Students create a four-measure rhythm composition using an interactive slide deck. Teachers can provide different guidelines and rhythmic components (time signature, note/rest value) in the interactive slide deck for different grade levels and/or student musical ability. Students then perform their rhythm composition on a digital instrument of their choice from a variety of sources (e.g. Makey Makey bongos, Music K-8 boomwhackers, etc.). Students compare and contrast digital and traditional methods for creating music.

Students will work to create categories and tags for songs that can be used by music streaming platforms to assist listeners in finding songs that are similar to other songs. Students will work to curate a playlist for the class that includes songs that exhibit similar musical traits to the other songs within the playlist. Student groups then share the finished playlist with the class and how the playlist has been sorted to create similiarities between songs.

Students will listen to and/or watch a video about differences across America, listen to or view Ray Charles’ rendition of “America the Beautiful” and then have a choice activity: composing a poem or illustrating verses.

Students will be introduced to the soprano recorder and the technique needed to play the instrument. Students will learn to play a song using the soprano recorder.

Students will learn about instruments from a variety of cultures and discuss how these instruments were used. Students will create an instrument from various materials to experiment with sound and playing technique.

Students will demonstrate oral communication and literacy skills by telling and retelling stories with creative dramatics. Students will apply a creative process for music, and improvise with movement and music to enhance a short story or poem.

What did colonists do for fun in 18th century Virginia? Let us explore the music and dance of Colonial Virginia and why they were so important to know. What happens when we take those 18th century dance moves and combine them with the trending moves today? Let us find out!

Students will engage in active listening to Yoko Shimomura’s “Dark Star Battle” from the video game Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. The students will discover key elements to the composition and explore those elements through composition using Orff instruments.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of rhythmic literacy by playing Disappearing Rhythms. Students will identify and perform simple rhythms, and improve audition skills, as well as accuracy and fluency of rhythmic music literacy, through repetition in a fast-paced environment.

The musical form call and response has roots in West Africa and acts as a form of communication and participation in music. In this lesson, students will participate in performance, composition, and listening activities on call and response form using music from Ghana.

Students will use a folk song to explore improvisation using a variety of singing, body percussion, and musical instruments.

In this lesson, students respond to music in triple meter and discover facts about the famous Japanese film music composer, Joe Hisaishi. Literary connections and global music concepts are also explored through the picture book The Sound of Silence by Katrina Goldsaito.

Students will learn a song about the seven simple machines. Students will collaborate to use three simple machines to create their own inventions. They will perform and demonstrate what their inventions will look like using body movements. Students will then have time to reflect on their inventions, how they can be used, and illustrate them on paper.

Students will learn or review the concept of tempo and the appropriate music terminology associated with it. They will show understanding by discussing tempo changes in music, moving their bodies to different tempos, and coding Ozobots to move at different tempos.

Students will use their creative writing power to explore what a composer/performer might have been trying to say or make their audience feel in a piece of music. Students will use creative writing prompts to explore musical elements, using appropriate music terminology.

Students select an instrument and identify instrument’s origins, composers and musicians who feature this instrument, and styles of music where this instrument is featured. Students will also identify the parts and sound science of the instrument. 

Students will identify basic parts of the ukulele and learn to sing and play a simple folk song utilizing the C major chord with proper strumming technique.

Students will explore and identify the basics of melodic direction using aural skills and body percussion or movement. Students will compose their own piece of digital music using stepwise and leapwise melodic direction.

Students will compose short melodic phrases using commonly found household items, such as a rock to create “Melodies that Rock.” Students will explore music contour in relationship to high and low notes, and melodic patterns and motion.

The music room just became a working professional music studio and live performance venue, complete with a full complement of composers, performers, audio engineers, promoters, stage managers, and a stage crew! Students will work collaboratively to develop understandings of the many careers associated with the performing arts, while composing and premiering an original music work.