TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Mar 17, 2019

Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive

 

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Where Science Meets Art - National Public Radio

Grades
8 to 12
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This series explores the intersection of art and science through thought-provoking podcast discussions. Topics range from music and its healing effect to the inclusion of optics and...more
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This series explores the intersection of art and science through thought-provoking podcast discussions. Topics range from music and its healing effect to the inclusion of optics and physics in sculpture. Each podcast is under 10 minutes long. Listen to podcasts online, download, or use the embed code to include on your class website or blog.
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In the Classroom

Use this site to "hook" artistic-inclined students into learning more about the science behind their interests. Share podcasts with your students on your class website or have students listen on their own devices. After listening to podcasts, ask students to explore the topic further through research online. Instead of creating a written or online list of bookmarks used, replace these and have students create a Padlet, reviewed here, to include bookmarks, images, videos, and additional content. Share the Padlet with other students and classes to allow others to collaborate on the topic. Use this podcast series as inspiration for students to create their own podcasts. Instead of having students respond through a writing project, expand this into a weekly or bi-weekly podcast sharing student research into the arts and sciences. Podcast Generator, reviewed here, is one of many free podcasting tools available to create and share podcasts.

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Music in Schools Month Resources - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 12
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Bring the beat into your classroom with this editor's choice curated list. All of these reviewed resources from TeachersFirst are all about music! Prepare for Music in our Schools Month...more
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Bring the beat into your classroom with this editor's choice curated list. All of these reviewed resources from TeachersFirst are all about music! Prepare for Music in our Schools Month or share these tools throughout the entire year. Find tools that incorporate history, drama, dance, and more.

In the Classroom

Use this site during units on sound in science class. Share the virtual instrument sites with students in music class, as they are learning to play a new instrument. If you are teaching (or learning) the piano, check out the virtual one. Consider displaying it on your interactive whiteboard.

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Grant Woolard YouTube Channel - Grant Woolard

Grades
4 to 12
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This YouTube channel features many videos exploring the world of music. Particularly interesting are the Classical Music Mashups. These videos combine the works of classic composers...more
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This YouTube channel features many videos exploring the world of music. Particularly interesting are the Classical Music Mashups. These videos combine the works of classic composers into one clever mashup and challenge viewers to identify how many of the timeless tunes they can identify. Other videos on the site include a Disney music mashup, Sounds of America, and a National Anthem mashup. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

In the Classroom

Music teachers will enjoy using these mashups to introduce classical music to students. Even if you're not a music teacher, challenge your students to identify the different composers and their compositions found in these videos. After viewing a video, explore full-length compositions and other pieces by each composer. Challenge musically-inclined students to make their own mashup of any music. Use a tool like Soundtrap, reviewed here, where you can blend tracks together using the Soundtrap editor. Share student videos on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here. Gifted musical elementary students will also enjoy creating their own music mashups!

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MathScienceMusic - Theolonius Monk Institute of Jaz

Grades
K to 12
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MathScienceMusic provides a large variety of free, engaging, resources to teach math, science, and music to students from kindergarten through college all created through a collaboration...more
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MathScienceMusic provides a large variety of free, engaging, resources to teach math, science, and music to students from kindergarten through college all created through a collaboration with Jazz legend, Herbie Hancock. Click letters on the homepage to begin your musical experience, then scroll down to view the available resources. Each group of resources includes a video introduction explaining the content. Some of the choices include Scratch Jazz (music and coding) and Groove Pizza (Shapes and Angles and Groove). All activities include a short description along with suggestions for appropriate grade level, concepts taught, and links to additional resources. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

In the Classroom

Share activities from MathScienceMusic on your interactive whiteboard with students, then let them explore independently. Scratch Jazz is perfect for teaching basic coding; students interested in music will enjoy creating their own jazz-themed project using the site's tutorial. Add interest to math lessons by taking advantage of the free lesson plans. Be sure to check out the link to Math and Music Standards found on the music and math curriculum page. Have students modify their learning by creating videos of their music creations using moovly, reviewed here and share them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here. Be sure to have them discuss their journey from the beginning through the final creation of their project. Team up with your school's music teacher to collaborate on the many activities provided on this site.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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Perfect Pitch - Kennedy Center Artsedge

Grades
3 to 8
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Learn all about the orchestra with this interactive using baseball metaphors. Meet the players by choosing an era from baroque through modern times. Return to Home Plate to navigate...more
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Learn all about the orchestra with this interactive using baseball metaphors. Meet the players by choosing an era from baroque through modern times. Return to Home Plate to navigate throughout activities as you learn about instruments, parts of a composition, and technology. Play Ball assesses your knowledge upon completing activities to find out if you have hit it out of the park!

In the Classroom

Share this interactive on a projector or interactive whiteboard as you learn about orchestras together. Create a link on classroom computers for students to explore on their own. Share with your school's music teacher as an interesting activity for music class. This site would be excellent for use before a field trip or a school assembly featuring an orchestra! Have students create an annotated image of musical instruments including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Image Annotator, reviewed here. Image Antatorno can be used for a variety of assignments in any classroom that is integrating technology as a modification.

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Learn to Play the Piano - Hoffman Academy

Grades
2 to 12
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Learn to play the piano through a series of video tutorials offered by Hoffman Academy. Participate in over 100 lessons sequenced to build ability and understanding. Each lesson includes...more
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Learn to play the piano through a series of video tutorials offered by Hoffman Academy. Participate in over 100 lessons sequenced to build ability and understanding. Each lesson includes instructions and opportunities for self-paced practice. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable; be sure to look at alternatives for sharing the videos on classroom computers.
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In the Classroom

If you don't have access to a piano, don't worry, you can still learn how to play! Take advantage of the online virtual piano, reviewed here, to practice just like you would on a real piano. Share with your school's music teacher as an excellent resource for teaching students notes and piano keys. The self-paced videos offer a great opportunity to differentiate for different ability levels while achieving success for all. Share a link to this site on your class website for parents to use at home.

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Violin Online - RK Deverich

Grades
1 to 12
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Become the violin virtuoso you always wanted to be! Use Violin Online to begin your free instruction with violin basics. Learn how to hold the violin, basic fingering, bow technique,...more
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Become the violin virtuoso you always wanted to be! Use Violin Online to begin your free instruction with violin basics. Learn how to hold the violin, basic fingering, bow technique, violin tuning, and basic music theory. Join in the interactive violin class and practice what you know. Find ten different pieces of written violin sheet music to apply your new skills. Join the self-guided violin string class and discover violin through the ages: Medieval times, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods, moving into the twentieth century, and nontraditional collections. Follow each period with the free sheet music to accompany each piece. Use warm-up exercises to strengthen and improve with scales, technique practice, and etudes. Find links for cello, string bass and viola on this site.
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In the Classroom

Try something new and learn to play the violin. Offer as a way to challenge gifted students and highlight the multiple intelligence of music. Need to have sound for screencasts, digital storytelling, or videos without copyright problems? Have students learn to play the violin. After-school ensembles have a great variety of lessons and free music. Offer to parents as a way to enrich their student's learning. Investigate before you take a field trip to the orchestra, and help student's gain a better understanding and appreciation. Music class comes alive with violins and music theory! Use as a way to add to Odyssey of the Mind or Destination Imagination tournaments.

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Justin Guitar - Justn Guitar

Grades
4 to 12
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Pick up the guitar and go to your free online video lessons. Begin your free study by discovering how to choose the best guitar for you. Learn the correct body ...more
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Pick up the guitar and go to your free online video lessons. Begin your free study by discovering how to choose the best guitar for you. Learn the correct body posture and fingering while discovering the optimal practice schedule. Progress into beginners' lessons on chords, music theory, and rhythm. Challenge yourself in the intermediate course with scales, chords, and many different musical patterns. Move forward to blues, jazz, folk, rock and metal, and songwriting modules. Along the way, products are available for purchase. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Spark students' interest in guitar playing by encouraging free online guitar lessons. Offer as a challenge to gifted students, and have them teach other students. Highlight students multiple intelligences and let them shine! Make up a tune to go along with a multimedia presentation. Then, show students how to embed media transforming their work by uploading it to a digital storytelling using Presentious, reviewed here, or a digital story using a video tool like Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here, and then you have no worries with copyright. Tune up after school clubs with a little music. Make your music class come alive with guitars and free lessons. Share a link to this site on your class website for parents to use at home.
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Virtual Musical Instruments - Virtual Musical Instruments

Grades
K to 12
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Bring the world of music and instruments into your classroom. With Virtual Musical Instruments, you can explore the guitar, piano, pan flute, drums, or bongos. Select the instrument,...more
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Bring the world of music and instruments into your classroom. With Virtual Musical Instruments, you can explore the guitar, piano, pan flute, drums, or bongos. Select the instrument, and follow the directions for using the keyboard to play the different notes. Create different melodies using different notes or rhythms. Use the guitar tuner to be sure you are in tune. There is no record option on this tool. If you want to record your beat, there are many alternative options (such as using a cell phone, or an old-fashioned recorder). You can hear notes using your computer, but having a touch screen device would create the full experience, by touching several keys/strings, etc. at one time.
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In the Classroom

Virtual Musical Instruments opens up the world of music into many other subjects. In music class, discover the different instruments, sounds, and rhythms the virtual instruments can produce. Allow your students to make their own compositions. Challenge them to determine a way to give the directions for their composition to another person so that they can repeat the original piece. In language arts class, discuss mood in literature. Determine the instruments used, the rhythms, and sounds needed to make that effect. During Readers' Theater, add a musical score for more excitement and engagement with further analysis of the text. Have students create a musical composition that tells a story. Now, play that musical story for the class, and turn it into a writing prompt. Use musical sounds and beats to illustrate the concepts of literature and the use of plot. Determine a melody for each character. Write to explain why each character has that musical composition. Math class brings the study of fractions with types of notes: whole note, half note, quarter note, and eighth notes. Let students create a musical sentence that represents them and write to explain why. Use whatever recording option is most practical in your classroom.

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CurriConnects Book List - Music and Musicians - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 12
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Dance to the beat with books about musicians, composers, and the way they make music. This list includes fiction and nonfiction books, as well as books about instruments and how ...more
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Dance to the beat with books about musicians, composers, and the way they make music. This list includes fiction and nonfiction books, as well as books about instruments and how they are made. Take note of music and the people who make it -- from long ago until today. This list includes books for ALL levels. CurriConnects thematic book lists include ISBN numbers for ordering or searching, interest grade levels, ESL levels and Lexiles'''® to match with student independent reading levels to challenge, not frustrate. Don't miss other CurriConnects themes being added regularly.

In the Classroom

Share this list with students (and parents) during Music in Your Schools Month (March) or even during a unit on sound in your science classes. Bring the Arts into STEM to make STEAM!

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Music Theory for Musicians and Normal People - Toby Rush

Grades
6 to 12
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Learn basic through advanced topics of Music Theory and Notation with this eBook available for free under Creative Commons License. Choose any page to view as a PDF or download ...more
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Learn basic through advanced topics of Music Theory and Notation with this eBook available for free under Creative Commons License. Choose any page to view as a PDF or download all current pages as one single PDF file. Topics include notation, scales, intervals, chords, and much more.

In the Classroom

Print individual PDF files to use in the classroom as student handouts or enlarge to use as posters. Create a link to files on your class website or blog for student use at home. Share different files with groups of students to use to become experts and then teach the class that component. Use these PDFs for students learning to play an instrument.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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Music is Poetry - TeachersFirst

Grades
6 to 8
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Discover lesson unit that combines music and lyrics in a study of poetry. Part of the attraction: students get to help select the music, and hence the message. This lesson ...more
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Discover lesson unit that combines music and lyrics in a study of poetry. Part of the attraction: students get to help select the music, and hence the message. This lesson plan was one of the winners in a lesson plan contest sponsored by TeachersFirst. TeachersFirst editors have added technology options where appropriate.

In the Classroom

This unit conforms to Florida language arts standards. Technology options include using an interactive whiteboard, or an online whiteboard such as Draw.Chat, reviewed here.

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