These additional resources were developed for the Music Alive Program, and they are now part of the Arts Alive teacher resource collection. We invite you to explore these well-loved teacher guides, videos, and audio recordings and to tailor them to your own classroom needs.
Arts Alive is the learning and engagement hub at Canada’s National Arts Centre, where theatre, dance, and music come alive. We invite you to check out our performances for families and schools, workshops for students, professional development events, free resources for educators and teaching artists, and more, both virtual and in-person.
Prepared for an eclectic body of artists and educators, this resource first highlights the various ways that art intersects with the world around us — from environmental sciences to humanitarian crises to the global economy.
Arts for Sustainable Futures (3.33 MB)
This bilingual song was composed especially for the NAC Music Alive Program by Alberta musician and teacher Sherryl Sewepagaham.
English/Cree version:
Sheet music – vocal + percussion (PDF)
Audio, performed by Sherryl Sewepagaham (MP3)
French/Cree version:
Sheet music – vocal + percussion (PDF)
Audio, performed by Catherine Kubash (MP3)
American Sign Language version:
Adaptable lesson plans for Grades 3-10
This guide was created as an accompaniment to the Finding the Ojibwe Horse cross-cultural workshop from Ken MacDonald and Rhonda Snow. It can also be used as a stand-alone resource to explore the history of the Ojibwe Horse on Turtle Island through music, visual art, historical research, and storytelling.
Lesson plans and resource materials
Teacher Guide
Audio and Video Tracks for Teacher Guide
A teacher guide on listening and creating by Sherryl Sewepagaham (Cree-Dene) and Nicole Schutz (Métis). This resource is created from an Indigenous perspective to encourage and inspire students to be creative and to build a relationship with their environment through music.
Teacher Guide
Songs are alive - Speech Patterns (MP3)
Cree Dene Blackfoot Pronunciations (MP3)
Michif Counting to 10 - Audio MP3 (MP3)
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (MP3)
Old MacDonald Had a Farm - Michif Animal Words (MP3)
Nikamona Pimatsi Makanwa (MP3)
The information shared in this work is presented to increase Indigenous knowledge and develop skills in singing and dancing in Mi’kmaq while having fun. Having this knowledge at a young age can be the starting point of reconciliation, bringing our communities together in song and dance. When we share these things, we are welcoming others to see where we come from and what it means to us to be Indigenous. With Richard and Julie Pellissier-Lush.
Teacher Guide
Video series (YouTube)
There are 617 First Nation communities in Canada with diverse cultural practices. One commonality between cultures is an understanding of and relationship with the earth. The stories of this relationship can be expressed in many ways through music and song. The National Arts Centre is pleased to have worked with some very talented teachers and artists to create and share this resource.
Audio MP3
Sign language video
Sheet music
Listen Up, Canada! Inspired by the Music and Pedagogy of R. Murray Schafer:
You have probably heard the music of an orchestra before, but composer R. Murray Schafer takes it to a whole new level. Would you believe he used a snowmobile as an instrument? On a concert stage? With an orchestra? We kid you not! Mr. Schafer’s music is full of wonderful surprises and great beauty. Read on to find out more about this revolutionary Canadian composer!
Teacher Guide (PDF)
Student Newspaper Guide (PDF)
Excerpt #1: Miniwanka Opening (Audio)
Excerpt #2: Miniwanka Plosh (Audio)
Full audio recording of Miniwanka (Audio)
Full audio recording of Epitaph for Moonlight (Audio)
Schubert's Party:
Welcome to Schubert’s lively world of music, ideas, and parties! The National Arts Centre Orchestra is pleased to share the fascinating life, times, and music of one of the world’s greatest composers.
Student Newspaper Guide
Instructional Unit for Saskatchewan (PDF)
Schubert Instructional Unit (for Saskatchewan):
Track 1 Simple Rhythms (Audio)
Track 2 Percussion Accompaniment (Audio)
Track 3 Percussion Performance Accompaniment (Audio)
Track 4 Solfege Review (Audio)
Track 5 Do as "C" (Audio)
Track 6 I-V Chord Progression: tonic (Audio)
Track 7 I-V Chord Progression: Open Chord Triad (Audio)
Track 8 I-V Chord Progression: Chords Only (Audio)
Track 9 I-V Chord Performance (Audio)
Introducing Beethoven:
A teacher’s guide and student newspaper containing information on the life, times, and music of composer Ludwig van Beethoven, the link between artists and human rights, and the instruments of the NAC Orchestra:
Teacher Resource Kit (PDF)
Student Newspaper Guide (PDF)
The Dynamic Mr. Beethoven
Because the music of Beethoven is filled with dramatic dynamic changes, this instructional unit focuses on performing and hearing musical dynamics.
Instructional Unit (PDF)
Beethoven: His Music in Our Lives
Instructional Unit (for Saskatchewan)
Track 1 Reviewing Rhythmic Reading (Audio)
Track 2 Reviewing Rhythmic Reading (Audio)
Track 3 Reading Melody: 2 Notes (Audio)
Track 4 Reading Melody: 3 Notes (Audio)
Track 5 Reading Melody: 5 Notes (Audio)
Track 6 Aboriginal Circle Game ("Pêyak, Nîso, Nisto") (Audio)
Let's Go Mozart!
Discover Mozart’s life, times, travels, and music , read a new work – “Buzz, Moz, and the Bees” – by award-winning Canadian author Roch Carrier; and enjoy the Teacher’s Corner and fun student activities:
Teacher Resource Kit (PDF)
Student Newspaper Guide (PDF)
Instructional Unit (for Alberta)
Exercises on Mozart’s Divertimento for Strings - Audio tracks connected to the Mozart Instructional Unit for Alberta:
Mozart: His Music and Those Who Enjoy It!
Instructional Unit for Saskatchewan
Audio track: Simple Rhythms - Lesson 5
Listen to Pinchas Zukerman and Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra perform Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 in A major
Vivaldi and The Four Seasons:
Canada’s National Arts Centre is proud to present Vivaldi and The Four Seasons for elementary school teachers and their students. This unique resource resents a world of classical music that is fun, interactive, and relevant. You and your students will discover Vivaldi’s life, times, and music with the help of innovative lesson plans and student activity sheets. You will also learn about the four seasons through music, language arts, social studies, science, visual arts, drama and First Nations storytelling.
Teacher Resource Kit (PDF)
Student Newspaper Guide (PDF)
Instructional units for Alberta and Saskatchewan
Spring Into Rhythm - audio tracks connected to the Alberta Instructional Unit (page 11):
Listen to Pinchas Zukerman and Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra perform Vivaldi's Four Seasons