Lesson Overview:
Students use movement to express the words and music of a song about Harriet Tubman.
Length of Lesson:
Two 45-minute periods
Notes:
This lesson is particularly suitable for grades 3-4.
Instructional Objectives:
Students will:
- sing expressively, with appropriate interpretation.
- use movement to express the words and music of the song "Harriet Tubman" by Walter Robinson.
Supplies:
- Sound system
- Notebook paper
- Pencils or pens
Instructional Plan:
Note: While this lesson focuses on the song "Harriet Tubman" by Walter Robinson, the activity can be adapted for another song or spiritual of your choosing.
Warm Up
Have students work with a partner to list different spirituals or terms from the spirituals that the slaves used to communicate with each other.
Introductory Activity
Review concepts from the previous lesson, in which students learned that some spirituals used code words, allowing slaves to communicate with one another without their owners discovering. Some code words referred to Harriet Tubman and her efforts to free the slaves via the Underground Railroad.
In addition, songs were written about Harriet Tubman that convey information about her life and work. Walter Robinson wrote a song called "Harriet Tubman." Play this song for students, and teach them how to sing it.
Guided Practice
Have students listen to "Harriet Tubman" a second time. As they listen, have them think of movements they might create to express the words and music. Discuss what the song says about Harriet Tubman and the mood it conveys. Guide students as they suggest movements for phrases in the first part of stanza one. Allow students to demonstrate these movements.
Encourage students to explore different elements of movement. They should explore both locomotor movement (walking, running, skipping) and nonlocomotor movement (bending, stretching). Allow students to explore different movement possiblities by experimenting with different elements of dance, such as time, space, and energy. See the ARTSEDGE lesson Elements of Dance for ideas and suggestions.
Independent Activity
Have students work in groups to create movements for the rest of stanza one, stanza two, and the refrain. Allow ample time for students to practice, circulating the room to monitor groups' progress and offer assistance as needed.
Closure
Allow students to perform the movement pieces they have created.
Assessment:
Use the Assessment Rubric provided to evaluate student work.
Extensions:
Have students create a movement piece based on one of Jacob Lawrence's works. Refer back to Harriet & The Promised Land, no.10: Through Forests, Through Rivers… Instruct students to think of the image as a moment captured in time. Ask them to look carefully at the painting and discuss what they think happened before and after the moment depicted in the painting. (Students should justify their conclusions with information learned in the course of the unit.) As a class, create a simple movement piece to show what preceeded and followed the event depicted in the painting.
Divide students in groups. Assign each group an illustration from the book Harriet and the Promised Land. In this book many scenes are depicted showing the struggle and emotions of Harriet Tubman's life and work. Instruct students to look at the pictures and discuss as a group what they think happened before and after the events or moments depicted. Have them create a simple movement piece based on this interpretation.
A wonderful culminating activity would be to combine the different choreographed interpretations of Jacob Lawrence’s depictions of Harriet Tubman into one dance piece and perform it for the school during Black History Month.
Authors:
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Gladys Van Der Woude, Library Media Specialist
Catherine T. Reed Elementary School
Lanham, MD
