Students will discover how the love of music connected two important figures in world history: Benjamin Franklin, an American founding father, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, an Austrian composer. Additionally, students will begin to understand pitch, and how each note is calibrated to create its own unique sound.

Students will be introduced to the concept of beats in groups of two and three. Balloons, instruments, and dancing will be used to explore this concept using Polka and Waltz.

Students work in groups to learn and perform a piece on non-pitched percussion instruments and develop rhythm reading and ensemble skills.

Students will gain an understanding of meter by experiencing accented and unaccented beats. This free lesson plan is designed to fulfill Standard #5 of the National Standards for Music Education: Reading and notating music.

This lesson develops students' ability to hear subtle dynamic levels in orchestral music, and to recognize
sudden and gradual differences. They will use their collective perception to make relative aural judgments
about levels and changes. Data will be recorded on a bar graph marking real time and 6 dynamic levels
roughly equivalent to 6 primary markings of standard dynamics: pp to ff.

Students discover how music can create a visual image in one"™s mind as they listen to Beethoven"™s Sixth Symphony "“ Pastoral. As the image takes shape, the students create a visual representation of their image to include the aspects of nature which Beethoven included in this wonderful composition.

Students write a descriptive essay explaining their thoughts and feelings while listening to Beethoven"™s 5th Symphony, learning how to describe the musical elements that cause them to feel this way, and transpose these feelings into a watercolor art piece. The students will present their essay and art work orally, and act out their responses during a physical education exercise.

Students will be introduced to American Bluegrass music and Appalachian songs through singing,
listening and conversation. A number of songs will be compared leading to a conversation on the
characteristics of Traditional American music.

Students will complete two language arts activities for this lesson. In the first activity, students use folk
songs from the era of the California Gold Rush, which are introduced in the early chapters of By the Great
Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleishman, to identify folk song motifs in the classical music of Antonín Dvořák. This
will be explored by the students' creation of a labeled line drawing of one of Dvořák 's compositions. In the second activity, students will write a letter to Dvořák from the point of view of Master Jack, a character in Fleishman"™s novel, inviting Dvořák to continue his American tour into the gold fields of California for
musical inspiration.

Students will work in pairs for a cooperative learning lesson that will drill and practice note names of the treble or bass clef. This lesson is designed to fulfill Standard #5 of the National Standards for Music: Reading and notating music.

The Paraguayan harp is a cultural emblem that represents not only the nation of Paraguay and its
traditional music, but also the ideals that contribute to a collective notion of paraguayidad (i.e.
"Paraguayness"). The Paraguayan diatonic harp serves as a melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic
instrument. Its primary function is to provide harmonic and rhythmic foundation to conjunto
music"”music of a variety of instruments. At the heart of Paraguayan harp repertoire are polcas
paraguayas, guaranias and polca galopas all genres within the body of musical expressions in
Paraguay. This lesson is divided in three segments that describe three colorful styles of
Paraguayan music: the polca galopa, the guarani and the polca paraguaya

Use songs and social dances from the Mexico/USA border to introduce students to South Texan people, language, location, and values. Also discuss issues such as immigration and experiences of living in the borderlands

Students will learn about how the fandango community celebration is central to the Son Jarocho tradition of Veracruz, Mexico. This lesson explores the core elements of the fandango: instruments, voice and verse, and rhythmic dance.

Students will listen to and play Russian music, with an emphasis on the balalaika and accordion. They will also play "Tachanka", a Russian folk tune, in parts.

Students will develop an understanding of the mode of Namdo Korean folksongs, as well as the call-and-response musical form. To illustrate these features, this lesson focuses on the 5,000 year-old Korean dance known as "Ganggangsullae" ("Kang-Kang-Soo-Woo-Nae"). This dance is typically performed by women under the full moon, and it incorporates singing, dancing, and playing. Within the cultural unit are various activities such as drawing, exercising melodic skills, singing the song form, writing lyrics, and dancing in a circle.

Students will be introduced to the music of India with a focus on introductory terminology, elemental concepts, and instrument identification through various singing, listening and playing opportunities.

Students will discuss emotion words. They will look up synonyms for emotion words. They will then listen
to the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and discuss the emotions they hear. Discussion about
instrument families and dynamics will take place to help students decide why the song gives certain
emotions. After several times listening to the music students will create a graph of the emotions they hear in
the music.

Students are introduced to the culture and music of Mardi Gras Indians, an important African American phenomenon that takes place in New Orleans. Students will examine the tradition and its culture-bearers, listen to and analyze Mardi Gras Indian music, and examine the multiple cultural influences that have contributed to the tradition. Students will gain experience in listening, movement, and performance, which will enrich their sense of the musical and cultural complexity of this phenomenon.

This lesson introduces students to hymn singing and allows them to participate as singers in the choir and as accompanists in the bell choir.

Students will understand the difference between step-wise and skipping patterns in this introductory lesson on intervals. This free lesson plan is designed to fulfill Standard #2 of the National Standards for Music Education: Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.