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A Closer Look
High schoolers observe an ordinary scene and look for elements of design, dynamics, spatial elements, and music. they then create their own everyday dance.
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Garage Band Introduction
Students create a new project. They are told that the Garage Band is a program that comes on Macintosh computers. Students are told that they project doesn't matter what tempo or key if they are recording live music. They go back to the...
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Tango Bingo
Students research tango music and dancing and research where it comes from. In this tango lesson plan, students research Argentina and South America while learning about the tango and making posters of it.
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Moving and Grooving with Tempo
First graders recognize the variations of tempo in music as it changes. They repeat movements, define tempo and distinguish between fast and slow tempo while playing a teacher led game.
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iPoetry: Modern Interpretation of Classic Poetry
Learners interpret a piece of poetry with images and music in a movie project.
Teach With Movies
The Glenn Miller Story (Film) - Teacher's Guide
Anthony Mann's 1953 film biography, The Glenn Miller Story, is the focus of a series of activities that introduce class members to Miller's life and music. Of particular interest to music students will be the cameos by many famous...
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Background for The Outsiders: the 1960s
As background for a reading of S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, groups rotate through four stations (video, music, website, information) to gather information on the 1960s. In addition, they interview family members about the 1960s and...
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Escolas de Carnaval
Pupils create a carnival display displaying the different themes they have studied. In this carnival lesson plan, students display the work they have studied through the samba schools in Brazil. Pupils also incorporate music in their...
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Locational Writing
Pupils go outside to the playground and write a piece in the style of beat poets based on what they see and hear outside.
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Green Light
How is music like reading? First, listeners rank music from slowest to fastest. How does the music's pace affect your mood? How does this same theory compare to reading? Spark a discussion to identify the similarities.
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Do You Really Know What Wealth Is?
Students explore what it means to have wealth in Mali and in the United States. In this economics lesson plan, students read "Music in the Fields." Student groups answer discussion questions. Students reflect on the purpose music...
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High and Low Tones
Students perform movements to trigger high and low tones in music produced by percussionists.
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Back To School Night iMovie
Learners work collaboratively to take and download digital images, use iMovie software, and create an iMovie to show at a Back To School Night event. They discuss how to organize the information into a clear and cohesive movie. Then,...
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Picasso's Three Musicians
This lesson has students read or be read a book about Picasso and the technique of Cubism. They are shown a sample of what they are doing to be doing and discuss the drawing process. Using a photo of a musical instrument, they sketch it...
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Tonic Chord in "The Star-Spangled Banner" (Grades 5-8 Chorus).
Students demonstrate perception of the root, third and fifth of the tonic chord by appropriate movement responses. They analyze and describe music. Students listen to the middle C played on the keyboard and sing to it on the syllable do.
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So Foul and Fair a Play
Students watch various interpretations of Shakespeare's Macbeth in film. In groups, they examine the setting, characters, music and sequence. They compare and contrast the various films and discuss the differences. They write an essay on...
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Images of Secession
Analyze political cartoons and historical events. Middle schoolers utilize primary resources to increase their comprehension of the topic of secession. They utilize graphic organizers to take notes, compare, and analyze political...
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How to Sing and Play Happy Birthday
Here is a clever, and simple, lesson on how play the guitar while singing the Happy Birthday Song. There is media content embedded in the plan that allows learners to see a video of it being played, and to print out tabulature which...
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Media Violence - The Good, the Bad and the Future
Third graders define, identify, measure, and assess the level and impact of violence in media. The media forms evaluated include music, sitcoms, news, and other programs that are identified and shared by the class.
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The Cinder-Eyed Cats - Storybook Theater
The students listen to the story "The Cinder-Eyed Cats." The students then chose individual parts to play in a theater like production. The students move like their character, be it a fish, an octopus, a lobster, a cat, etc. Water music...
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Using Songs in the Foreign Language Classroom
Students focus on their required lessons in Spanish by integrating music and songs as they complete their assignments. They assess the vocabulary, grammar patterns and culture associated with music and various different songs. Each...
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Poe's Poetry and Prosody
Motivate your class with this lesson! Learners use passages from Edgar Allan Poe's poetry to practice reading fluency. They read "The Raven" as a rap song to better understand the rhyming patterns and pauses.
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I am Special and You are Special Too - Project Children L.E.A.D.
Eighth graders recognize what makes them special through class participation and discussion of rap music, writing a poem about themselves, and designing their own special hat while working in groups.
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Directed and Undirected Free-writing: An Activity in Brainstorming
Start the flow of writing with music! Help learners free-write and brainstorm by playing various selections of music. After each selection, scholars talk about the theme and mood and then practice free-writing on their own. Lighten up on...