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What is jazz? (lesson plan)

What is jazz? (lesson plan)

In this lesson, students will learn about the history of jazz music. They'll explore the contributions that various jazz musicians have made to American music culture, and then create a newsletter to teach others what they have learned.

5 Ratings

Overview

In this lesson, students will be introduced to jazz music and great jazz musicians.

What is jazz?

Lesson plan information

Lesson plan
Item Requirements
Instructional level
  • Beginning user
School level
  • Elementary school (5-11 years)
  • Middle school (11-14 years)
Curriculum areas
  • Music
Themes
  • Music
  • Famous people in history
Class time
  • 1-2 class periods
Academic standards
  • Fine arts: The student understands that the arts shape and reflect culture and history.
  • Reading: The student comprehends important ideas and details.
ISTE NETS Standards for students
  • Students use productivity tools to collaborate while they construct technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce creative works.
Software required
  • Microsoft Encarta Reference
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer
  • Microsoft Office Publisher

Teacher guide

Objectives

  • Students will learn about the life of a jazz musician.
  • Students will learn the contributions that various jazz musicians have made to American music culture.

Prerequisite skills

  • Basic research skills using Microsoft Encarta and Internet Explorer
  • Basic experience with Microsoft Office Publisher

How to begin

  1. Start the lesson by playing a couple of jazz selections. Ask students if they know what type of music it is and how they determine the music type.
  2. Provide your students with a brief history of jazz. Visit the jazz section in Encarta to review the history of jazz. You might start researching some of the more famous musicians, such as Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, John William Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock.

Resources and web links

Student activity

Description

One exciting way to learn about history and culture is to look at famous people. In this activity, you will research jazz musicians and the contributions they have made to American culture, and then create a newsletter to teach others what you have learned.

  • Software: Microsoft Encarta, Microsoft Internet Explorer.
  • What to do
    Research jazz musicians and create a newsletter about one
  1. Open Internet Explorer and visit the PBS Kids-Jazz Kids Web site.
  2. To find a list of jazz musicians you can use for the Microsoft Publisher newsletter you will create, click Now and Then.
  3. Select one of the musicians for your newsletter.
  4. Read about the musician, and answer the following questions in your newsletter:
  • What is the name of the musician you selected?
  • When and where was he or she born?
  • What was his or her childhood like?
  • What instrument did he or she play?
  • What are three additional facts you learned about your musician?
  1. Create a one-page newsletter about your musician using one of the templates in Microsoft Publisher, and include the information from the questions in Step 4. Additionally, include a photo of your musician and any other pictures as needed.

Note: When including a photo in your newsletter, make sure you cite the source.

  1. Using Encarta, look for additional information to include in your newsletter.

Ways to extend the student activity

Use the same lesson when you introduce other types of music. As students create additional newsletters, they may compile all of their newsletters for a complete book of musicians.

Assessment

Assess your students based on whether the information in their newsletter is:

  • Accurate
  • Well-designed

This content is reprinted with permission from Microsoft. For additional content, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/education/default.mspx.