Students learn how classical music and art combine to make an exciting tool for creative write and art expression. Students will develop the skill to write more expressively using descriptive words and phrases such as adjectives, adverbs, metaphors, and similes in order to make their writing come alive, and be more visual and engaging.

Students will learn about the emergence of bootlegs, also known as 'mash-ups' (the combination of two songs into one), on the Internet. By researching the musical origins of songs and creating and performing their own bootlegs, students will discover how different music styles borrow from and influence one another.

Students closely examine chamber music as it has changed from the Middle Ages to today. Students will work in small groups to research the composers, instruments and typical presentation of chamber music in five distinct time periods, and then individually write biographies of composers from their assigned era. Each group will create an interesting and informative display of their epoch and biographies, which they will present in a future class.

This music lesson plan allows students to closely examine chamber music as it has changed from the Middle Ages to today. Students will work in small groups to research the composers, instruments and typical presentation of chamber music in five distinct time periods, and then individually write biographies of composers from their assigned era. Each group will create an interesting and informative display of their epoch and biographies, which they will present in a future class.

This resource is the article which is part of the lesson from the New York Times lesson of the same name.

This lesson examines both the content and form of lyrics in blues songs. In addition to highlighting the basic musical form of a blues song, it also addresses the use of floating verses in blues music, both within the context of the original era in which the songs were sung and also in relation to how this practice is perceived today.

In this lesson, students will listen to examples of love songs from several musical styles and historical moments. The activities are designed to explore how music and lyrics work together to express different sentiments toward love and relationships.

This remix includes a student view that can be used virtually/distance learning. The repercussions of the Great Migration are far-reaching. Today, much of the restlessness and struggle that the Blues helped to articulate in the Migration era remains central in other forms of American music, including Hip Hop. In this lesson, students look to Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf as case studies that illustrate why African Americans left the South in record numbers and how communities came together in new urban environments, often around the sound of the Blues.

This remix includes a student view that can be used in virtually/distance learning situations. In this lesson, students will investigate how Elvis' first single offers a window onto the complex race relations of 1954, and how it fits into the broader narrative of Brown v. Board of Education and the early stirrings of the Civil Rights movement.

Students will listen to Music for the Royal Fireworks by George Frideric Handel (commissioned to celebrate the signed Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1749) and design a virtual fireworks display to accompany the music. Students will learn that the specific colors in a firework display are created when atoms of a particular element or a combination of elements are energized by the firework's heat. They will learn that the shape of the firework display is determined by the shape and structure of one particular component inside the firework shell. They will discover that each component of a firework has a role in the timing, sound, and visual display that make up a firework, and how to coordinate the fireworks display with a musical tract.

Through this writing activity students will explore how Aaron Copland uses music to convey a sense of landscape and time.

This lesson takes advantage of students' interest in music and audio sharing as part of a persuasive debate unit. Students investigate the controversial topic of downloading music from the Internet. They draw upon their prior knowledge and experience by discussing their own sources of music and Internet practices, then conduct internet research to investigate the history and legal issues of copyright infringement.

Students will be introduced to and develop a basic understanding of copyright laws. They will identify musical examples of copyright infringement.

Students will create song lists, artwork, and liner notes for an original soundtrack reflecting their experiences, opinions, and perceptions of the world around them.

In this lesson, students learn about the Mirembe Kawomera Coffee Cooperative in Uganda, a movement designed to promote the sale of Ugandan coffe, and also to unite several culture groups, including Christians and Muslims, to promote a common cause of world peace. Students will explore the music found on the album created by members of the co-op.

In this lesson, students work in cooperative groups to create a "ditty" to teach the characteristics that distinguish literary forms to younger students. The ditty is performed before the class.

In this Science Update, students explore a computer system that lets people drive a piece of music just like driving a car. Science NetLinks provides a link to the audio file, the written transcript, and questions to engage students in discussion about the technical portions of this computer program. This lesson plan also provides links to a NY Times lesson that challenges students to consider the benefits of “disruptive” forms of technology and their influence in the classroom.

Students read and discuss 'Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra: Mixing Treasures by Duke Ellington and Edvard Grieg,' exploring how jazz transformed European music and the influence jazz has had on modern music. Additionally, students will write a musical review.

Students use found objects from nature to explore the elements of art and express the unique quality of a season. In like manner, students learn that musical composers can use the elements of music to express the contrasting moods of each season. Students use such visual aids to enhance the work of Vivaldi's Four Seasons with technology such as I-movie or DVD Maker.

Students listen to world music samples and try to identify the countries of origin. Then they work in small groups to design an online "world music café." For homework, they draw on their group's ideas to create sample home pages.