Lesson Overview:

Through teacher-guided reading and discussion of Ten Little Rabbits, dance and hands-on activities students will explore various aspects of Native American cultures and Navajo weavings. Using the patterns on the Navajo Rugs, they will devise dance patterns. Students will also create and perform a traveling pattern based on Navajo weavings.

Length of Lesson:

Four to five 45-minute periods

Notes:

This lesson is particularly suitable for grades K-2.

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

• become aware of how dance can be integrated with other art forms and academics.
• become familiar with Native Americans and various aspects of Native American weaving. (Emphasis will be placed on Navajo loom weaving.)
• broaden their ability to create dances through the abstraction of ideas and sources.
• construct models for procedural knowledge through question and answer sessions and by demonstrating and providing practice for dance warm up and class activity or lesson.
• create a bridge between Native American cultures and their own lifestyles.
• create dance experiences that integrate the academics and other art forms.
• develop positive attitudes and perceptions about learning.
• develop their creative thinking skills as well as technical and performance abilities.
• enhance their knowledge and understanding of Native American people, specifically under the topic of Navajo weavings.
• explore various ways of relating the pattern in the weaving to movement.
• extend and refine knowledge through higher level thinking skills.
• learn the history of Native Americans and weaving.
• observe patterns and color arrangements in various weavings.
• organize declarative knowledge using graphs, charts, and note-taking strategies.
• demonstrate their knowledge of the pattern in a weaving by performing dance studies specifically related to the weaving.
• integrate dance with the academics and with other art forms.
• clarify their personal views of themselves in relationship to the lives of those from another culture.
• utilize other art forms and academics while learning the art of dance.

Supplies:

• Appropriate dance attire for students: loose fitting clothing, sweats, bike pants, t-shirts, or traditional dance attire (leotards/tights)
• Bare feet or dance shoes
• Drums
• Example: Blanket #6 from Ten Little Rabbits
• Markers
• Poster Board
• Simple headband and feather for costuming for performance

Instructional Plan:

This lesson will provide a framework for an exploration into Native American culture using modern dance as a vehicle. Hands-on, interrelated dance activities in the classroom provide students with an opportunity to heighten their awareness of the art of dance. In doing so they are also developing potential and skill through all aspects of dance education.

Depending on the grade level and or the ability level of the students, read the book Ten Little Rabbits to the students or let students help read parts of the book. , Discuss the book with the students when done. Ask students to map out the story; recounting the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Write "beginning," middle" and "end" on separate sheets of chart paper and have the students list matching story elements under each. This assures that everyone understands the story and is ready to proceed with the lesson.

Activity One:

Discuss the many facets of Native American culture depicted in the text. Break the students into groups and ask them to take one of the copies of The Ten Little Rabbits and find those items. Show pictures of the Navajo blankets displayed throughout the book and discuss in more detail the colors and patterns. Choose a simple pattern from the book. Draw it on the board (or have it prepared in advance on a large poster board). See this Example of Blanket #6 from Ten Little Rabbits. Discuss the pattern as a class, asking questions such as the following:

• Do the colors repeat themselves?
• Can you find a pattern in the way the colors repeat themselves?
• Where does the pattern begin and end?
• How many times is the pattern repeated?
• What is the last color?
• What happens at the end of the weaving?
• Count the stripes.
• How many colored stripes are there?
• How many repeating patterns are there?

Activity Two:

While seated, have the students perform the movements listed on the right of the weaving that go with the color stripe. Practice several times.

While standing, have groups of students perform the movement pattern in place. Practice several times.

Have groups of students walk in space (travel) while performing the movement pattern. Practice several times.

Activity Three:

Students will review the chart and movement pattern they performed in the last class. Students will first practice seated, then standing. In order to travel in space, students will divide into two groups.

Activity Two: Performance Task

Your performance task is to create as a class a new movement pattern that relates to the pattern of weaving. See the following Example of a Traveling Pattern.

Students should be placed in small groups to work together and should then be asked to demonstrate what they have created. The teacher should point to the pattern sheet to see if they are repeating in the order they should. The students should present their pattern to the class before they begin, so everyone can follow along.

Once each group has demonstrated the pattern, all patterns will be performed together one after another to create the complete dance. You may wish to create a four-part pattern that can be interspersed in the dance.

Assessment:

Use the Group Performance Assessment Checklist to assess the students' work.

Extensions:

Students can watch a brief video on Powwow Dancing and discuss the relationship between the dances they see and weaving. They can then use some of these new movements to enhance their dance sequence.

This unit can be used independently or in conjunction with another unit entitled, "Totem Poles of the Northwest Coastal Tribes."

Sources:

Print:

• Autumn, White Deer of. Ceremony in the Circle of Life. Beyond Words Publishing, Inc. Hillsboro, OR, 1991.
• Cheney, Gay. Basic Concepts in Modern Dance. Princeton Book Company, Publishers, Pennington, NJ, 1989.
• Fox, Frank. North American Indians. Putnam and Grosset Group, New York, NY, 1995.
• Griffin-Pierce, Trudy. The Encyclopedia of Native America. Michael Friedman Publishing Group, Inc., New York, NY, 1995.
• Grossman, Virginia and Long, Sylvia. Ten Little Rabbits. Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA, 1991.
• Krensky, Stephen. Children of the Earth and Sky. Scholastic, Inc., New York, NY, 1991.
• Oakley, Ruth. The North American Indians in the Beginning. Marshall Cavendish Corporation, New York, NY, 1991.
• Oakley, Ruth. The North American Indians, Art and Totems. Marshall Cavendish Corporation, New York, NY, 1991.

Authors:

• Carol Tester, Teacher
  Thomas Pullen Arts Magnet School
  Hughesville, MD