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Lesson Plans

 

Our team here at the Museum is working around the clock to bring you exciting and diverse activities to use in your classroom and in conjunction with a visit to the Museum. Stay tuned for new ideas heading this way!

The following materials have been created exclusively for GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi. Teachers may download them for free and are encouraged to use them in conjunction with a student group tour.

Thematic Lessons & Activities

Understanding U.S. and Mississippi History through Music

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  • APPRECIATE SOME OF THE KEY THEMES/ISSUES CHARACTERIZING AMERICAN LIFE FROM THE 1950S TO TODAY,
  • EXPLORE THE IDEA OF MUSIC AS A FACTOR IN SHAPING AS WELL AS REFLECTING CULTURAL BELIEFS AND PRACTICES, AND
  • SHOW HOW CULTURAL BELIEFS AND PRACTICES HAVE CHANGED SINCE THE 1950S

On August 24, 2015, GRAMMY Museum Mississippi and the Bologna Performing Arts Center co-presented an education program and concert with the Band of Legends – a group that features the studio musicians who toured and recorded with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Willie Nelson and more.  The band included Norbert Putnam, James Burton, Gene Chrisman and Bobby Wood with Andy Childs on vocals.

(Band of Legends/ MS Musicians Hall of Fame)

Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame.pdf

Band of Legends artist bios.pdf

Timeline_50s_60s.pdf

Lesson Plan - 4th Grade - Band of Legends .pdf

Lesson Plan - 9th Grade - Band of Legends.pdf

Lesson Plan -11th Grade - Band of Legends.pdf

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Woody at 100

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Born in 1912, Woody Guthrie is one of the most noted folk singers and songwriters in history, penning thousands of songs in his career, including the seminal American folk song, "This Land Is Your Land." Guthrie demonstrated how music acts as an agent for political, social, economic and cultural change in America, and influenced generations of other American musicians, including Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. This lesson, Woody at 100,  is a celebration of Guthrie's life and continuing legacy as well as the largest and most comprehensive centennial celebration ever staged for an American music icon.

Woody at 100 Lesson Plan Grades 7 - 9.pdf

Woody at 100 Lesson Plan Grades 10 - 12.pdf

A Celebration of Music From the Civil Rights Movement

On February 9, 2010, during Washington, D.C.'s worst snow storm on record, President Obama and the First Family joined Vice president Joe Biden, Cabinet members and other special guests, as well as students from around the country, to commemorate Black History Month with "In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement." The television special, produced by The GRAMMY Museum, AEG Ehrlich Ventures, WETA and the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC), brought together talented musicians and performers including Smokey Robinson, Yolanda Adams, Natalie Cole, John Mellencamp, Bernice Reagon and the Freedom Singers, Jennifer Hudson, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Joan Baez, to sing songs that both fueled and inspired the American Civil Rights Movement. The program made history when singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, on his first-ever trip to the White House sang "The Times They Are a-Changin'," his 1964 protest song that became an anthem for the civil and political unrest of the 1960s.

In addition to the evening concert, The GRAMMY Museum produced three days of educational activities in Washington, D.C. One of the programs, "Music that Inspired the Movement," took place in the State Dining Room of the White House. Over 120 students from Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. attended.

What was the Civil Rights Movement.pdf

Lift Every Voice and Sing & The Civil Righst Movement.pdf

The Impact of Leadership On The Civil Rights Movement.pdf

The Civil Rights Movement and the Connection to Today.pdf

 

In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music From the Civil Rights Movement

On February 9, 2010, during Washington, D.C.'s worst snow storm on record, President Obama and the First Family joined Vice president Joe Biden, Cabinet members and other special guests, as well as students from around the country, to commemorate Black History Month...

The Sound of Young America: The History of Motown

On February 24, 2011, The White House welcomed 120 students from across the country to celebrate the music of Motown when they hosted "The Sound of Young America: The History of Motown" in the State Dining Room.

Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom Curriculum Highlights

Are you looking to introduce students to the concept of music as a force for social change? The GRAMMY Museum's Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom curriculum highlights the intersection of music and politics with lessons that introduce key concepts.

Exhibit Based Activities

MTV Turns 40: I Still Want My MTV

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Fifty years ago, Music Television, more commonly known as MTV, changed the face of popular music and permanently altered the way in which we experienced it.  By presenting music videos on a new concept called cable television, pop music was no longer just about sound.  Now, how an artist looked and acted in front of a camera was nearly as important as the song itself.  In a short time, MTV would go from being a pop culture curiosity to the most important promotional and creative vehicle in all of music. 

Lesson Plan & Activities

And the GRAMMY Goes To...

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And The GRAMMY® Goes To…is an exhibit curated by the GRAMMY Museum® that gives visitors a historical overview of the GRAMMY Awards® through interactive content and artifacts. The exhibit celebrates past and recent GRAMMY winners through areas that explore how a GRAMMY is won, the star-studded GRAMMY red carpet spotlighting timeless moments from a variety of artists, and what goes into making an actual GRAMMY Award. This is exhibit is a celebration of the GRAMMY Awards and a salute to those artists who make great music—GRAMMY music.

Lesson Plan & Activities

The Contributions of Motown & The Supremes

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Based on the exhibit, "Legends of Motown:  Celebrating The Supremes," through rare photographs and an assortment of performance attire from the private collection of founding Supremes member Mary Wilson, this exhibit gives visitors a one-of-a-kind look at the life and career of The Supremes – one of the most successful American singing groups of the '60s.

The exhibit begins at the start of The Supremes' career, when they were still known as The Primettes, to their signing with Motown and takes visitors on a timeline tour of the height of their success — from setting a record for the most consecutive No. 1 hits by an American group in June 1965, to creating a legacy that still exists today through their music and "Supreme" style.

Lesson Plans & Activities

John Lee Hooker: King of the Boogie

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With a prolific career that spanned over five decades, legendary bluesman John Lee Hooker remains a foundational figure in the development of modern music, having influenced countless artists around the globe with his simple, yet deeply effective style. Known to music fans around the world as the “King of the Boogie,” Hooker endures as one of the true superstars of the blues: the ultimate beholder of cool. His work is widely recognized for its impact on modern music—his simple, yet deeply effective songs transcend borders and languages around the globe.​ 

The exhibit is part of a year-long celebration of Hooker's musical legacy that features special releases from Craft Recordings, a conference at Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss., and special exhibits at the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Miss., and the Memphis-based Blues Foundation. 

Lesson Plan & Activities

Pride & Joy: The Texas Blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan

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Pride & Joy: The Texas Blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan, a traveling exhibit curated by the GRAMMY Museum at L.A. LIVE, offers visitors an in-depth look at the iconic career of Stevie Ray Vaughan.  Jimmie Vaughan, Stevie’s brother, serves as a guest curator.

Stephen "Stevie" Ray Vaughan was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. In spite of a short-lived mainstream career spanning seven years, he is widely considered one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of music, and one of the most important figures in the revival of blues in the 1980s. AllMusic describes him as "a rocking powerhouse of a guitarist who gave blues a burst of momentum in the '80s, with influence still felt long after his tragic death."

Lesson Plan & Activities

Ladies and Gentlemen...The Beatles!

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Ladies and Gentlemen…The Beatles! brings us back to the early ‘60s when rock & roll was re-energized--some say saved--by four lads from Liverpool.  The exhibit covers the period from early 1964 through mid-1966—the years Beatlemania ran rampant in America.  Although the term “Beatlemania” was first used in 1963 to describe the shrieking Beatles fans in England, it quickly spread throughout – and took over – America, its airwaves, its record stores, its movie houses and its teenagers...During this time the band affected nearly every aspect of pop culture, including fashion, art, advertising, media, and, of course, music.

Although it’s difficult to fully appreciate the intensity of Beatlemania without having witnessed it directly, the phenomenon left a trail of interviews, iconic images, artifacts and recordings that allows us to piece together the excitement.  Through these lessons, we hope to explore the many aspects that made this three year span such an exciting, and historic, time for music lovers in America.

America-Before-Beatlemania_Ladies-and-Gentlemen...The-Beatles.pdf

Beatlemania-An Oral History.pdf

Mania in the Recording Studio.pdf

This is Beatlemania.pdf

Ringo Starr sing-a-long K-2-Plan.pdf

Beatles in America Elementary Lesson.pdf

Beatles in America Secondary Lesson.pdf

 

Other Great Sources - Partners, Affiliates

Blues

B.B. King

Rock 'n' Roll

Rock Hall

Everything GRAMMY

Grammy.com