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Dem "Dry Bones" take form

This lesson introduces musical form (ABC) by using the song "Dry Bones."

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–3 Music Education)

By Melissa Vincent.

Experience ABA form

This lesson will help students understand ABA Form. Through listening activities, they will be able to distinguish the "A" section from the "B" section and the return of the "A" section. Other activities will also be used for illustration.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1–5 Music Education)

By Lisa Qualls.

A Ram Sam Sam: A Moroccan tune with a twist

Students will enjoy singing, playing rhythm instuments, reading notations, and performing a Moroccan tune in two different musical styles on student keyboards.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 Music Education)

By Marie Batten.

Musical concert in Chinese opera house

This music is part of a musical concert at a dinner theater in Penang, Malaysia. Though Chinese opera was the main form of music, the orchestra played other songs, such as this one, which seems to be influenced by Latin American rhythm, even though it is played...

Format: audio

Telephone numbers of the stars

Students will read number notation, use cooperative learning, develop coordination skills and put musical phrases together by playing the song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" on xylophones.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1–2 Music Education)

By Patricia H. Taylor.

Copyright for educators

In Web Publishing & Collaboration Guide, page 3.2

This article explains copyright and U.S. copyright law primarily with respect to education. For a full discussion of copyright law and its implications, consult the U.S. Copyright Office. Rights reserved to...

Format: article

By David Walbert.

General Taylor Storming Monterey

From the Library of Congress: On September 27, 1974, the Music Division of the Library of Congress recreated a typical concert of brass-band and vocal music from mid-nineteenth-century America. Recorded selections from that concert are presented...

Format: audio/music

Dance of the times: African-American expression of jazz

Explores jazz dance as a social dance form and a uniquely expressive art of African-American culture from the 1920's and 1930's. Students will learn about the complexity of African-American experiences that generated the dance and musical style. The activities develop students' understanding of jazz dance while integrating visual, audio, and kinesthetic learning styles.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Dance Arts Education)

By Shelese Douglas.

Interviewing artists in the classroom

Inviting guests into your classroom can enrich students' learning experiences, but teaching students to ask good questions is crucial. This article explains how to prepare students to interview guests and how to teach them to ask good, open-ended questions.

Provisions for Carolina: Comparing lists

In this lesson, students will compare and contrast two historical documents: A list of recommended provisions for colonists traveling to Virginia in 1622, and a similar list of recommended provisions for colonists traveling to Carolina in 1709. Students will infer what has changed and what has stayed the same between the publication of these two documents.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)

By Pauline S. Johnson.

Vietnamese water puppet show: History

Vietnamese water puppetry is a unique folk art that originated a thousand years ago during the Ly dynasty. Villagers in the Red River delta and other rice-growing regions in Northern Vietnam staged water puppet performances to celebrate the end of the rice...

Format: audio

Copyright for educators

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of "original works of authorship," including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This article explains copyright and U.S. copyright law primarily with respect to education.

Format: article

Rhythm, pattern, color, and texture in art and poetry

In this lesson, students will discover the meaning of "rhythm," "patterns," "color," and "texture" through the performance and modeled analysis of a class "symphony." Students will also evaluate the impact of each element on the whole work and note personal reactions and connections to this art form. Students will then work in small groups to apply the same elements and personal evaluation and connections to a historical work of visual art. At the end of the lesson, students will reflect on ways these two experiences are similar.

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Visual Arts Education and English Language Arts)

By Carol Horne.

Feel in the blanks

The following lesson is designed to function as a review of beginning, middle, and end and an introduction to individualized imagination, creativity, and perspective as it relates to the development of dialogue (i.e. improvisation).

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

By Lei Knight.

Freedom songs of the civil rights movement

Students will listen to freedom songs recorded during the civil rights movement, 1960–1965. Students will write about personal reactions to the music and lyrics. Through reading and pictures, students will briefly explore historical events where these songs were sung. Listening again, students will analyze and describe — musically — particular song(s).

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Music Education and Social Studies)

By Merritt Raum Flexman.

Nothing exceptional

For teachers, the task is to determine which strategies will help students with learning disabilities succeed, both in our classrooms and beyond.

By Janet Ploghoft.

Women in flight: Using music to study American women pioneers in flight

As North Carolina's 97-98 Christa McAuliffe Teaching Fellow, I designed this plan to musically enhance the 5th grade social studies of American heroes, focusing on women pioneers in flight. It is intended to utilize singing and rhythmic activities to compare and contrast the lives of Amelia Earhart and Christa McAuliffe. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to successfully complete a solo trans-Atlantic flight and tragically disappeared while attempting to fly around the world in 1937. Christa McAuliffe was selected for NASA's Teacher-in-Space program and tragically died in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster. I traditionally use this plan close to the January 28 anniversary of the shuttle disaster.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Music Education and Social Studies)

By Robin Smathers.

Holding a poetry slam

Introducing students to “the competitive art of performance poetry” builds enthusiasm for literature among even reluctant readers. This article explains how a high school in Cleveland County, North Carolina, held its first poetry slam.

By Nancy Blalock.

Olaudah Equiano remembers West Africa

In Colonial North Carolina, page 4.4

Excerpt from a book written by a freed slave in the late eighteenth century, with memories of his boyhood in Guinea. Describes the government, culture, religion, architecture, and agriculture of the region. Primary source includes historical commentary.

Format: book

Commentary and sidebar notes by Shane Freeman.

Resources on the web

Form and theme in the traditional Mexican Corrido

In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from ARTSEDGE, students learn about the traditional Mexican musical form of corridos, which dates back to the 1800s and continues to be very popular. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts, Music Education, and Social Studies)

Provided by: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts