Drums are an important part of life and ceremony in many cultures. Here is a simple method for you and your students to create a fun-sounding percussion instrument to celebrate cultures of the world!
Needed Materials:
-
· a medium or large sized empty coffee can with a plastic lid (to be used as the drumhead)
-
· construction paper
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· Elmer's rubber cement
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· a ruler
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· scissors
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· construction paper
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· permanent or water-base markers in an assortment of vibrant colors
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· colored pencils and assorted crayons
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· String, leather, feathers, beads, cowry shells, and/or available scrap materials
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· Design pattern samples reflective of Nigerian, Ghanaian, Puerto Rican, and Cuban cultures
Steps for Implementation
1. Measure the width and height of the can (without lid sealed thereon). Correspondingly measure and cut construction paper based on can measurement. This will be wrapped and adhered to the base of the drum using rubber cement.
2. Paint culturally-specific patterns and designs on the coffee can. (Make use of Mira Bartok's
Adinkra
or
Nigeria
stenciling resources [see Adult Bibliographic reference for additional details], pictorial images [see Web Resources], or actual drum samples for students to get a visual feel for drum patterns and designs.)
If student drum creations will be used to accompany their narrative creations, as an alternative, have students illustrate pictures thereon reflective of their stories.
3. Using Elmer's Rubber cement glue, firmly apply painted/designed construction paper to can. Clasp the plastic lid on its opened, upper end.
4. Use cowry shells and feathers to accentuate the percussion instrument along its sides and upper rim. We are ready to play those rhythms!
Reading Comprehension & Writing Extras
For many young learners at the second and third grade level, additional support is frequently needed in the area of summarization.
The Singing Man
and other story selections such as Mayra L. Dole's realistic fiction work
Drum, Chavi, Drum!
(
Toca, Chavi, Toca
in the Spanish version) can be used for alternative writing activities to empower students in this area.
Written response questions to be used as summarization springboards can include a
Rename The Story
activity, using key information from the text to support the title change
or
a
Summarize This
exercise, requiring students to briefly discuss the main events of the story using details from the text to support the answer in the order in which they occur.
Scored student responses should be given a
"2"
if the student has included all of the outlined requirements in his/her written response;
"1"
if the student has generally included main characters, setting, one major problem/event supported by one major solution/outcome, sentences are well constructed, and basic understanding is conveyed; or
"0",
where none of the criteria have been met.
As an evaluative follow-up, confer with students to review writing results based on achieved rubric score. Make recommendations where required. (Additionally, encourage students to self-monitor.) Have student edit work where necessary. Retain writing samples in student folder for future student self-evaluation, and to generally monitor student progress.