Design Black History Month Music Lessons for Elementary Grades
Are you looking for ways to incorporate more Black History music lessons into your classes throughout the year? Take a peek at this post.
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Are you looking for meaningful ways to include Black History in your elementary music lessons throughout the school year? A high-quality children’s storybook can be an excellent starting point. Pair it with an authentic African American spiritual to create music activities that are unique, impactful, and accessible for a variety of grade levels.
Keep reading for ideas and practical tips to enrich your students’ musical learning with lessons and activities that are appropriate and inspiring year-round.
What’s in this post? Click to open the Table of Contents
Start with a Storybook
Browse through these highly recommended Top 19 Children’s Books for Black History Month and Juneteeth. While this is far from an exhaustive list, there’s a lot of variety represented here which may spark some more ideas for you.
In the last several years many new award-winning storybooks have been released to celebrate and teach about Black History. Check with your school librarian. They should have numerous quality books from which you can choose. Or ask them to order a few specific titles.
More Recommended Storybooks
Pairing Storybooks with Songs
Once you’ve chosen your storybooks, identify the key themes in each one. For example:
- Is the book about the Underground Railroad? Pair it with Get on Board, Little Children or This Train is Bound for Glory.
- A story about Ruby Bridges pairs nicely with This Little Light of Mine.
- For a story on Rosa Parks, consider I Shall Not Be Moved.
Think broadly to find meaningful connections between the story’s themes and an appropriate song. These pairings will deepen students’ understanding and create meaningful lessons.
Use Authentic Music
Choose authentic songs. For song ideas, consider the book All Night, All Day: A Child’s First Book of African-American Spirituals by Ashley Bryan. This book compiles many well-known spirituals into one excellent resource. The author includes beautiful illustrations interspersed throughout the book.
Add Creative Music Elements
After selecting your storybook and song, consider extending your activities over several class sessions by incorporating various musical elements.
- Rhythmic Orff Patterns. Create rhythmic patterns with phrases from the storybook and/or the song.
- Song Accompaniments. Layer one or more rhythmic patterns to create an accompaniment for the song.
- Simple Form. Use your rhythmic accompaniments and play around with the form. Create an introduction, interlude, and/or coda.
- More Advanced Forms. Use the song and your rhythmic ostinato patterns to create various forms – ABA, ABC, ABACA.
- Melodic Orff Accompaniment Patterns. If the song has a simple harmonic structure create melodic Orff patterns and add melodic instruments to your arrangements.
Design and adjust patterns to match the music literacy and performance skills of different grade levels.
Learn About the Underground Railroad
Understanding the concept of the Underground Railroad can be challenging for elementary-age students. The song and book Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd have sparked some controversy. Dr. Prince Brown, Director of the Northern Kentucky University Institute for Freedom Studies, provides insightful perspectives in his short afterword, Follow the Drinking Gourd: A Cultural History, “Is This Song ‘Authentic'”?
Despite the debates, this storybook offers a simple structured way to introduce students to the Underground Railroad, the compassionate people who were a part of the complex network, and a glimpse of the hardships faced by enslaved people seeking freedom.
Ready-To-Use Complete Resources
If you need no-prep, ready-to-use activities, take a look at the resources included here. Each one features differentiated Orff accompaniments designed for grades K-5.
Short biographies of civil rights leaders are included in each resource.
Conclusion
With the many new high-quality storybooks being published, you now have a wealth of resources to pair with authentic Black History songs throughout the school year. Use the songs and accompaniment patterns you create for live performances, or film videos and post them on your school website to showcase your students’ accomplishments.
Important learning is happening in your elementary music classroom.
Related Post – Black History Songs for Elementary Students that Teach Music Skills
Meet the Author
Terri Lloyd is an experienced music educator with over 25 years of teaching in elementary music classrooms. She holds a Master’s in Education, an Instructional Technology Certificate in Curriculum Design, and a Bachelor of Music. Her resources are designed to help music teachers develop students’ music literacy and performance skills while enjoying learning.
She presents music education workshops, develops curriculum, and writes for her blog. She is on the music staff at her church and leads a children’s program. She performs as a active community musician with a local Big Band, pit orchestras, and at various events.
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