Brent+Thorpe+-+Thinkfinity

Thinkfinity: Internet Content for the Classroom Web sites through the Verizon Foundation offer activities for the classroom. There are 7 Web sites covering mathematics, science, geography, economics, language arts, visual arts, and humanities.
 * Thinkfinity: Internet Content for the Classroom **


 * **Thinkfinity: Internet Content for the Classroom**
 * [|http://www.marcopolo-education.org]
 * The Verizon Foundation has partnered with leading educational organizations to develop high quality Web sites to serve as resources for teachers.


 * **ArtsEdge:You Keep Making Stuff Up!**
 * http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3811/
 * Students are introduced to the concept of improvisation through the study of different genres of music. Assuming that the students are familiar with music fundamentals, the teacher introduces the elements of improvisation through a variety of recordings. Students then learn a basic melody and its accompaniment that are based on a traditional clave rhythm. Finally, the lesson concludes with the group performing the original song while individual students improvise a new melody.


 * **ReadWriteThink:On a Musical Note: Exploring Reading Strategies by Creating a Soundtrack**
 * http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=861
 * This is a creative cross-curricular lesson that requires students to combine musical knowledge with literary analysis.  This lesson is designed to use the student's prexisting knowledge of music and lyrics to reinforce literary understanding. The primary goal of the lesson is to have students create a musical soundtrack to a literary work that they have read. Students are asked to read the text, take notes, and make musical selections that depict the action in the novel. As students engage in this process, they are using traditional reading strategies such as predicting, responding, quesitoning, and visualizing. At the conclusion of the lesson, the students are to compose a CD of their soundtracks and present them to the class.


 * **ArtsEdge:Creating an Original Opera**
 * http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3810/
 * When the word “opera” is spoken, many images come to mind. Unfortunately, few of those images accurately reflect the true nature of opera. This lesson attempts to dispel any misconceptions by introducing student to the opera. Through the use of PBS: Great Performances and other websites, students learn about the opera’s dramatic and musical elements. Once the research is complete, the lesson concludes with the performance of a one-act opera that is prepared and performed by the students.


 * **ArtsEgde:First Rhythmic Composition**
 * http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2213/
 * This lesson employs the use of basic math concepts and music notation to teach students rhythmic composition. Students complete a chart that outlines the classification and definitions of the musical symbols. Through the application of math concepts, students learn the basic relationship between note values. At the conclusion of the lesson, students clap a variety of rhythmic sequences and compose their first musical piece.


 * **ArtsEdge:Set a Poem to Music**
 * http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2207/
 * This lesson is designed to reinforce the concept of meter through poetry. Students are required to select a basic poem from a book or an online source. Once the poem is selected, the teacher guides the students in the process of deconstructing the words in order to discover the poems meter. With the poem’s meter solidified, students create an original melody to accompany their poem.