This integrated lesson, focusing on United States History, incorporates learning about the Wild West and the western outlaw Billy the Kid through the music of Aaron Copland. The lesson provides musical reflection and each movement of Copland’s ballet Billy the Kid work and opportunity to experience deep listening for the elements of Dynamics, Articulation, Rhythm and Tempo (DART).

This lesson will contrast Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring (classical) and Stephane Furic's Crossing Brooklyn Ferry (jazz), and the role the poems Crossing Brooklyn Ferry by Walt Whitman and The Bridge by Hart Crane, bring to the music.

Students will recognize that American music is diverse as it relates to culture, history and style. Students
may also work with digital media to accompany their performance piece.

Students will learn about Middle Eastern music, its transformations in the United States, and basic forms of belly dance movement. This lesson examines belly dance music, performed by Lebanese-American musician George Abdo, an example of music in Arab American communities during the 1970s.

Students will create five artistic representations illustrating the five movements by Grofe's symphonic composition The Grand Canyon Suite. Students will be able to analyze and form generalizations about the interdependence of the art elements such as: color, texture, form, line, and space. Students will enhance their own emotional and cognitive development as a result of the classical music by translating this experience through creative expression.

Students begin by brainstorming the functions or purposes of music and by discussing music's power as a mirror and a symbol. A special focus will be made on the use of music to sell- how advertisers use the power of music to create bonds between consumers and products. As a group activity, students will create and present multi-media, musical collages, based on the functions of music that they have brainstormed. This lesson examines how music reflects and influences societies and is a metaphor for ideas and experiences.

Students will identify the musical form of the 12-bar blues and participate in a composition of a 12-bar blues song. Students will also discuss how the problems and conflicts of farming in the 1940's contributed and influenced blues music.

Students will use Mike Seeger's performance of "Josh Thomas' Roustabout" as a gateway to exploring vocal expression within a limited-tone sequence. Students will critically discuss the relationship between the voice and accompanying instruments, compose their own limited-tone songs, accompanying themselves on Orff Instruments, and improvise within a limited-tone sequence on recorders.

Students will understand that music communicates many things. Students will understand that music can be represented and expressed on paper through the use of line and color.

This resource is a presentation of the time periods of music. There is an assignment for students to complete after going through the presentation.

Music can help us learn about history! This lesson demonstrates to your students how music of the Baroque period reflects the importance of the institutions of State and Church, and the influence both had on the
work of each composer.

When did music develop? What role did music play in precivilization? This lesson asks students to interact with the music and art of the hunters and gathers, and determine what role it played in their culture.

Students are introduced to the concept of popular culture and the role that it plays in their lives. Students examine the importance of videos to the music industry and the role that music plays in popular culture. In pairs, students interview each other about their musical preferences. Activities for this lesson include: viewing and listening to videos, with and without sound, in order to analyze aesthetic visual elements; exploring the history of the music video; and independent projects on music videos for selected musical genres.

Through singing and listening to famous protests songs students will learn to discuss the
musical significance as well as the social and historical context of these songs.

This lesson was created for primary age students but can easily be adapted into the intermediate or middle school social studies lesson. Students will explore a period of time when African Americans were striving to make their mark on American music. Ragtime music will be experienced through listening to classics, observing performances, researching the life of Scott Joplin, learning dances, and wearing self-made costumes of the era. They will reflect on the Ragtime music, the struggle of African Americans, and the life skills of successful people who perservere.

Students look at musical notes and determine their value in the measure in terms of rational numbers. They will figure out what the value of the note is in fractions, decimals and percents of the entire measure.

Visitors to the website will learn about the musical instruments that have been traditionally used along the Silk Road. Included is a map of the region, a reading list, and fun facts. Teachers will find an Education Kit with a Teacher's Guide and a Sourcebook of lesson plans, activities, and background materials to use in teaching their students about the Silk Road. Students will learn about the geography, economics, and history of the Silk Roads. They will discover the religions of both the ancient and contemporary cultures of the area. They will also be able to create musical instruments.

Students will learn the history behind "This Little Light of Mine", following the song through slavery, the civil rights movement, and up to its current day applications. Students will also learn to sing the song itself in multiple languages and will be prompted to write about their learning experiences after each session. At the end, there will be an opportunity for students to add their own verses to the song, based on the writing they did through each portion of the lesson.

Students will discover how modern dance and music styles were influenced by the "Son Jarocho". Students will listen to, view, and analyze recordings of "La Bamba", "El Zapateado" , and "El Pajaro Cu" to gain an understanding of how this tradition originated in Spain and was reconstructed by the cultures of African slaves, Arabs, Mexicans, and further developed by folk musicians in the United States.

Learn about the Gullah culture in the United States. Utilize polyrhythms and call-and-response, critical listening and language skills, musical play, vocal improvisation, and the 12-bar-blues. Discover the rich traditions of the Gullah culture that have helped to shape our American musical culture today.