Modern Music History – Composers, Listening & Printables | Grades 3-5 | No Prep

This Modern composer set introduces students in grades 3–5 to 15 composers through real music, maps, reading, and writing. Students describe what they hear using music vocabulary, see where each composer was born, and learn about daily life and art in the Modern period. A printable read-and-respond page for each composer gives students a short writing task.

What’s included

• An interactive slideshow with 15 Modern composers, with bios written for grades 3–5
• Real music clips for every composer
• Listening challenges that use music vocabulary: melody, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, form, timbre, texture, and harmony
• Birthplace maps with globe visuals
• Daily life in the Modern period, including recorded sound, a more connected world, and new ways to work
• Modern visual art, including Cubism, Fauvism, and abstract art
• A “Weird and Wonderful” section of surprising Modern facts
• 15 printable read-and-respond composer pages, each with facts, a “Did You Know?” box, and a “What Do You Think?” writing prompt
• An editable outline with all the composer bios, vocabulary, listening prompts, and glossary

Composers included

• Dame Ethel Smyth
• Gustav Holst
• Igor Stravinsky
• Florence Price
• Sergei Prokofiev
• William Grant Still
• George Gershwin
• Aaron Copland
• John Cage
• Benjamin Britten
• Tōru Takemitsu
• Sofia Gubaidulina
• John Williams
• Tania León
• Jennifer Higdon

Formats

• PDF
• Google Slides: A link is included in your download and lets you add your own copy to Google Drive.
• PowerPoint
• Word
• Google Docs: A link is included in your download and lets you add your own copy to Google Drive.

Ways to use it

• Whole-group lessons
• Centers and stations
• Sub days
• Composer of the Week
• Use the editable outline to make quizzes, study guides, or a word wall

Standards (NCAS)

• Responding: Anchor Standard 7 (perceive and analyze artistic work)
• Connecting: Anchor Standard 11 (relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context)

License & help

This purchase is for one teacher to use with their own students. Each teacher needs their own copy. See the full terms of sale →

Questions about downloading, printing, or Google Slides? Visit the FAQ →

Try it free

Not sure it’s the right fit? Download the free Florence Price worksheet first →

Save with the bundle

This set is also part of a bundle. See it below ↓