420 pages, 8.5×11, soft-cover, 2 CDs & map
Book Website: https://NAMK6.com/
MSRP: $150 + shipping
ISBN 978-0-9647886-1-9
Canyon Records: 800-268-1141
Canyon@CanyonRecords.com
This book and multi-media package provide 28 detailed lesson plans— 14 each for Grades K-2 (plus 20 supplemental lessons) and Grades 3-6 (plus 28 supplemental lessons)—with a variety of learning supports for music specialists and classroom teachers wanting to incorporate Native American music in their curriculum. Lesson plans are designed for active engagement through singing, dancing/movement, creating, and instrumental performance.
Based on the National Standards in music and social studies, this collection also embraces diversity, equity, inclusion, culturally responsive pedagogy, and social-emotional learning that illustrates lifeways and values. Hands-on, developmentally appropriate experiences facilitate K-6 students’ musical and cultural understanding through Native American music from many tribal cultures and genres such as Native American flute, pow-wow, round dance, rock, folk, country, waila (chicken scratch), electronica, and more. Songs are available on the included CDs or via mp3 downloads or streaming from the book website.
Assessments, discussion questions, reflective journaling, and extensions are provided for each lesson. Teaching resources such as photographs, scores, charts, forms and links to videos and websites can be accessed through the book website with many materials downloadable as pdfs for printing. A full color 20×24 wall map is included with the book.
Sample Lessons Slide Show
Sample Lessons Downloads
Sample Audio
Complete List of Lesson Plans – Grades K-2 (Part 1) & Grades 3-6 (Part 2)
Lesson 1: What is Native American Music? (Introduction)
Lesson 2: Welcome Song – Medicine Dream
Lesson 3: Round Dance – Jay Begaye
Lesson 4: Native American Flute – R. Carlos Nakai
Lesson 5: Native Folk and Country – Sharon Burch
Lesson 6: Nature in Native American Music -Nakai, Eaton, Clipman & Khechog
Lesson 7: Native Rock – Clan/Destine
Lesson 8: Northern-Style Pow-Wow Music – Northern Cree
Lesson 9: Cultural Collaboration – Robert Tree Cody & Xavier Quijas Yxayotl
Lesson 10: Games and Humor – Robert Tree Cody & Hovia Edwards
Lesson 11: Southern-Style Pow-Wow Music – Young Bird
Lesson 12: Waila (Chicken Scratch) – Pima Express
Lesson 13: America – Joanne Shenandoah
Lesson 14: Coming Full Circle (Epilogue)
About the Author
Dr. Kay Edwards is a retired Professor and Coordinator of Music Education at Miami University (Oxford, OH) and has been an active clinician and author in the areas of elementary general music and multicultural music education for over 30 years. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in General Music from Arizona State University and has Orff Level III certification, in addition to special training in Kodály and Dalcroze. A specialist in guided listening materials, she has been an author and educational consultant for the popular website Classics for Kids since 2005. Dr. Edwards taught in general music settings for ages 3 to Adult in northern and southern Ohio, North Carolina, and Arizona, where she taught elementary music for 10 years and received grants to work with Native American artists-inresidence. She shares her respect for these musics through articles, books, and numerous presentations.
What They Say…
I truly appreciate the respectful tone of the book and how you handle the many nuances of Native history and culture and avoid the potential pitfalls. I like the curricular/textbook approach you take, as well as the interdisciplinary connections. The many teacher resources and quotes from Native artists are very informative and really help add richness and authenticity to the materials. I’m also grateful that you afford students the opportunities to understand important social and cultural issues such as stereotypes, mascots, Native American patriotism, and care for the earth along with the beautiful sounds that Native musicians make.”
This dynamic textbook effectively intertwines current educational techniques and philosophies with the music of Native Americans, creating musical and educational encounters that enable students to listen perceptively to both Native American and music of all cultures and genres. Dr. Edwards employs a common elements approach teaching Native American musics within today’s standards-driven music curricula as she provides creative lessons drawn from her lifetime of work with Native American musicians and scholars. NATIVE AMERICAN MUSIC FOR GRADES K-6 takes its well-deserved place among the classic texts in the field of Native American musical studies and should be an essential part of every music educator’s library.”
Dr. Edwards’ book provides K-6 educators with a resource that brings together both social studies and music content standards in one place, and provides students with a deeper cross-curricular learning experience.
Dr. Edwards’ lesson plans are exciting and well-written They fit my teaching style well and I believe my students will enjoy this approach. She has gone to great lengths to make [the lesson plans] usable to non-music educators as well. I appreciate that everything is correlated to Standards. The extensions and supplemental lessons are interesting and detailed.
Bravo! Your book will serve future educators very well, providing much-needed tools to foster connections for cultural awareness in the teaching of Native American music for grades K-6.