OTHER LESSONS ON THE INTERNET

Jazz Kids: Interactive Timeline
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/kids/
lesson/jazz_history.html

Music, History, and Math
Grades 3-8
Kid Friendly: Yes
Students will explore ragtime music and gain an understanding of its development in relation to jazz. They will also investigate the historical period when the genre evolved. They will become familiar with the common form used in ragtime piano pieces and the concept of syncopation.

Jazz Kids: Repeat the Beat
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/kids/lesson/
tap_your_feet.html

Music and Math
Grades Preschool-1
Students will practice following a pattern and become familiar with the concept of the "beat" in music. They will be introduced to tempo. They will gain experience playing the beat on non-pitched rhythm instruments, at various tempos. This activity will culminate in the creation of a rhythm piece.

Jazz Kids: Transcending Poetry, Jazz, Rap & Hip Hop
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/classroom/
index612.htm

Language Arts, Music
Grades 11-12
This lesson is designed to allow students in grades 11-12 to explore poetry, jazz, rap and hip-hop music. Students will discover the common threads that run through the poetry and music, and how the themes and subject matter of the poetry and music reflect the lifestyle of the period. Students will read and listen to lyrics, research historical periods and artists, and write their own lyrics to a jazz, rap or hip-hop song.

Jazz and Math: Improvisation Permutations
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/classroom/
mathimprov.htm

Math and Music
Grades 6-12
After an introduction to improvisation through a drama game, a discussion, and a video clip, students in grades 9-12 explore how many different rhythmic combinations can be improvised in a jazz/blues piece of music. They use trial and error, and they apply the formula to calculate the number of possible rhythmic combinations.

Jazz and Math: Rhythmic Innovations
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/classroom/
rhythmicinnovations.htm

Math and Music
Grades 6-12
Students view a segment of the PBS Ken Burns Jazz documentary, which discusses Buddy Bolden's creation of the "Big Four," which gave jazz its lilting rhythms as opposed to the straight "boom-chick-boom-chick" of a march. Students compare and contrast the rhythms of marches and jazz based on the examples in the film, and explore notation, subdivision of notes, and the altered and innovative rhythms found in jazz music.

Africana.com: Music: Jazz Musicians
http://archive.blackvoices.com/Blackboard/bb_mus_000047.htm

Music, History for Grades 7-8
After discussing the importance of individual style and expression in jazz, students choose one influential jazz musician and research that person's life, work, and unique sound. Students share their findings in a class jazz symposium, focusing on how strong individual styles and personalities influence jazz.