BPS VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER FOR CREATIVITY
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      • Band Instruments
      • Band Book Play-a-longs >
        • 1. Improvise: Concert F
        • 6. Improvise: Concert E flat
        • 12. Improvise: Concert D
        • 20. Improvise: Concert C
        • 26. Improvise: Concert B flat
        • 32. Improvise: New Rhythm Workout
        • 37. Improvise: Put It All Together
        • 43. Improvise: Concert G
        • 50. Improvise: Concert A
        • 56. Improvise: Put It All Together
        • 70. Improvise: New Rhythm Workout
        • 71. Improvise: Concert A flat
        • 77. Improvise: New Rhythm Workout
        • 78. Improvise: New Rhythm Workout
        • 80. Improvise: New Rhythm Workout
        • 87. Improvise: E natural
        • 93. Improvise with Let's Go Band
        • 95. Improvise: Concert A low
        • 101. Seven Nation Army
        • 102. Improvise: Concert G and F low
        • 103. Improvise: How Low Can You Go?
        • 119. Improvise: Feeling Bluesy
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Children's Literature Connected to Music: For Your Classroom AND Substitutes
Ever happen across a children's book that would have been a perfect extension for the unit you taught 2 months ago? Children's books are an invaluable support for our classrooms whether used as substitute activities, a read-aloud embedded in a lesson, or small group/center work. 

Keeping track of every subject addressed in your children's book collection is tough, especially if your collection is continuously evolving. Below is a
non-exhaustive database of children's literature connected to music with topical keywords (for music and beyond), suggested grade level, and in some cases, lexile or F&P information. 
Some suggested literature by grade level
PreK/Kindergarten:
  • Every Little Thing by Cedella Marley: K-2, Illustrated Song, Rhyming, Animals, Bird, Do-La, Singalong
  • Kookaburra by Steven Anderson: K-1, Illustrated Song, Australia, Bird, Monkey, Animals, Round, Sol-La, Sol-Mi, Mi-Do, Melodic Steps, Singalong
  • This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt: K-2, Illustrated Song, Counting, Rhyming, Instruments, Jazz, History,  Black History, Scat

​1st Grade:
  • Do You Do a Didgeridoo by Nick Page: K-3, Fiction, Instruments, Rhyming, Animals, Sounds
  • Tito Puente, Mambo King by Monica Brown: K-3, Biography, Drums, Percussion, Latin, Spanish, Cuban, Band, Rhythm, History
  • Horace and Morace Join the Chorus by James Howe: K-3, Fiction, Singing, Choir, Practice, Perseverance, Audition, Show

2nd Grade
  • 88 Instruments by Chris Barton: K-3, Fiction, Instruments, Instrument Families, Sounds
  • Manuelo the Playing Mantis by Don Freeman, K-2: Fiction, Instruments, Cello, Sounds, Habitats, Bugs, Orchestra
  • Before John was a Jazz Giant by Carole Boston Weatherford: K-3, Biography, John Coltrane, Jazz, History, Saxophone, Black History, Discrimination, Improvisation, Composition

3rd Grade
  • Miguel and the Grand Harmony by Matt de la Peña: 1-5, Fiction, Coco, Guitar, Songwriting, Instrument, Family, Spanish, Mariachi
  • Imagine by John Lennon & Jean Julien: 2-5, Illustrated Song, The Beatles, John Lennon, Peace, Rhyming, People
  •  Tubby the Tuba by Paul Tripp: K-3, Fiction, Tuba, Piccolo, Instrument Families, Emotion, Pitch, Conductor, Orchestra, Confidence, Vocabulary

4th Grade
  • Do Re Mi by Susan Roth: 2-5, Non-Fiction, Guido D’Arezzo, History, Choir, Biography, Italian, Composition, Inventor, Solfege
  • The Dog Who Sang at the Opera by Jim West: 3-5, Fiction, Dog, Opera, Based on a True Story, Director, Russian, Vocabulary
  • Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter: 3-5, Fiction, Based on a True Story, Black History, Slavery, Discrimination, Spirituals, Underground Railroad, Illustrated Song, Singing

5th Grade
  • Harlem' Little Blackbird by Renée Watson: 4-5, Biography, Florence Mills, History, Black History, Segregation, Singing, Discrimination, Show, Dance, Broadway
  • Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre by Anna Harwell Celenza: 3-5, Illustrated Song, Halloween, France, Saint-Saens, Orchestra, Biography, Composing, Listen and Draw, Violin
  • Esquivel! Space-age Sound Artist by Susan Wood: 3-5: Biography, Mariachi, Composition, History, Spanish, Sounds, Composing, Mexican, Instruments, Technology


BPS ARTS OFFICE
Campbell Resource Center
1216 Dorchester Ave.
Boston, MA 02215

OUR MISSION

The BPS Visual and Performing Arts Department aims to provide excellence, access, and equity in arts education for all Boston Public Schools students. Learn more

CONTACT US

617-635-9278
etoledo@bostonpublicschools.org
  • Home
  • District-Wide
    • BPS Arts Office Staff
    • Events
  • Gallery
  • Pedagogy
    • Professional Development >
      • SY 22-23
      • SY 21-22
      • SY 20-21
    • Transformative SEL in the Arts
    • Artist Spotlight
    • Dance
    • Music >
      • Band Instruments
      • Band Book Play-a-longs >
        • 1. Improvise: Concert F
        • 6. Improvise: Concert E flat
        • 12. Improvise: Concert D
        • 20. Improvise: Concert C
        • 26. Improvise: Concert B flat
        • 32. Improvise: New Rhythm Workout
        • 37. Improvise: Put It All Together
        • 43. Improvise: Concert G
        • 50. Improvise: Concert A
        • 56. Improvise: Put It All Together
        • 70. Improvise: New Rhythm Workout
        • 71. Improvise: Concert A flat
        • 77. Improvise: New Rhythm Workout
        • 78. Improvise: New Rhythm Workout
        • 80. Improvise: New Rhythm Workout
        • 87. Improvise: E natural
        • 93. Improvise with Let's Go Band
        • 95. Improvise: Concert A low
        • 101. Seven Nation Army
        • 102. Improvise: Concert G and F low
        • 103. Improvise: How Low Can You Go?
        • 119. Improvise: Feeling Bluesy
    • Visual & Media Arts
    • Theatre
    • Virtual Learning >
      • Virtual Field Trips, SY 22-23
      • Virtual Field Trips, SY 21-22
      • Virtual Field Trips, SY 20-21
      • Virtual Center for Creativity
      • Virtual Citywide Arts Festival
  • Partner Connection
  • BPS Arts Expansion