Use popular music to inspire writing - Scholastic
Compare music to writing - In language arts you use words to describe the human experience, write a story using segments of songs. An intro to it could be my Conan Story Map. Also can say what the lyrics mean, what are they trying to say? Or put a poem as the lyrics to another song and see how the words being changed still fits with the music or changes the meaning of the song.
Music as a Language - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yRMbH36HRE&list=UUsooa4yRKGN_zEE8iknghZA&index=2&feature=plcp
Poetry Slam - Have students all use one poem, let them choose one, or they find one, and as groups they read it like at a poetry slam, and they have to decide what kind of things the drummer will play during and between phases. Will end up mimicking things from the poem and trying to express the mood and meaning of each phrase.
Article - Why free-writing is better than meditation
The science of sound waves - http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/sound/index.cfm
Hubble Film/Band Music - Can extent it to have students find music to put over other films/documentaries. After exploring how it impacts the mood.
Voyager Spacecraft - Have each of them research and listen to a piece that was sent on Voyager and they have to tell m why it was chosen to be sent. Musically but also what they hoped to represent by choosing that tune. My "report" would be about the bigger picture of why each one was collected. A kind of Noah's Ark" of music. Hopefully what they thought were the reasons fit into my big picture of why and how we hoped to benefit from doing it. The "why" of sending Voyager out in the first place. I could set up a really good discussion/presentation about aliens and how big our universe is but also how that makes it more probable that there are others. Then another part of the lesson would be one to relate to their own lives. We have been talking about how we would see them or how we would seem to them. We still do it in our daily lives--a constant judging of ourselves and of how others see us. We can worry all we want but if worrying doesn't make you any better... then what's the point of worrying if it just makes you unhappy. Remember, the ultimate goal in life is to be happy. Whatever you need to do to reach that happiness...you do it....As long as you don't step on anyone else's along the way. For kids of all ages I could have them act the part of an alien finding this and play them the sounds and see if they can tell what they are. Also play songs and see if can tell what genre or things about them. Ask for them to describe what they would hear as if they were aliens. Great extension is the Hubble Film. Or play the tune "Voyager." Play excerpt from 2001: A Space Odyssey that has Ligeti's music which is similar to Voyager.
Distinguishing Sounds How can we view and distinguish sounds? [an EQ!]
In BioMusic, page 2.4 Students will listen to recordings of various animals sounds and compare them with their visual representations on sound spectrograms. They will explore topics such as pitch, frequency, timbre, and vibration through animal vocalization, human voice, and instrumental composition.
Xenakis - Music inspired/based on math
Cirque du Soleil - can talk about phy. ed. and possibly physics/math. How he moves the ball is both artistic and mathematical if he thinks about his body as physics theories. How does the music contribute to the drama of the show/story? First watch Viktor Kee then Kooza Contortionists and Allegria Hula Hoops.
See "Voyager Spacecraft" in the Science section
Peace Songs and Conflict:
http://www.planetpatriot.net/peace_songs.html
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/thismonth/conflict/index3.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/peoplescentury/index.html
http://www.aforcemorepowerful.org/index.php
http://www.simpleliving.net/shop/item.aspx?itemid=1084
Story of Movies - Free curriculum about teaching movies
"Music that Teaches Spanish!" by Patti Lozano - CD