities lesson, 4th graders practice ballet positions and play a card game using French ballet vocabulary. Students count beats in rhythm patterns and listen to classical music...
Curated OER
True Spin: Music
Upper graders take a critical look at art criticism, music, and politics. They watch one segment of "True Spin," produced by VH1 music television and then discuss myths that relate to art and music. Several modern songs are analyzed...
Curated OER
Catch the Beat
Use this rhythm and pattern activity during transition times or on it own. Start by introducing a rhythm with 2, 3, or 4 beats; use your feet, hands, or entire body to demonstrate. Once learners have figured out the pattern, they join...
Education World
Black History Month Rap
Young scholars write a rap or hip-hop lyric about the life of a famous Black American. They explore famous Black Americans in history and explore how the rap form compares to other forms of poetic expression.
Curated OER
Getting the Meaning in Pop Music
Critical thinkers compare the impact of visual versus aural perception in how they comprehend artistic intent. They consider the meaning of a set of pop lyrics first by reading them, then by listening to them orally, and finally viewing...
Curated OER
Math, Fractions, and Music
Young scholars discover the relationship between musical rhythms and fractions. They add musical notes together to produce fractions and create addition and subtraction problems with musical notes. Students complete worksheets and create...
Orlando Shakes
Shakespeare in Love: Study Guide
What word has two syllables and means a ray of moonlight? If young readers guessed moonbeam, they are correct! With the Shakespeare in Love study guide, participants test their guessing skills in an exciting game of Shakespeare Taboo...
Johnny Mercer Foundation
Project-Based Songwriting
Project-based learning in a music theory class? Take note. Young songwriters compose, record, copyright, and promote their original songs. They even design their own CD cover.
TED-Ed
A-rhythm-etic. The Math Behind the Beats
Your learners will dance in their seats as this talented drummer connects math to music in a short video clip. Clayton Cameron shows how math puts the "cool" in various genres of music, including jazz, hip-hop, pop, R&B, and others,...