GRADE LEVEL: Second Grade

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Dancing is a personal experience in the cycles of individual and community life of native peoples. It embraces the earth and the universe, blending tribal values and time-less traditions in a never-ending circle. Music served to join the natural with the supernatural, the person with the Creator. Songs and dance linked the people to a spiritual plane with the universe. Words and melodies mirror the deepest feelings of the heart and the soul. Sounds sang by the singers matched the characteristic vowels of the dancer's tribal language; even sometimes as an echo of the old words of an extinct or archaic language or the imitation of another tribe. Songs and dances are passed from generation to generation, elder to younger, singer to singer.

Many songs honor animals in word or sound or gesture. Body posture, gesture and attitude create an animal presence; "the buffalo walked upright in a heavier gait. Each step was a shift in body weight from side to side and the knees were bent to create the lumbering walk of a heavy but very powerful animal." The purpose varied from social, storytelling, healing, work or game to "honoring" and religious ceremonies. The dance then becomes a celebration of cultural heritage and a sharing experience with the learner who then becomes part of the people themselves.

TIME REQUIRED:
Four to five lesson periods of 45 minutes each.

MATERIALS:
Story/Dance Bag
Investigative Journal
Recording tape/ tape recorder
Story Cards to make animal meanings
Recipe For A Story graphic organizer

RECOMMENDED INTERNET SOURCES:
http://www.geocoities.com/Heartland/Prairie/8962/anim.html - Animal Properties
http://www/indianpueblo.org - Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
http://www.corpcomm.net/~redeye/buffalo.html - Buffalo and the Plains Indians
http://www.powersource.com/powersource/gallery/objects/buff7.html - The Origins of the Buffalo Dance
http://www.powersource.com/powersource/gallery/objects/dance.html - Red Earth Dances

Instructional Format

OBJECTIVES:
· Predict and make inferences why dance is important to the culture.
· Record to an investigative journal the dance experience.
· Communicate student discoveries and points of view from the journals.
· Develop a vocable chant (syllables) and an accompanying dance step. (Vocables tend to match the vowel sounds or sound combinations of the dancers. Steps should be very simple and repetitive).
· Construct and craft from the story organizer, a story in which depicts the important characteristics of an animal.

SETTING THE STAGE:
Define the term chant. Ask the students to analyze the dance chant they heard for vowels and phonetic connections, repetition and patterns. Record the student responses on the board from their investigative journals. Inform the students that their explorations will provide them with the background to begin developing their own chant. (Refer students to rebus phonetic guide for Open Court Reading Program).

Read Thunder Bear and Ko: The Buffalo Nation and Nambe Pueblo; a story in which Pueblo Indians convinced the state of New Mexico to let some of the animals come to Nambe Pueblo.

STRATEGIES/ PROCEDURES:
Group1.-- Compare and contrast the differences in the Pueblo Round Dance song and the Alabama-Coushatta song To The Four
Directions. Note the syllables used, their variations, and patterns. Begin to construct orally/write syllables that will represent the animal property; group 1 will need to collaborate with group 2. Practice the song for presentation to all the groups for final approval.

Group 2.-- Selects an animal property and designs a story bag and the symbols to place within the bag. Develop masks, wands, fans, rattles, and drums to compliment the story.

Group 3, 4--Use Recipe For A Story story organizer, and develops a first draft.

ALTERNATE PLAN:

Select a good first story format draft and have all groups polish the piece into a final draft. Class will make the final selection. Assign a group to write up on a poster for presentation. Tape and record the chosen vocable song chant in unison as a whole group, or create a variation with four individual groups singing the chant; entering the song at different intervals.

EVALUATION/ASSESSMENT:

The final product shall be a clear syllabic chant that depicts the animal property. The story bag and constructed story should coordinate with that animal property. Utilize the provided "Portfolio Rubic " and Gardner's Multiple Intelligences" for data record.

TEKS- Dance 117.56 1,2,3,4,5 Level 1 GARDNER'S MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
Music 117.9 1,2 Intrapersonal- Investigative Jounal
Art 117.8 1,2 Musical/ Rhythmic-Syllabic Tone Patterns
Writing 2.18, 2.19,2.20 Interpersonal- Group Discussions
Reading 2.1, 2.2, 2.7 Interpersonal- Story Telling
Visual/ Spatial- Props, art work, graphic organizers
Bodily/ Kinesthetic- Dancing

RESOURCES USED FOR THIS PLAN:

Books:
1. Moving Within The Circle: Contemporary Native American Music And Dance. Bryan Burton, 1993. World Music Press. ISBN: 0-937203-41-6 (Gifted and Talented Library)
2. Native American Dance: Ceremonies and Social Traditions. CharlotteHeth, 1992. Smithsonian Institution: The National Museum of the American Indian. ISBN: 1-56373-021-9 (Trade book) Indian Education Association, Sante Fe N.M. (Trade Magazine)
3. Earth Maker's Lodge: Native American Folklore, Activities, and Foods Visions and Life Journeys: Contemporary Indian People of New Mexico. Greg Cajette, 1993. New Mexico E. Barrie Kavasch, 1994. Cobblestone Publishing. ISBN: 0-942389-09-3 (FWISD Professional Library)
4. Thunder Bear and Ko: The Buffalo Nation and Nambe Pueblo. Susan Hazen-Hammond, 1999. Dutton Children's Books. ISBN: 0-525-46013-6 (Trade book)
5. A True Book: The Pueblos. Alice K Flanagan, 1998. Children's Press. ISBN: 0-516-20626-5 (Trade book)
6. Celebrating the Powwow. Bobbie Kalman, 1997. Crabtree Publishing Company. ISBN: 0-86505-640-4 (Trade book)
7. Powwow. George Ancona, 1993. Harcourt, Brace and Company. ISBN:0-15-263268-9 (Trade book)

Musical Resources:
American Indian Resource Catalog: Books, Videos, Gifts
The Falmouth Institute, Inc.
3702 Pender Drive- Suite 300
Fairfax, VA 22030
www.falmouthinst.com

Living Resources:
Diana Woodward
Fort Worth Independent School District American Indian Liaison
(817) 577-1047

Keith Overstreet, Chairman
Tarrant County Intertribal Council
Native American Tribal Center
(214) 941-1050 ext. 232

American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Texas
6900 Anderson Blvd
Fort Worth, Texas 76120
(817) 429-2323

Museum of History and Science
1501 Montgomery Street
Fort Worth, Texas
(817) 255-9300
"Traveling Trunks and Natural History Displays Loan Programs"

THE DANCE
1. Who are these dancers? They are Indian people who live on or near reservations, in cities, villages and rural communities.

2. What is the purpose of the dance? Dances celebrate the honoring of animal spirits, agricultural ceremonies, feast days and fiestas, life-cycle ceremonies, family and clan events, social dances, special tribal seasonal dances and religious or medicine rites.

3. Is the dance a performance? No, dancing is a "sharing experience" with others to perpetuate the music and dance. It reaffirms the heritage of the people, teaches younger people the values of the elders, and assures the continuation of ancient pathways. Music and dance is often shared across tribal boundaries, ever-expanding the circle of tradition.

4. Is their etiquette or manners that should be followed when viewing the dancing? Yes, it is hoped that the viewer will observe, be respectful and, appreciative. Silence is an important value amongst Indian people. After a dance has finished, clapping is not necessary or expected.

5. Are the dance steps different and unique? Dancing is performed to celebrate who they are (tribal name) and to be human. Pueblo dancers sing as they dance. They form one or two parallel lines. Other tribes that are different from pueblo may form a circle. Just as the 19 pueblo villages are different in languages, so are they in dance. Movement is subtle, repetitive, controlled using simple steps. Gestures are kept close to the body.

6. Are questions about the dance expected afterwards? No, it is hoped that when the dance ("Shadeh", a Tewa Pueblo name for dance that means "getting up" or" of waking up") ends, that an "awareness" has ocurred about the dance and its meaning. However, Native Americans are proud of their culture, and wish to spread knowledge and, understanding. The dance often honors the role of the human being with the natural world. Dancers portray his or her role in the meaning of the dance.

7. What is the role of the drum and the singers? The drum symbolizes the heartbeat of the earth, the small hole in the center represents where day and night enter. Dancers physically feel the vibration through their moccasined feet as they move over the earth to the beat of the drum. Singers are usually men; strength and endurance is necessary to maintain the rhythm and the beat of the dance, and clear strong voices that will "make the meaning straight." They lead the dancers through the various movements and changes of the dance with their singing.

8. What can the dance teach us? "The dance teaches us that as an experience, it could bring someone back to a good and beautiful path. Sometimes as people go through their daily life, they sometimes lose sight of the good life and dancing helps them to find their way again in the community and in the natural world." One seeks life, renews life, even finds new life because of the dance.

9. Do the costumes "compliment" the dance? Yes, they are traditional and are composed of:

Skunk Skin- Goes over the moccasin
Kilt- Men wear a skirt-like wrap
Belt/Sashes- White represents rain
Rattles- Matches the beat of the dance
Mante- Dress women wear over the right shoulder