Students recognize the timbre of a celesta by listening to music that contains the celesta. They listen to music from Tchaikovsky's "Danse de la Fee-Dragee" (Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairies), track #14 and describe how the music...

Students sing Oh Shenandoah with correct notes, diction, a characteristic choral tone, appropriate style and have an understanding of the history of the lyrics. The version of Oh Shenandoah is for an SSA choir and was arranged by Ruth...

Students listen to and discuss American music genres, specifically ragtime, bebop/bop, and swing, and experiment with improvisation on traditional tunes and rhythms.

Eighth graders explore the entertainment options in colonial America. In this colonial life lesson, 8th graders watch a movie about colonial music and arts. Students then respond to questions regarding the movie and also respond to 1...

Students discuss the Western method of teaching and learning music and compare that to the aural transmission method used around the world. They practice singing two songs using aural transmission and watch a video showing musicians...

Students compare the paintings and lives of William H. Johnson and Henri Matisse through their use of line, color, and patterns to publish an individual fact book. They then create an imaginary painting while listening to classical music.

High schoolers explore the ways music is used to convey ideas about a culture. They define folk art by viewing and comparing visual folk and fine art. Then they analyze the musical piece," The Bartered Bride" and relate it to how folk...

Students sing songs by Harry Connick Jr. and then learn different musical terms.

Fourth graders collaborate in small groups to create simple rhythmic patterns in different time signatures. Each group creates rhythms in a competitive "game" atmosphere and then constructs entire rhythmic groups for presentation to...

Students demonstrate correct body posture for proper singing technique, and accurately perform correct breathing technique in preparation for singing.

Students examine the art of Pysanky. Using the Internet, they identify the cultural similarities and differences between the United States and the Ukraine. Using Pysanky's art, they discover the symbolism he used in his artwork and...

Learners discover the shape-note method of singing. In this reading and notating music lesson, students learn the four shapes of the shape-note method and the tradition of Sacred Harp singers. Learners sing the shapes of "Yankee Doodle"...

Students examine the experiences of African American women. In this poetry lesson, students use their literary analysis skills to compare the poetry of Maya Angelou to rap music performed by Queen Latifah and Lauryn Hill.

Fourth graders create dances through a randomly generated process (such as throwing a dice) and perform their dances for the class. Class work is based on Merce Cunningham's "Chance Dance" and includes walking, skipping hopping, and...

Students perform a dance (La Raspa) from a different culture while maintaining a steady beat, sing "Halloween Night" with accurate pitch and good breath support, and imitate a body percussion part for the song "Monster Mash" in this...

Students sing songs, improvise musical responses, maintain steady beats, and move to music in this Halloween Music lesson for the Kindergarten classroom. Emphasis is placed upon meeting State and National Standards in Music.

Students listen critically to music and answer questions about the music, sing a song on so, mi, la and do with a constant pitch center, and maintain steady beats in this Kindergarten Music Lesson. State and National Standards are...

Students explore performing arts by participating in a role-play activity. In this storytelling lesson, students utilize their physical expressions to particpate in a pantomime performance. Students evaluate performances in their class...

Sixth graders practice choral reading of poetry.  In this creative literature lesson plan, 6th graders incorporate elements of performing arts into their choral readings of various poems.  They discuss musical instruments,...

Young scholars examine artwork done by artists from Puerto Rico. As a class, they discuss each piece of work based on the elements used. They use the internet to research the lives of the artists and develop their own opinions on the...

Students sing and perform the song "Festival Hosanna" by Carole Stephens in this Choral lesson for the High School classroom. Emphasis is placed upon the National Standards for Music and singing proper Latin text in a group setting.

Learners examine how to analyze musical performances and utilize practice techniques to improve their performances. They listen and evaluate another student's performance, then reverse roles with their partner.

High schoolers sing the song "My Love And I" by Sonja Poorman and Berta Poorman in this Music lesson for the High School SSA choir. The lesson is part of a unit that can be used to aid the performance and practice of the song in a choir...

Learners view a film about theatres in Chicago. They discover how performing arts can be enjoyed by all ages and how one becomes involved in performing in theatre. They answer questions and discuss to end the lesson.