Lesson Plan

LESSON 8: SHANGO AND DANSE CODAN

Grade Level:
High School: Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade
Subject:
Literacy and Language Arts,Social Studies
Lesson Duration:
60 Minutes
Common Core Standards:
9-10.RH.4, 11-12.RH.4
Additional Standards:
National Council for the Social Studies Ia, Ib, Ic
Thinking Skills:
Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words.

Essential Question

How can music play a role in personal belief systems?
In what way is music important to you?
How can music bind people and societies together?
How does music preserve and transfer culture?

Objective

Students will
Hear Zydeco music.
Learn of African influences on Zydeco music and the Kréyol language.
Acquire additional Kréyol useful phrases
Have fun

Background

This lesson uses two songs that will emphasize the African influences on Zydeco music and the Kréyol language. The song SHANGO references an African spirit/diety that became important in the Creole and Black American community in Louisiana, especially among those who practiced the syncretic religious faith of Vodou, often popularly referred to as Voodoo. Despite the image forced on it by Hollywood, Vodou is a respected belief system found largely among the Black population that mixes Christian and traditional African practices related to contact with the spirit world of the ancestors. Even the word Zombie springs from this faith, referring to spirit and using the word zonbi (in some areas in Africa the word signifies God.)

MATERIALS REQUIRED: 

  • Textbook- Le Ker Kréyol
  • Recording of the music. 
  • Means of playing and amplifying music.
  • Board or projector. 
  • Student song glossary sheet.

Preparation

Previous lessons in the unit will have prepared teacher and students for the lesson.

Materials

Lesson Hook/Preview

Activation of prior knowledge.

5 to 10 minutes. 

  1. Use this opportunity for students to catch up on their STUDENT KRÉYOL GLOSSARY. 
  2. Create a computer document of the glossary or use the board. 
  3. Covering the two songs that have been studied, HEY NOM and SAN MALÓ, have students do a whole class review of the progress they have made in their glossaries. 
    • Students can come to the computer to type in their answers, one student can act as a scribe, or you can be the scribe. 
    • Depending on how accurate students are, you can show a copy of the completed glossary for those two songs to the students and discuss. 

Procedure


1. SHANGO AND DANSE CODAN. AFRICAN INFLUENCES IN LOUISIANA 

Remind students of this paragraph from p. 15 of the text. They read this information in earlier lessons on San Maló and Creolization.   

DOUBLE FORK: We open this book with a song dedicated to Juan San Malo’s gran kouraj [great courage]. His story has been told in Louisiana for centuries, and through its many tellings, we are able to learn about the language he mostly likely spoke: Louisiana Kréyol. A blend of vodou rhythms connect “San Malo” to music found throughout the African diaspora. The syncopation, with its counterpoint rhythms, is played in the Caribbean and parts of Latin America to entertain the spirits. The melody calls, the bass responds. A space in between is created, but it is not empty. By not cluttering it with lyrics or notes, there is room for the spirits to enter. In music around South Louisiana, from jazz to zydeco, it is what brings people close together. 

  • Tell them that this song is just such an example. It has “Call and Response” in which one section is sung by a leader while the group responds with another section. 
  • This song also is a direct call to one of the African spirits, Shango. 
  • Also remind them of this short section from p. 31, which they read in the lesson of CREOLIZATION: 
  • During the Spanish colonial era, people came from Senegambia, but they also came from the Fon and Yoruba language groups in what is now Benin and Nigeria. This is one of the hearts of vodun, and that’s where some of the rhythms of Creole music comes from. In Attakapas, the grandma spoke Fon and the grandchildren spoke Creole. 
  • Also tell them that during the time of slavery the memory of these ancestral roots could be best preserved in music, which was an art form less controlled by the slave owners, and most easily committed to memory. In fact, much of the music, rhythms, and so forth, can so deeply enter a person’s psyche as to be part of the subconscious. In this way ancestral memories could be preserved without the person even being aware of the original source of the memory.

2. SHANGO 

Students will begin with Shango due to the simplicity of the lyrics. 

Remind students that they are becoming experts at listening to lyrics in Kréyol. They should be able to distinguish individual words and phrases even if they do not remember what they mean. 

  • Tell them that as they listen to the song they should try to remember several phrases that sound familiar. 
Play the song. 
  • Ask students what words or phrases they remember. 
  • If you have French speaking students who have been doing much of the discussion work, ask them not to answer, but to instead act as consultants later in the discussion. 

The bold print phrases are the most likely for them to pick up on. 

Nou ka danse-------- We are dancing 
Barria------------------ Gate (Spanish speakers might recognize this). 
Apre sac ho----------- Now that’s hot 
Garde mo------------ Look at me 
Ma ka koze---------- I want to talk 
Ma ka koze ak ou----- I want to talk to you. 
Dan mo ta man------ Give me your hand 
Man--------------------- Hand 
Mo kanpe------------- I am standing 
Mo pe kanpe-------- I’m going to stand 
Jouwe----------------- Play (Music -command) 
Tou moun------------- Everybody (From tout le monde) 
Spiri African------------- African spirit 
Ale------------------------ Let’s go 
Komon tu ye?------How are you? (They might remember is as you.) 
Ki jan ou ye?------- How are you? 
Ede mo-------------- Help me. 
Mo pele twa----------- I call you (From appel- to call)

3.LYRICS FOR SHANGO 

Students turn to p.64 to read the lyrics. 

  1. Do a whole class reading. You may read to them, have students volunteer, or read in chorus. 
  2. Play the song again. Students could sing along. 
  • Remind them again of the quotation from the text p. 15: DOUBLE FORK. 
  • Ask students What do you see in the lyrics that demonstrate what is claimed in the quotation? 
  • Students should be able to focus on these parts (in bold): 

 

We open this book with a song dedicated to Juan San Malo’s gran kouraj [great courage]. His story has been told in Louisiana for centuries, and through its many tellings, we are able to learn about the language he mostly likely spoke: Louisiana Kréyol. A blend of vodou rhythms connect “San Maló” to music found throughout the African diaspora. 

  • The syncopation, with its counterpoint rhythms, is played in the Caribbean and parts of Latin America to entertain the spirits. 
  • The melody calls, the bass responds. 
  • A space in between is created, 
  • but it is not empty. 
  • By not cluttering it with lyrics or notes, there is room for the spirits to enter. In music around South Louisiana, from jazz to zydeco, it is what brings people close together. 

Share the above insights if students do not recognize them. 

4. DANSÉ CODAN: SONG AND LYRICS 

The lyrics in this up tempo song are more complex. For that reason you will play the song while students view the lyrics. (Since you are the teacher, feel free to violate any of these rules. If your kids are up to a real challenge, do this section just as you did DANSÉ CODAN.) 

  • Notice this is a traditional song. 
  • Have students turn to p. 64. 
    • Play the song while they read along with the lyrics. 
    • If students are doing well in the sing along aspects, have them sing along. Play the song more than once if they are having fun. 

5. STUDENT CREATED GLOSSARY 

Students should use the lyrics to work on their glossaries. 

  • This can be done as individual, 5/5/5/5 work, or in groups. 

6. CLOSING QUICK WRITE 

Students use their glossaries to translate the paragraph below into Kréyol. 

You are hiding, little lady. We are dancing. Look at me, man. I want to talk to you. It’s time. We are dancing. 

KEY 

Tu kaché ti la mizél. Nous ka danse. Garde mo, nom. Ma ka koze ak ou. Mo pele twa. Se tan. Nous ka danse. 

ADDITIONAL STEPS: 

To reinforce vocabulary, use any of the activities under Learning Activities at the end of the unit.

Vocabulary

  • CALL AND RESPONSE: A musical style in which a leader calls out a phrase and listeners or chorus respond.
  • DIASPORA: The physical or geographic dispersion of a people. Originally applied to the Jewish dispersal after the destruction of Jerusalem. In these lessons it refers to the dispersal of African peoples across America. 
  • JAZZ: An American musical form that originated in the early 1900’s and using a syncopated rhythm. It was formed out of African-American forms, particularly the Blues, and leaned heavily on the use of brass instruments such as the trumpet, trombone, and clarinet. 
  • SENEGAMBIA: A region in W Africa between the Senegal and Gambia rivers, now mostly in Senegal.
  • SHANGO: The Yoruba god of thunder and lightning, also important in the religious tradition known as Vodou.
  • SYNCHOPATION: The deliberate upsetting of the meter or pulse of music by means of a temporary shifting of the accent to an “off-beat”. In other words, it is when a musician plays on rhythmic and metrical expectations such as giving a silence where a stressed note is expected or stressing a normally weak beat.
  • VODOU (VODUN or Voodoo): A belief system in many parts of America made up of a combination of traditional African, European, and Native American religious and spiritual elements.

Assessment Materials

Student Created Kréyol Glossary

This was distributed in a previous lesson. It is a list of words and phrases in Kréyol that students translate into English using the song lyric translations in the text. You may elect to use it as an assessment, though it is suggested that the assessment at the end of the unit be used.

6. CLOSING QUICK WRITE 

Students use their glossaries to translate the paragraph below into Kréyol. 

You are hiding, little lady. We are dancing. Look at me, man. I want to talk to you. It’s time. We are dancing. 

KEY 

Tu kaché ti la mizél. Nous ka danse. Garde mo, nom. Ma ka koze ak ou. Mo pele twa. Se tan. Nous ka danse. 

Supports for Struggling Learners

The whole class nature of le lesson, and the 5/5/5/ method will assist struggling students.

Contact Information

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Tags: african culture creole kréyol music religion voodoo vodou zydeco

Last updated: August 19, 2019