Other Classroom Activities

Lesson Ideas for Any Music

Here are some lesson ideas you can try out with any piece of classical music.

Learning fractions with musical notation
Describing and graphing musical form
Storytelling through music
Counting along with the beats
Writing prompts to build vocabulary
Studying the life of a composer to bring the past alive

Want some more specific thematic connections? Here are some ideas to get started:

SCIENCE MUSIC IS AN EXCELLENT WAY TO EXPLORE ACOUSTICS AND THE WORLD AROUND US
Curriculum Area	Themes	Music Links
Life Science	Animals and Plants	Cuckoo and the Nightingale, Handel Flight of the Bumblebee, Rimsky-Korsakov Carnival of the Animals, Saints-Saëns The Birds (Gli Uccelli), Resphighi The Cat and the Mouse, Copland The Spirit of Trees, Hovhaness
Earth Science	Landforms and Oceans	La Mer (The Sea), Debussy Grand Canyon Suite, Grofé The Housatonic at Stockbridge, Ives Creation of the World, Milhaud Men and Mountains, Ruggles Mysterious Mountain, Hovhaness Hymn to Glacier Peak, Hovhaness
	Space and Planets	The Planets, Holst Three Asteroids, Turnage Sun Rings, Riley Star Wars, John Williams
	Weather and Seasons	Four Seasons, Vivaldi Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral), Beethoven Overture to William Tell (storm and pastoral scene), Rossini Raindrop Prelude, Chopin Overture to The Tempest, Sibelius The Rite of Spring, Stravinsky Peter Grimes- Storm, Britten Storm on Mount Wildcat, Hovhaness
	Earthquakes and Volcanoes	La calunnia è un venticello, Rossini Mount St. Helens, Hovhaness
Physical Science	Sound and Vibration	Music of deaf musicians: Beethoven and Evelyn Glennie Holidays Symphony, (instrumental “shadows”), Ives
Physical Science	Machines and Inventions	Symphonie fantastique, Berlioz Pacific 231, Honegger Little Train of Caipira, Villa Lobos Slow Ride in a Fast Machine, John Adams Colliding with Chris (The Rhythmical Tale of a Runaway Bike), Stookey

LANGUAGE ARTS MUSIC IS AN EXCELLENT WRITING PROMPT, A VEHICLE FOR EXPLORING LITERATURE, AND AN AID TO MORE EXPRESSIVE READING
Curriculum Area	Themes	Music Links
Reading and Writing	Reading: phrasing and fluency	Choose a piece of music with a variety of phrasing and articulation: The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4, Tchaikovsky Peer Gynt (incidental music), Grieg TYoung Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Britten
	Traits of Writing: content and ideas	Choose a piece of music that tells a story or paints a picture: Symphonie fantastique, Berlioz Peter and the Wolf, Prokofiev Pictures at an Exhibition, Mussorgsky The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Dukas Rodeo, Copland El Salon Mexico, Copland Billy the Kid, Copland
	Traits of writing: organization and structure	Choose a piece of music with clearly defined sections: Symphony No. 5, Beethoven Waltz of the Flowers (from The Nutcracker), Tchaikovsky
	Traits of Writing: Vocabulary and word choice	Choose a piece of music that is colorful or dramatic: Fanfare for the Common Man (and other fanfares), Copland Piano Concert No. 1 Tchaikovskyi Peter and the Wolf, Prokofiev Symphony No. 5, Shostakovich
	Traits of Writing: Voice and character	Choose a piece of music that uses individual instruments in vivid ways: Symphonie fantastique, Berlioz Symphony No. 4, Tchaikovsky Peter and the Wolf, Prokofiev The Composer is Dead, Stookey
	Traits of Writing: Fluency, phrasing, and tempo	Largo (slow), Handel Prelude in C (fast), Bach Under the Leaves (walking tempo), Thome
Literature	Romeo and Juliet	Romeo and Juliet, multiple verions by Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev West Side Story, Bernstein
Literature	Other Classic Works	Don Giovanni, Mozart The Damnation of Faust, Berlioz Sleeping Beauty, Tchaikovsky Macbeth, Tchaikovsky Othello, Verdi Don Juan, Richard Strauss Don Quixote, Richard Strauss Mother Goose, Ravel Cinderella, Prokofiev Oedipus Rex, Stravinsky Carmina Burana, Orff

MATH MUSIC IS AN EXCELLENT WAY TO GET STUDENTS IMAGINATIVELY ENGAGED IN EXPLORING MATHEMATICAL PROCESSES
Curriculum Area	Themes	Music Links
Math	Counting	Choose music with a clear pattern of 2 or 3: 2 = March; 3 = Waltz
	Patterning	Choose music with short, clear melodic patterns that repeat: Waltz of the Flowers, Tchaikovsky
	Fractions	Choose music with clear divisions of beats: Symphony No. 7 (second movement), Beethoven Appalachian Spring (variations on a Shaker theme), Copland
	Geometry	Choose music with meters that match geometric shapes: lines, angles, polygons (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) 2 = march 3 = waltz 4 = common time (2 + 2) 5 = 2 + 3 or 3 + 2 Take Five, Brubeck Symphony No. 6 (third movement), Tchaikovsky 6 = compound meter, usually two groups of three Mexican Hat Dance “Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath” fromSymphonie Fantastique, Berlioz
	Golden Ratio	Choose music with a structure that reflects the golden ratio: Symphony No. 5, Beethoven Concerto for Orchestra, Bartok

HISTORY - SOCIAL SCIENCE MUSIC IS AN EXCELLENT WAY TO EXPLORE HUMAN CULTURES IN ALL TIMES AND PLACES
Curriculum Area	Themes	Music Links
Peoples and Community	Individuals	Choose music with a clear pattern of 2 or 3: 2 = March; 3 = Waltz Halil Bernstein My Father Knew Charles Ives Adams
	Families	Choose music with short, clear melodic patterns that repeat: Instrument Families, SFSkids.org Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Britten The COmposer is Dead, Stookey
	Communities	Musical influences from diverse cultural traditions Music in our community
S History	American Traditions	Holidays Symphony, Ives
	Patriotism	John Philip Sousa Marches Lincoln Portrait, Copland
	Early America	Appalachian Spring, Copland
	Westward Expansion	Girl of the Golden West, Puccini Hallelujah Junction, Adams
	Wild West/Cowboys	Rodeo, Copland Billy the Kid, Copland
	Ellis Island/Immigration	New World Symphony, Dvořák
	World War II	Fanfare for the Common Man, Copland
	Modern America	Mass, Bernstein
World History	Primitive Societies: People and Music	The Rite of Spring Stravinsky
	French Revolution Napoleonic Influence	Symphony No. 3, 'Eroica', Beethoven 1812 Overture, Tchaikovsky
	World War I	A Soldier's Tale, Stravinsky War Requiem, Britten
	Soviet Union	Symphony No. 5, Shostakovich
Cultural Events	Christmas	The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky
	Halloween	Dance Macabre, Saint-Saëns “Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath” fromSymphonie Fantastique, Berlioz
	Independence Day	Stars and Stripes Forever, Sousa "Fourth of July" from Holidays Symphony, Ives
Geography	Composer's Travels	El Salon Mexico, Copland An American in Paris, Gershwin Scottish and Italian Symphonies, Mendelssohn
	Music about places: World	Chapultepec (Three Famous Mexican Pieces), Carlos Chavez Rhapsodie Espagnole, Liszt Rhapsodie Espagnole, Ravel Espana, Chabrier Spanish Suite, Albéniz Nights in the Gardens of Spain, de Falla Rumanian Folk Dances, Bartok Danzon Cubano & El Salon Mexico, Copland Slavonic Dances, Dvorak Hungarian Dances, Brahms Three Latin American Dances, Gabriela Lena Frank Estancia-Malambo, Ginastera Song of Quetzalcoatl, Lou Harrison Fingal’s Cave, Mendelssohn Libertango, Piazzolla The Moldau, Smetana Algerian Suite, Saint-Saëns Ku-ka-Ilimoku, Rouse Chinese Opera Suite, Situ
	Music about Places: US	On the Town-Times Square, Bernstein An American in Paris, Bernstein Skyscrapers, Carpenter Grand Canyon Suite, Grofe Three Places in New England, Ives California Suite, Claude Bolling Symphony No. 1: A Symphony of San Francisco and Symphony No. 2: The Missions of California, Meredith Willson Harlem Symphony, Johnson San Francisco Suite, Situ American Symphonette #2, Gould New England Triptych, William Schuman

FURTHER OPPORTUNITIES FOR MUSICAL EXPLORATION IN YOUR CLASSROOM
Musical Autobiographies: Have students share a piece of music that is special to them and share the ways it connects them to their own experiences and the culture around them.
Composer of the month: In addition to familiarizing students with a composer’s music, have them research his or her life and times.
History and Geography of music: Use timelines and maps to locate when and where composers lived, worked, and traveled and when and where famous pieces of music were first heard.