Ella Fitzgerald Lesson Plan

Ella Fitzgerald was orphaned in early childhood and moved to New York to attend an orphanage school in Yonkers. In 1959, Ella Fitzgerald was the first black woman to win a Grammy. She began her career at age fifteen, at the Harlem’s Apollo Theater where she won an amateur contest. Fitzgerald recorded the well-known “A Tisket-A-Tasket” in 1938 and it became Chick Webb’s band’s first hit. She developed her famous skat singing style while on a tour with Dizzy Gillespie. Known as the “First Lady of Jazz,” Fitzgerald became one of the most celebrated singers of the century. During her career she recorded more than 250 albums and won 13 Grammys. She also won the Kennedy Center Honor, the National Medal of the Arts, and the American Black Achievement Award.

Read "Skit-Skat Raggedy Cat; Ella Fitzgerald" by Roxanne Orgill

Create Your Own Rhythm Makers

Supplies Needed; Plastic Easter eggs, corn kernels, white tape, plastic spoons, and markers to decorate. 

Directions; put some corn kernels into the plastic egg. Sandwich the egg between two plastic spoons, using the bowl of the spoons to cradle the egg. Wrap the tape around the spoons and egg until the egg is secure. Next wrap the stems of the spoons together to create a handle. Allow the children to decorate the tape.