Jingle Dancer
Developed by Carrie Drye for ArleeElementary School
Text Title, Author and Citation
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Jingle Dancer. New York: Morrow Junior Books, 2000.
Suggested Grade Level(s)
2nd or 3rd grade as a read aloud. I might also read this story to middle school students as a part of an author’s study when reading Rain Is Not My Indian Name or Tantalize.
About the Author
Smith is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, has written several children’s books and stories and has received many awards.
Text Summary
The story of an urban Native American child who wants to be a jingle dancer, but she has no jingles for her dress. She borrows jingles for her dress from several of her relatives and friends and dances for them at the powwow.
Tribe(s) Represented in Text
In the author’s notes, she tells us that Jenna’s tribal affiliation is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and also of Ojibway (Chippewa/Anishinabe) descent. She lives in Oklahoma.
Setting of Text
A small town in the midwest or western United States
Genre of Text
Picture book
Time Required
30 minutes
Supplies and Materials
The book and a jingle dress or jingles sewed to a ribbon.
Background Information
Dancing is a part of tradition and contemporary cultural identity for some Native Americans. There are different kinds of dancers. Be sure to look at the excellent Author’s Notes at the end of the story for more information!
Implementation Level, Essential Understandings and MT Content Standards
Banks - O’meter / Essential Understandings – Big Ideas / Montana Content Standards4 / Social Action / 1-Diversity between tribal groups is great. / 5-History represents subjective experience & perspective. / Reading
1.1,1.4,2.3, 4.4 / Social Studies
4.3,6.1,6.2,6.3
3 / Transformative / x / 2-Diversity between individuals is great. / 6-Federal Indian policies shifted through 7 major periods.
2 / Additive / 3-Oral histories are valid & predate European contact. / 7-Tribes reserved a portion of their land-base through treaties. / Science
2.6 / Math
5.1
Literature
1.6, 2.1, 4.2, 4.3
Speaking/Listening
3.6, 3.7
1 / Contributions / x / 4-Ideologies, traditions, beliefs, & spirituality persist / 8-Three forms of sovereignty exist - federal, state, & tribal.
Instructional Outcomes – Learning Targets
Content Area Standards
Essential Understandings
Essential Understanding 2 – There is great diversity among individual American Indians as identity is developed, defined and redefined by many entities, organizations and people. There is a continuum of Indian identity ranging from assimilated to traditional and is unique to each individual. There is no generic American Indian.
Essential Understanding 3 – The ideologies of Native traditional beliefs and spirituality persist into modern day life as tribal cultures, traditions and languages are still practiced by many American Indian people and are incorporated into how tribes govern and manage their affairs.
Additionally, each tribe has its own oral history beginning with their origins that are as valid as written histories. These histories pre-date the “discovery” of North America.
Social Studies
Students will
4.3 examine biographies, stories, narratives, and folk tales to understand the lives of ordinarypeople and extraordinary people, place them in time and context, and explain their relationship to important historical events.
6.1 identify the ways groups(e.g. families,faith, communities, schools, social organizations, sports) meet human needs and concerns (e.g. belonging, self worth, personal safety) and contribute to personal identity.
6.2 describe ways in which expressions of culture influence people (e.g. language, spirituality, stories, folktales, music,art, dance).
6.3identify and describe ways families, groups, tribes and communities influence the individual’s daily life and personal choices.
Science
Students will
2.6 describe the basic characteristics of light, heat, magnetism, and sound.
Skill Sets
Reading
Students will
1.1 make predictions and connections between new material and previous information/experiences.
1.4 demonstrate basic understanding of main ideas and some supporting details.
2.3 identify literary devices (e.g. figurative language and exaggeration).
4.4 read and provide oral, written, and/or artistic responses to diverse perspectives, cultures and issues in traditional and contemporary literature.
Literature
Students will
1.6 respond personally to ideas and feelings generated by literary works.
2.1 demonstrate an understanding of literary elements.
4.2 respond to traditional and contemporary works representing diverse perspectives, cultures, and issues.
4.3 create and share responses to literary works through the application of technology, speaking, writing, and visual, and performing arts.
Speaking/Listening
Students will
3.6 draw connections between one’s experiences,information, and insights, and experiences communicated by others .
3.7 identify characteristics of enjoyable listening experiences by examining rhythm in music and visualization of images.
Math
Students will
5.1 estimate, measure, and investigate length, capacity, weight, mass, area, volume, time, and temperature.
Learning Experiences–Text-Based Inquiry
Before
Have eyes closed to hear the sound of the jingles. What do you hear? When might you hear this sound?
Predict based on the name and the cover. What is this story about? Who is this story about? Where does this story happen? Put the answers on a chart.
Read the story through for enjoyment.
During
Second time through stop and see what information on the page proves or disproves the predictions. Ask about the idiomatic language.
After
Review the chart and tie the understandings to the two essential understandings for children.
Use some of the extension activities to tie this story to other areas of learning.
Assessment
Teacher observation and student participation
Vocabulary
concordance by Amazon.com, found at the following website: or search Amazon.com for the book’s title; select the title to get the book’s details, then scroll down under “Inside this Book.” You will find a link called “Concordance,” the 100 most frequently used words in the book.
Extension Activities
Can you find things that make a unique sound in your environment?Have students bring in things that can be clinked together to make a sound. They could categorize the sounds or do a hear-and-draw activity.
Help students identify the idioms about time in the book; draw pictures of and talk about the time of day that the idiomatic language is directing us to. Why did the author choose this way to talk about time? See attached chart.
Extend with other Powwow books or pictures, either historic or contemporary. You could also talk about the other kinds of powwow dances: grass dancing, traditional dancing, fancy dancing.
Resources and References
Children’s and YA Author Cynthia Leitich Smith. 4 Jan. 2007 <
Montana Office of Public Instruction. 4 Jan. 2007 <
“Native American Indian Powwow Dancers.” 2007. Gathering of Nations. 25 June 2007 <
Draw a picture of what the sky looks like at the following times:
As Moon kissed Sun good night… / As Sun fetched morning…As Sun arrived at midcircle… / As Sun caught a glimpse of Moon…