Curated OER
Underground Lives
Learners analyze two Robert Harris prints for clues regarding subject's social, family, and belief systems, evaluate reasons and methods for preserving ancient stories, create visual representations of past and future of Harris' subject,...
Curated OER
World Percussion Instruments
Fourth graders study percussion instruments from various world cultures. For this percussion instruments lesson, 4th graders listen to percussive sound sources, learn playing techniques, and create compositions for instruments they...
Curated OER
Mysterious Music
Eighth graders investigate how to compose music for a detective program. The goal is for them to discover the method needed. The idea was simple, they were told to compose the music with emotional tension that climaxed and then relaxed...
Curated OER
Music Accomplished Practice #4
Second graders create their own rhythm with a time signature. They examine notes, rests, and how many beats for ech type of note. Students clap in rhythm. They perform their own rhythm for the class.
Curated OER
Mozart vs. Beethoven - Real Classical Composers
Elementary schoolers are given an overview of the baroque, classical, romantic, and modern periods of music. They focus on the lives of Beethoven and Mozart; two of the greatest composers of all time. After listening to samples their...
San Francisco Symphony
Admirable Armonica Admirers
What do Ben Franklin and Wolfgang Mozart have in common? Find out about the musical invention, the armonica or glassy-chord. Learners will read about how Ben Franklin invented this new instrument and how Wolfgang Mozart came to play it....
San Francisco Symphony
By the Great Horn Spoon!
By The Great Horn Spoon is a fantastic novel for introducing learners to life during the California Gold Rush. First, kids research and analyze American folk songs, then they connect to the text as they listen to symphonic pieces written...
San Francisco Symphony
Washington Portrait
Fifth and second graders pair up to create mini dance scenes based on the image Washington Crossing the Delaware. Second graders create the movements while their fifth grade partners play the musical accompaniment. Leadership...
Curated OER
The Ritual Fire Dance
This worksheet about "The Ritual Fire Dance" by Manuel de Falla, provides information on the musician, his music, and the dance. It includes 9 questions about the reading in addition to 5 questions about the instruments important in the...
San Francisco Symphony
Heritage Song
Learning how to compare and contrast is a core skill. Learners compare two music selections that showcase a specific heritage. They draw and discuss how each song and the composers of each song used their personal heritage as...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Rhythm Patterns
Fractions can be tricky. Why not have kids think of fractions like they think of eighth, quarter, and half notes? In teams, the class creates four-measure patterns with their percussion instruments. They need to explain their rhythm...
San Francisco Symphony
Quilt Making and Copland's Rodeo
Kids make quilts as they learn about pioneer life and the concept of tempo. The Aaron Copland piece, Rodeo is used to convey rhythm and tempo in music. As the children discuss tempo and rhythm, they also discuss what life was like for...
Curated OER
"Arm Wrestling with My Father" by Brad Manning
Brad Manning’s essay, “Arm Wrestling with My Father,” is used as the basis of an AP Language and Composition exercise. Readers identify the purpose of the essay, analyze the essay structure, evaluate the diction, and unpack the analogies.
Curated OER
Swing Your Partner!
This was written for ESOL learners, but could work for any elementary class. Learners read about the American dance style known as Square Dancing. They explore its use in literature, write a friendly letter about it, and then use their...
Teachers.net
How to Write a Movie Review from a Pet's Perspective
When would two paws up denote a blockbuster film in your classroom? Only when young writers create movie reviews from a pet's perspective in this imaginative expository writing practice. This engaging topic begins with a class discussion...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Angles on Kandinsky
Not only is Wassily Kandinsky fun to say, his art contains tons of angles. Learners discuss Kandinsky's music-inspired abstract art and four types of angles. They search one of his paintings for obtuse, right, straight, and acute angles,...
Museum of Tolerance
Cultural Research Activity
Class members explore cultural diversity through a variety of texts that showcase the importance of traditions. Then, they interview their family members to research their own cultural background and write their findings on quilt...
Curated OER
Music Technology
Students practice using keyboard and sequencing software to expand their compositions. They use the notes in the C Major Scale and playback their song written in an ABA song form. They complete pages in a basic piano workbook and...
Curated OER
H1 Classic Presents: Paul McCartney: Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, Lesson 2
Students are introduced to the various songwriting techniques of Paul McCartney. They explore and compare the basic melodic, harmonic, and lyrical tendencies of the different types of pop music.
Curated OER
Retrograde Composition
Students complete their own retrograde composition. They finish playing a set of notes started by their teacher. They use computer software to complete their song.
Curated OER
Musical & Linguistic Lesson Plan
Tenth graders study songs and music of the US Civil War period. They use technology to compose a song that highlights an event or concept from the war.
Curated OER
200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons
Students define the term "exoticism" and identify musical elements used by 19th and 20th century composers and modern pop icons to convey exoticism.
Curated OER
Meet Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov!
Students listen to music and review instruments of the orchestra. They explore musical terms, solo, texture and theme of the music and discuss other features of the music. Students research and discuss the life of Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov.
Curated OER
Groovy Time
Students compose their own eight measure melody in a D scale. Using a software program, they enter the half, quarter and eighth notes in the order they prefer. To end the lesson, they play their music for the class and critique their...