Students use the familiar tune and movements of “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” to identify the place value of each digit in a multi-digit number.

Students become “DJs” and use rhythm and movement to represent a given multiplication equation. Each student creates a short body percussion beat sequence based on the first factor, then loops that sequence according to the second factor.

Students examine how music unified labor movements during the Industrial Era by analyzing historical protest songs and creating their own using lyrical substitution.

Students explore the Harlem Renaissance through visual art, historical texts, and Blues music by composing and performing an original 12-bar Blues song from a historical perspective.

Explore democratic and authoritarian systems and create a persuasive song about one of the government types.

Explore the 13 Colonies through designing a map & composing a free-verse poem.

Explore the Columbian Exchange through music, creating simplified instruments and analyzing how natural resources influenced musical development. Students will write a rap or poem on its impacts, culminating in a research project.

Create a visual timeline to illustrate key events of the Civil War and Reconstruction (1860-1896) and elaborate on main ideas by creating simple songs.

Music educators, Dan and Claudia Zanes, and Baltimore City educator, Arnelyn Viernes, created these materials for Wit & Wisdom "Resilience in the Great Depression" so that every student can learn through creativity and connection. Experience the Great Depression through photography and engage with the novel Bud, Not Buddy through band performances and campfire singalongs.