Name:

Megan Stockton

Grade Level: 3rd grade Approximate Time: 15-20 minutes Objective: The students will identify part of the Native American culture and perform a rain
dance.

IN Standard:
MU.3.9 2007 - RESPONDING TO MUSIC: Understanding music in relation to history and culture Students discover music associated with special occasions in their own and other cultures. They explore music and dances from other eras and cultures and investigate roles of musicians in media today

Indicator:
MU.3.9.2 2007 Explore music of other cultures through live or recorded authentic performances and the role of music and musicians related to the cultures and times. MU.3.9.3 2007 Learn folk dances from other eras and cultures.

Content: Materials/Media/Technology:
Song Chokelas from Runa Pacha Map of Native American Territory in the US Musical Instruments

___________________________________________________________ PRE ASSESSMENT:

Pre-Assessment will be some open ended questions to find out what they already know. Such as: Do you know what Indians and why the preformed dances and music?

I. MOTIVATION:
To begin the lesson, the teacher will play "Chokelas", a song from Indian culture. The students are expected to listen to the song and be ready to participate in a discussion about what they were thinking of while the song was playing and answer the question, "What group of people might this music belong to?" The teacher will discuss with the class that some cultures have distinct characteristics, such as the song that was played. The song had an apparent sound, marking the Native American culture.

GOAL FOR LEARNER: Today we are going to learn about Native Americans and why the created rain dances and the music that went along with the dances. II. PROCEDURE: 1. The teacher will give a background about Native American culture and rain dances. "Native
Americans hold ceremonial dances, called rain dances, hoping for rain so that they have a plentiful crop season. 2. Different tribes hold different traditions in their rain dances. Common rain dances feature dancing in a circle, the pouring of water, and whirling around, acting like the wind. The Hopi Indian rain dance includes holding a live venomous snake in the mouth. The Sioux Indians danced four times around a jug of water, threw themselves to the ground, and then drank from the jug. Rain dances may also be performed by other cultures for reasons such as life, health, and power." 3. A map will be used to support this discussion by pointing out the areas of the United States where these tribes resided. 4. "Today we are going to make our own rain dance using our hands!" The teacher will gather the class in a circle on the floor, with two or three students sitting in the middle. 5. The students in the middle of the circle will make the wind sounds, using shakers while the rest of the students follow the teacher's lead. 6. The rain dance begins with tapping fingers on the floor (wooden floor suggested). The motions will progress counter-clockwise in a domino effect. When the teacher's turn comes around the circle again, he/she will begin tapping all fingers on the floor, making a louder sound. The students will continue with their motion until it is their turn. Next the teacher will use the palm of her hand to hit the floor, sounding like the height of the rainstorm. The students will again follow in a domino effect. Finally to complete the rain dance, the hand motions will repeat in a reverse order.

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:
The students should already know some information about Native American culture such as they did perform dances and create music.

NEW INFORMATION:
They will learn why Native Americans preformed dances and what the music they created were used for.

CHECKING FOR UNDERSTANDING:

Make sure they do not have any questions about what was just done or learned about Native American culture and dances

MODELING:
Show a video of people performing a rain dance and music

GUIDED PRACTICE:
They will be performing a dance rain dance

CHECKING FOR UNDERSTANDING:

Before moving and the students break into groups find out if they understand why they performed these dances.

PRACTICE:
Students will break into groups and create their own rain dance and share with the class. Instruments may be used.

POST ASSESSMENT:
Post assessment will be whether or not they learned the rain dance and attempted to perform it. If the understood the meaning behind the dancing with same questions asked during preassessment.

EXTENSION:
Have books around the classroom about Native American Dance and music and why and how it was used

CLOSURE:
The teacher will ask the students how our rain dance sounded like a real rainstorm and to identify the parts of the storm (light rain--soft, wind-soft but loud as the height of the storm approached, pouring rain-loud, the height of the storm).

III. EVALUATION:
Students will be informally assessed through participation during the rain dance and their ability to work successfully in groups.

RUBRIC:
There is no real rubric it is mostly a participation grade whether they do it or not. They will get a total of 20 points 10 if they participated in the group dance and 10 if they participated in the class dance.

Participated in group dance Participated in class dance

0 No, did not participate in group dance or designing this dance No, did not participated in class dance at all

10 Yes, participated in group dance and helped design it Yes, participated in class dance