Native Americans use song and dance to teach life skills, such as hunting, and to tell stories. Many songs and dances also celebrate everyday events. This lesson plan was developed to accompany the Children’s Museum unit titled Moccasins and Sneakers.
Learning Context
Throughout their history, Native Americans have used song and dance to teach essential life skills and to tell stories. Many of these songs and dances also celebrate everyday events and remind people to respect one another and the natural world. These cultural practices praise what is important in their hearts and culture.
Connection to Standards
National Music Standards (Arts)
- #2 Perform on instruments: Alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
- #5 Read and notate music
- #6 Listen, analyze, and describe music
- #9 Understand music in relation to history and culture
Social Studies Standards
- Standard #1.4: Students will view historic events through the eyes of those who were there as shown through their art, writings, music, and artifacts.
English Language Arts Standard
- Information and Learning: Students will read, write, and speak for information and learning.
Essential Questions
- What is the importance of the drum to Native Americans?
- How did Native Americans use drums in their culture?
- How were dances used to teach life skills and tell stories?
- How were songs used to celebrate everyday life?
Content Knowledge
Declarative Knowledge
- Understanding Drumming: Students will understand and explain the importance of drums and drumming in Native American culture.
- Significance of Dance: Students will understand and explain the significance of Native American dances.
- Musical Elements: Students will identify common musical elements in Native American songs, such as form (call and response), tempo, phrases, rhythm, accents, and music notation.
Procedural Knowledge
- Singing and Instrumentation: Sing Native American songs and vocable responses learned aurally.
- Instrumental Accompaniment: Accompany Native American songs by playing culturally appropriate instruments:
- Play drum patterns showing rhythmic patterns, accents, crescendo, and steady beat.
- Perform Native American dances.
- Make simple “Native American” drums to use during song and dance activities.
Procedure
Canoe Song
Introduce the Canoe Song by explaining how Native Americans used songs and dance to teach life skills and tell stories.
Share the story behind the song: Women paddling canoes downriver see the men of the village paddling upstream after a tiring hunt. The men, happy to see the women, turn around, and they all paddle downstream together.
After telling the story, listen to the song and learn to sing the response by ear. Teach the accompanying dance movements, and have students practice singing and drumming to the steady beat.
Movement to Canoe Song
Students chant a verbal cue to learn the movement pattern. Move in lines, with boys and girls forming separate lines of 4-5 students each. The leader bends their elbows, and others hold onto the elbow of the person in front. Girls’ canoes enter first, paddling downstream, followed by the boys’ canoes paddling upstream. The boys then turn to paddle downstream alongside the girls.
Pawnee Corn Song
Explain how Native Americans taught settlers to raise corn, with the Pawnee Indians considering corn as vital to life, calling it “Atira,” meaning “mother.” Play the recording of the Pawnee Corn Song, having students listen for accompanying instruments like the drum, rattle, and recorder. Practice the song with students, emphasizing the beat and rhythmic patterns.
Extending and Refining Experiences
Canoe Song
Social Studies: Students record and present stories shared by an older relative or neighbor. Music/Dance: Students add motions to another Native American song and perform it. Science: Students make and test canoe models using aluminum foil and pennies to explore buoyancy.
Pawnee Corn Song
Music: Students create new percussion parts to accompany the song. English Language Arts: Students create call-and-response sentences for communication and then play them on instruments.
Instructional/Environmental Modifications
Students struggling to maintain a steady beat can work alongside a partner. Students having difficulty writing rhythms can sing or speak the rhythm pattern while another student writes it down. Students with motor skill challenges may lead instrument playing instead of dancing.
Time Required
30-minute sessions (longer if students make their own instruments with materials from home).
Resources
Recordings of the Pawnee Corn Song and Canoe Song. Drums, rattles, and pictures of traditional Native American instruments.
Assessment Plan
A rubric assesses students on their ability to sing accurately, maintain rhythm, perform movements, and play instruments.
| Task Component | 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rote Singing | Was accurately sung with correct pitch | Was nearly accurate but included a minimum of imprecise pitches | Included the maintenance of a pitch center and a general sense of melodic direction | Included the use of the singing voice and a general sense of melodic direction | Did not include the use of the singing voice |
| Rhythm | Was accurately produced and included precise melodic rhythm | Was nearly accurate but lacked a precise melodic rhythm | Was incorrect but began to approximate the teacher-performed model | Was not recognizable but included an inconsistent performance of meter beats | Was not recognizable |
| Movement | Can duplicate the teacher’s movement with retention, with consistency of tempo, and with flow | Can duplicate the teacher’s movement with retention, with consistency, but without flow | Can duplicate the teacher’s movement with retention, but without consistency of tempo, and without flow | Can duplicate the teacher’s movement but without retention (executing the movement pattern more than three times) | Cannot duplicate the teacher’s movement |
| Instruments | Was accurately produced, included a knowledge of the notation, and precise melodic rhythm | Was nearly correct but lacked the precise melodic rhythm | Reflected a beginning knowledge of the notation, and began to approximate the teacher-performed model | Did not reflect the knowledge of notation, but showed basic knowledge of how to play | Did not reflect any knowledge of notation or the correct way to play the instrument |
Reflection
This lesson plan complements the Children’s Museum’s Moccasins and Sneakers unit. It was designed to engage the community with arts programs in schools, and it can be adapted for use in either museum settings or elementary schools. This lesson plan effectively integrates cultural education with hands-on learning, allowing students to connect with Native American traditions through music and dance.