Dear Parents,
We kicked off music class in 2020 with a unit on the African Diaspora. For the first two weeks of January, we learned traditional songs and games from West African countries including “Kye Kye Kule,” “Obwisana” and “Arakataia,” and “Funga Alafia.” Students saw pictures, videos, and real instruments that I brought in from a trip I took to Benin, West Africa in 2013. We learned about Grammy award winning singer, Angelique Kidjo who grew up in Benin, West Africa. Kidjo sang the pop version of “We Are One” from the Lion King II movie in the 90s, of which we learned to sing the refrain “family, family, we are one.”
Last week we learned that African American Spirituals are songs that were sung by enslaved people in the southern United States 200+ years ago. We read and sang the book “Follow the Drinking Gourd” which refers to the constellation of stars that points North. Other songs included the echo song “Freedom Land” and a circle dance to “This Train” (a song from the Music Together “Play Along” collection). “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” was our lullaby of the week (an end of class ritual).
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, this week focused on music of the Civil Rights era. We read a book about the protest song “We Shall Overcome.” Forest and River, learned a circle dance to Pete Seeger’s “This Land is Your Land” and played egg shakers to Nina Simone’s “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free.”
The older students have shown so much curiosity about the cultural context for the music we’ve been singing and playing. Next month will be all about jazz music with a close look at Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. It has been a joy to work with all of the Treehouse children for the last 3 months, and I’m excited to continue watching them grow as musical beings.
Ms. Amelia