Roots of Rhythm World Drumming Teacher Workshop 2006
Lesson Plan for Chapter 7
Title The Lakota Drum from North America Jody Gardner
July 2006
Massillon, OH
Grade Category Elementary
Lesson Time Unit: 4-6 weeks, Two 35 minute lessons per week
Goals
Students will:
1. Identify the colors and meanings of the North American flag.
2. Understand the four directions and the importance of each.
3. Make a Lakota Drum and have fun making the drum
4. Play the Lakota Drum and learn to play the regular beat, combination rolling beat, and the honor beat.
5. Sing a Native American song and know the meaning of the song.
6. Have a general understanding and appreciation of music from North America.
7. Feel the heart beat of the music and be moved by the emotions of the music.
Objectives
Students will:
1. Study the colors of the flag and know that the eight teepees represent the eight Pine Ridge Reservation districts.
2. Study the background and history of the Lakota people.
3. Make a Lakota drum.
4. Learn to hold a Lakota drum and learn to play the regular beat, combination rolling beat and the honor beat.
5. Sing a Native American song using a pentatonic scale.
6. Sing a Native American song while playing an Indian Stick Game.
7. Create movement for a Native American Poem.
8. Create and write a composition using the Lakota notation
9. View a video of several Native American dances, beliefs and way of life.
10. Learn to play and read the musical notation of an Indian recorder piece.
Content Standards
1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
Materials
1. Roots of Rhythm – Chapter 7: THE LAKOTA DRUM FROM NORTH AMERICA, pages 45 – 50
2. Borrow Lakota drums and rain sticks from area elementary schools
3. Flag hand out
4. The Lakota drum – Making Your Own Lakota Drum – step by step directions
5. Lakota drum materials for each student
a. Cardboard tube 9” x 2”
b. Chopstick
c. Feathers
d. PVC tape
e. Hacksaw
6. Song: “Ho, Ho, Watanay, from Buckeye Heritage Series page 13
7. North American Indian Folk Tale: “How the Seasons Came” by JoAnna Troughton
8. Music and You grade 3, and companion CD: Indian Stick Game
9. Rhythm sticks
10. Recorders
11. Ed Sueta Recorder Method Book Level One, overhead materials and CD
12. Video: “Finding the Circle: American Indian Dance Theatre” 30 minutes, PBS Great Performances
13. Roots of Rhythm – Chapter 4: THE LAKOTA DRUM FROM NOTH AMERICA FUNSHEET
14. Map of North America poster (enlarged map - color poster maker)
15. Flag poster with color description (enlarged poster - color poster maker)
Student Skill Level:
1. Willingness to learn.
2. Having fun while learning about music.
3. Trusting and believe in me as a teacher.
Procedure:
1. Lakota Drums – work with a partner
a. Listen and watch teacher demonstrate rhythms on the Lakota drum.
b. Learn how to hold a Lakota drum.
c. Learn about the basic beats and learn to play them (regular beat, honor beat, parade beat,
two beat, round dance, combination rolling beat, fast regular beat and the lead drummer’s beat.
2. Make Your Own Lakota Drum
a. Follow drum making steps.
b. Learn the background history of North America.
c. Learn about the flag through art work.
d. Learn about the Lakota drum.
3. Roots of Rhythm Companion CD
a. Chapter 7: A LAKOTA DRUM FROM NORTH AMERICA.
b. Listen and review rhythms, track 50.
c. Play – Along, track 51 – 57.
4. Song: “Ho, Ho, Wataney” an Iroquois Lullaby, Buckeye Heritage: Ohio’s History in Song, page 13.
a. Listen to song.
b. Learn the history of the Iroquois traditions.
c. Learn the song through music concepts and rote singing.
d. Learn the pentatonic scale.
e. Sing the song using pitch syllables.
f. Sing the song using letter names.
g. Half of the class sing and sign the song while the other half plays the melody on the recorder.
h. Switch recorder and singing parts.
i. Students learn an Orff accompaniment for the song.
j. Students add the Lakota drum and rain stick to the accompaniment.
k. Students combine song, recorder, rain stick, Orff and Lakota drum for the finished performance.
5. Story: “Dancing With the Indians” by Angela Shelf Medearis
a. Listen to the story, discuss the dances and their meanings
b. Class will compose a movement dance with ribbons for the story.
c. Students will create and write an instrument composition using the Lakota notation.
d. Students will decide who will read the story and play the instruments.
e. Students will present the story with movement and instruments.
6. North American Indian Folk Tale: “How the Seasons Came”
a. Students will listen to the story.
b. Students will be divided into four small groups.
c. Each group will be given a poem from the story:
i. Song of a Wolf
ii. The Song of the Spring Bird
iii. The Song of the Summer Bird
iv. The Song of the Autumn Bird
d. Students will compose an accompaniment for the poem to emphasize the feeling, mood and the meaning of the poem.
e. Students will create and write their composition for each instruments using the correct instrument notation.
f. Each group will perform the poem with the instruments of their choice.
g. Students may use costumes, ribbon and/or cloth to add to their performance.
7. Indian Stick Game, grade 3, page 50 - 51, and CD 2:14
a. Listen to song and tap a three-beat pulse.
b. Review song text with the pulse.
c. Sing the song by rote or with pitch syllables.
d. Learn the Indian Stick song through music concepts.
e. Introduce the partner circle stick game using rhythm sticks.
f. Sing the song and play the game until everyone has come full circle.
8. “Indian Chant” Recorder piece, Ed Sueta Recorder Method Book page 9, CD # 8
a. Review recorder fingering g, a, c and d.
b. Learn recorder through pitch syllables.
c. Learn the recorder piece through music concepts and hand signs.
d. Play the recorder piece.
e. Play recorder piece with CD.
f. Add a percussion accompaniment.
g. Divide the class into two groups - half play their Lakota drums and the other half plays their
recorders.
h. Switch instrument parts.
i. Add a Lakota dance to the piece.
j. Divide the class into three groups and the three groups take turns performing the recorder,
drum and dance sections.
9. Roots of Rhythm – Chapter 7: THE LAKOTA FROM NORTH AMERICA FUNSHEET
a. Read paragraph out loud (review of the similarities and differences between the Lakota
drum and the Tabla drum).
b. Write five things that are different and five things that are similar between the two.
Student Product
See Procedure numbers 5, 6, and 9.
Assessment
Evaluations will be through written, oral and participation for each of the activities.
The objectives will be met when:
1. I see the art work and description of the North American Flag.
2. I hear and see the students participating through singing, playing the instruments and the
written compositions.
3. I read the students’ completed Funsheets.
4. I hear the students discuss the history and culture of North America when they are making their
instruments and decorating their Lakota drum.
Reflection
1. Have students work with a partner.
2. Seek your PTA for funding the materials or community beneficiary.
3. Students love movement and hands on activities. This lesson provides both.
4. This lesson will promote student learning by making the instrument and playing it.
Resources:
1. Anderson, Walter F, arranger. Sampler, from Rafaello Bispmo, “Stanley’s Africa”; The
Junior Literary Guild, Vicking Press, New York, 1958
2. Beall, Pamela Conn, Susan Hagen Nipp and Nancy Spence Klein, authors. Wee Sing:
Around the World, the Putnam and Grosset Group, New York, 1994
3. Beethoven, Jane and Rosanne Emery. Dancing: Music Magic: Video Library, Silver
Burdett Ginn Inc, 1991. This video includes dances from Africa, Spain,
Cambodia, Poland, Hawaii and Alaska
4. Beethoven, Jane and Rosanne Emery. Percussion Instruments: Music Magic: Video
Library, Silver Burdett Ginn Inc, 1991. This video includes unusual percussion
instruments from Africa, Korea, Indonesia, Brazil, England and the United States
5. Beethoven, Jane and Rosanne Emery. Percussion Instruments Tuned: Music Magic:
Video Library, Silver Burdett Ginn Inc, 1991. This video includes instruments
from Zimbabwe, Trinidad, Tabago, Vietnam and Indonesia
6. Burton, Bryan. Author, Moving Within the Circle: Contemporary Native American
Music and Dance, World Music Press Danbury CT, 1993
7. DeCesare, Ruth Ph.D. collected, edited and adapted: Myth, Music and Dance of the
American Indian, Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. CA,
8, Higgins, John and Brad Shank, arrangers, More Music of our World: Multicultural
Songs and Activities for Classroom and Community and CD, Hal Leonard
Corporation, www.halleonard.com , Milwaukee, WI, 2005
9. King, Gary, arranger. CD – Children’s Dances of Terra Del Zur: The Best of
Shenanigans’ Dance Music 1980 – 1990 Volume One, e-mail:
, 1994
10. Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, Share the Music: Grade 2, 4 and Grade 5, and CD’s, New
York, 2003
11. McRae, Shirley W. arranger. Sing ‘Round the World: International Folksongs fro Voices
and Orff Instruments, Memphis Musicraft Publications, 1990
Medearis, Angela Shelf, author. Dancing With the Indians, Library of Congress
Cataloging – in – Publication Data, Reading Rainbow Book, New York, 1991
12. PBS Great Performances Video: Finding the Circle: American Indian Dance Theatrea
Robinson, Sandra Chisholm. The Rain Stick a Fable, Helena, Montana: Falcon
Publishing, Inc. and Bozeman, Montana: The Watercourse, 1994
13. Salt, Elizabeth Anne. Buckeye Heritage: Ohio’s History in Song, Enthea Press,
Columbus, Ohio 1992. ISBN: 0-89804-813-3
14. Staton, Barbara and Merrill, Senior Authors, Marilyn Copeland Davidson, Phillis Kaplan,
Authors. Music and You, Grade 3, CD, Macmillan Publishing Company, New
York, 1991:
15. Sueta, Ed. Recorder Method Book One, Macie Publishing Company, Dallas, Texas, 1992
16. Sueta, Ed. Play Along Compact Disc: Recorder Method Book One, Macie Publishing
Company, Dallas, Texas, 1992
17. Todd, Traci N. “The Drum Circle” and companion CD: from the DO-RE-MI & YOU!
Company, P.O. Box 14369 Greensboro, NC 27415, www.drmy.com
18. Troughton, Joanna. Folk Tales of the World Series: “How the Seasons Came”, A North
American Indian Folk Tale, New York, 1992
19. Woodson, Dr. Craig. “Roots of Rhythm” – World Drumming for 5th and 6th Grade
Classroom Curriculum, 2004 Percussion Marketing Council,
www.playdrums.com
20. Woodson, Dr. Craig. “Roots of Rhythm Funsheets” – World Drumming for 5th and 6th
Grade Classrooms, 2004 Percussion Marketing Council, www.playdrums.com
21. Woodson, Dr. Craig. “Roots of Rhythm”, Percussion Instrument Making Notes,
2004 Percussion Marketing Council, www.playdrums.com
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