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The Blues . Music Education
For this lesson students will learn about finding the blues in a variety of musical styles. They will investigate instances of the blues form heard in mainstream pop music, along with exploring the musical styles of two new artists who...
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Compositional Techniques: Are There Similarities Between
Young scholars recognize how chromatic scales create tension and pentatonic scales create relaxation as compositional techniques used to create tonality. Also, students aurally recognize the use of mixed or alternating meter as a means...
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From Mark Twain to David Bowie: The Artistic Persona vs. The Individual
Students explore the concept of public image. In this public persona lesson, students discover what public image is and discuss the role of an author's life when interpreting pieces of their work.
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The Electric Hearth
Students examine popular media. In this media awareness lesson, students keep logs of their interactions with media and then write an essay regarding the data.
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GET UP, STAND UP: Fighting for Rights Around the World
Students explore basic human rights as they explore music by black artists. In this human rights lesson, students examine music as a cultural reflection of the justice issues. Students analyze Jamaican roots reggae of the 70s, American...
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A Personal Narrative on the Immigration Experience
The students create a personal narrative on their experiences with immigration. In this lesson, students are asked to read and understand examples of narrative writing as well as evaluate lyrics from Ben Folds Five to determine elements...
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Empress of the Blues
For this informational comprehension worksheet, students read the passage of Empress of the Blues and answer 5 multiple choice comprehension and 5 multiple choice vocabulary questions.
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Keep on Pushing: Popular Music and the Civil Rights Movement
Young scholars explore music that exemplified the Civil Rights Movement. For this music and history lesson, students research 1960's protest songs, Motown recorded music, and rap of the 1990's to consider the power of music and its...
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Visual Art and Music
Young scholars examine how pop art compliments music. For this arts lesson, students explore the elements of pop art and replicate those elements in their own piece of art.
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Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, The Minstrels
Pupils explore "Stairway to Heaven". In this music history lesson, students examine the music and lyrics of the Led Zeppelin song. Pupils compare the song to Renaissance madrigal music.
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Using Cross-Genre Comparisons to Find the Message in Hip-Hop
Students analyze two cross -genre songs written in the early 1980s for lyrical content and social commentary. They consider the artistic merit of hip hop music in today's culture.
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Pink Floyd and the Carpe Diem Theme
Students listen to Pink Floyd's "Time" in order to apply the theme of carpe diem to other works of literature and to their own life.
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Words/Music/Images: Interpretation and Meaning A Motivational Activity
Students explore popular music in its historical context. In this music instructional activity, students examine the lyrics, musicical arrangement, and video imagery of selected songs to interpret the messages and themes of the...
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Individual vs. Social Responsibility: From Camus to the Cure
Students explore the individual's role in society. In this social responsibility lesson, students analyze Camus's The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus as well as Borges's "Rosendo's Tale." Students compare the themes of the pieces to...
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Trouble for the United States in the Middle East: The Reagan-Bush Years
Students examine U.S. foreign affairs with the Middle East during the Reagan and Bush presidencies. In this Middle East lesson, students watch video segments, examine maps, and listen to music regarding the relationship between the U.S....
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Syncopation and Rhythm in Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Rap Music
Students recognize and clap the syncopated rhythmic beat of a rap song and identify recurring rhythmic pattern in the excerpt of "Dance of the Adolescents" from Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.
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The Cigar Box Guitar
Students correlate string tension with sound pitch. They describe how string mass (thickness) effects sound pitch and demonstrate an understanding of the physics of the acoustic guitar. They see that sound is produced by vibrations.
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Fifties/Sixties Musical Playwriting Workshop
Students write a coherent script based on characterization, theme, conflict and emotional tone as found in the songs' lyrics and develop an understanding of the enjoyment that comes through discipline and hard work leading toward a...
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Hank Williams: My Inspiration
Students research Hank Williams and explore his life and career. In this Hank Williams lesson, students complete Internet research, listen to example songs, and watch a movie all to analyze Hank Williams. The ultimate goal is to decide...
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The Vietnam War: A Popular Music Approach
Students explore the Vietnam War in music. For this Vietnam lesson, students listen to and analyze popular music from the Vietnam era in order to understand the use of propaganda regarding the controversial war. Students develop...
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Woody Guthrie and The Grapes of Wrath
Students examine American idealism. In this literature and music instructional activity, students analyze the lyrics of Woody Guthrie songs as well as the themes of Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. Students examine parallels between the...
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Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum
Students explore the American dream. In this contemporary music lesson, students analyze the lyrics of songs by Neil Diamond, Bruce Springsteen, and David Massengill. Students create 3-D representations of the American dream and write...
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Mending Walls: Barriers in Communications
Students explore a literal and figurative wall. In this communication activity, students examine and discuss barriers in communication as they analyze Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and Robert Frost's "Mending Wall".
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Empathy and the Vietnam War
Young scholars explore the implications of the draft during the Vietnam War. In this Vietnam lesson, students analyze the lyrics of songs that explore differents opinions of the Vietnam draft. Young scholars particpate in a...