Lesson Plan

LESSON 1 - SAN MALÓ AND INTRODUCTION TO UNIT

Grade Level:
High School: Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade
Subject:
Literacy and Language Arts,Social Studies
Lesson Duration:
90 Minutes
Common Core Standards:
8.RL.1, 9-10.RL.1, 9-10.RL.10, 11-12.RL.1, 11-12.RL.10
State Standards:
US.1.5 Analyze historical periods using timelines, political cartoons, maps, graphs, debates, and other historical sources
HISTORY STANDARDS
C. Historical and Cultural Perspective.
Thinking Skills:
Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Analyzing: Break down a concept or idea into parts and show the relationships among the parts.

Essential Question

How might a person be considered a hero by one part of society and a villain by another?
How does art preserve and transmit cultural ideas?
How can centers of power destroy the memory of an event or person considered a threat?
How can members of an oppressed group maintain the memory of an event or

Objective

Become familiar with the text Le Kér Creole.

Begin exploration of the following concepts: MAROON SOCIETIES, CREOLITO, CREOLIZATION, KRÉYOL LANGUAGE, RESISTANCE TO OPPRESSION, ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF SEEING AND KNOWING, LANGUAGE AS POWER.

Be introduced to the musical style of Zydeco.

Become aware of the role of music in the preservation of historical memory.

Analyze song lyrics to learn the story of San Maló.

Background

This lesson is an introduction to the book Le Ker Creole. Students will learn about the language of Kréyol, and about Creole culture and music, with a focus on the folk hero Juan San Maló. They will hear a song in Kréyol about San Maló and examine the lyrics to become familiar with the historic figure upon which the folk hero is based. In the next lesson students will read an historical exploration of San Maló.

The lesson is laid out carefully step by step with instructions to aid the instructor in delivery. No prior knowledge of Creole culture, the Kréyol language, or Zydeco music is required on the part of the instructor or students. The lessons were created with the assistance of speakers of Kréyol by a non-speaker. This was done intentionally to ensure the lessons could be properly delivered by teachers who speak neither French nor Kréyol.

Preparation

  • Text Le Kér Creole: Book can be obtained from the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park: https://www.nps.gov/jazz/index.htm
  • CD of music Le Kér Creole. Leroy Etienne's Creole: Let Me Explain Something to You.
https://leroyetienne.hearnow.com/
 
  • Some method of playing the cd at a sufficient volume. External speakers are suggested if laptop is used.

Materials

Lyrics to the song in both Kréyol and English

Download HANDOUT: LYRICS TO SAN MALÓ

Questions for students to answer using the lyrics

Download HANDOUT-ANALYZING THE LYRICS

The KEY provides the best answers to the questions, though the teacher could consider other answers to also be correct.

Download KEY-HANDOUT-ANALYZING THE LYRICS

Lesson Hook/Preview

Discuss with students the fact that according to the US Census Bureau, at least 350 languages are spoken in homes in the United States. Some of those languages evolved in the United States and are tied to cultures that have a long history in the nation, and some of them are threatened with extinction. Loss of those languages would also mean a loss of the cultural knowledge that is conveyed by them. One of those languages is Creole or Kréyol, also known as a form of Louisiana French. Native Creole speakers have lived in Louisiana for over 200 years. These lessons will introduce them to the language and culture of the Creoles.

Procedure

1. INTRODUCTION OF THE UNIT AND LESSON 

  1. Class Discussion. Five to Ten minutes. 

    In this step you will conduct a short discussion with students to activate prior knowledge, assess the level of prior knowledge of the students, share knowledge held by students with the entire class, and ignite curiosity about the lesson. 

  2. Have these terms/concepts written on the board before beginning

    SAN 
    MALO (write separately from SAN.) 

    MAROON 
    CREOLE 
    CREOLITÉ 
    CREOLIZATION 
    OPPRESSION 
    RESISTANCE 
    POWER: 
    ZYDECO:  
  3. Ask students if they recognize any of the words. 
    • Take initial responses. See if any of the answers match those given below. 
    • As necessary, steer the discussion as follows. Students are exploring the concepts at this time. They do not need to take notes. Correct understanding of the concepts will be emphasized later. 
      • What does SAN mean? (Saint). 
      • What does MAL mean? (Bad, Wrong, Ill (as in sick)). 
      • If SAN means Saint, and MAL means bad, how can someone be Saint Bad? 
      • Maroon (Wild. This definition will be expanded to mean an escaped slave who has established a life of freedom in a slave area) 
      • Creole (Something with Old World roots that is created in the New World. A culture created in America from Old World African and European, and New World Indigenous people and cultures.) 
      • Creolité, Creolization. (The creation in the New World of a new culture from the clash of European, Indigenous, and African cultures.) 
      •  Power. (Ability to direct or influence the behavior of others.) 
      • Oppression. (Prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control.) 
      • Resistance. (Refusal to comply or obey.) 
      • Zydeco. (A folk music of southern Louisiana that combines elements of French, African, and Caribbean music, and the blues, and that features accordion, washboard, and guitar. 
  4. During the discussion point out these ideas. 
    • Someone might be seen as bad by one group, but good by another. 
    • In a slave based society, acts might characterize someone as bad by slaveholders, but good by enslaved persons 
  5. When the discussion has been completed, explain to the students that they are about to do a unit on Creole culture and language. In the unit they will be exposed to Zydeco music, the Kréyol language, and will learn some basic Kréyol phrases. They will also be learning about the history of race categorization in Louisiana, and how people created a culture as a way of surviving the oppression they encountered. 
    • The UNIT STUDY GUIDE can be distributed at this time. 
    • Tell them that today they will be learning about a hero of the resistance to slavery, a somewhat mysterious figure known as San Maló. 
    • Tell students that music is a transmitter of culture. Songs can celebrate deeds and people, and can communicate attitudes about them, good or bad. In this lesson we will be hearing a song that does just that. 

2. ENCOUNTERING THE MUSIC.

  1. Distribute the lyrics to the students.
  2. Play the song SAN MALÓ.
  3. Ask students for initial reactions. Use the questions below. Information for teacher is in parenthesis.
    • Have you heard music like this before?
    • Why would Zydeco music like this be a way to sing about San Maló (Zydeco is from the Creole culture, San Maló became important in the Creole culture and other communities of color.)
    • Why is the song in Kréyol? (San Maló was most likely a Kréyol speaker.)
    • What can you learn about San Maló from the song? (They will have various answers.)

3. ANALYZING THE LYRICS. 

  1. Distribute HANDOUT- ANALYZING THE LYRICS. They will use the lyrics to answer the following questions. 
  • Students could work alone, or with partners or groups. The questions below are for distribution to the students. Some questions are to be answered with quotations from the lyrics. Such questions are marked. 
See the provided key.
 

4. CLOSURE

  1. If time allows, review the questions with the class. If you intend to collect the sheet as a grade, you might wish to have students exchange papers for discussion. You could also engage in discussion without giving an opinion on which answer that students give are correct. 
  2. If short of time, focus on the following “Big Picture” questions: ANSWERS ARE IN PARENTHESIS. 
    • There is very little information available about the historical figure of San Maló. Why do you think that is so? (Authorities would not want an example of an anti-slavery hero to be known. Writings about such a figure would be repressed.) 
    • Why would the Spanish colonial authorities, and later the American national authorities, not want the memory of San Maló to be kept alive? (The slave system was based on the idea that resistance to slavery was both evil and futile. Though San Maló was eventually executed, he and his followers lived successfully as free persons for years.) 
    • What could they do to destroy that memory? (Forbid writing or otherwise relating stories about San Maló.) 
    • What group would want to keep that memory alive? Why? (Enslaved persons and their supporters. Figures such as San Maló hold out the possibility of freedom even in the midst of a slave system.) 
    • How could they keep that memory alive even when those in power wanted to destroy it? (Surreptitiously telling stories, singing etc. Music in particular could do this for once lyrics are heard, hearing the tune alone can act as a memory of the lyrics even if the lyrics are not sung.) 
  3. Explain that in the next lesson students will learn more basic facts about the true historical figure San Maló. 
  4. At some point you will need to provide the definitions to students. Remind them that they will be responsible for them in the final assessment. 

Vocabulary

  • CREOLITE/CREOLIZATION: The creation in the New World of a new culture from the clash of European, Indigenous, and African cultures
  • KRÉYOL (LANGUAGE): Alternative spelling of CREOLE, specifically referring to the language and culture.
  • MALO: Bad, Wrong, ILL.
  • MAROON: (noun): A legally enslaved person who escapes to a semi-permanent life of freedom lived in an isolated region within slave territory. Maroons do not escape to free territory, but instead establish a free society within an enslaved area.
  • OPPRESSION: The unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power.
  • POWER: Ability to direct or influence the behavior of others.
  • RESISTANCE: Refusal to comply or obey.
  • SAN: Saint
  • ZYDECO: A folk music of southern Louisiana that combines elements of French, African, and Caribbean music, and the blues, and that features accordion, washboard, and guitar.

Assessment Materials

HANDOUT: ANALYZING THE LYRICS

A series of questions that can be used as an assessment if wished.

See KEY under LESSON MATERIALS

Supports for Struggling Learners

  • Learners with hearing difficulties should be provided with copies of lyrics.
  • Students with reading/writing difficulties could be paired with others or place in larger groups.
  • Worksheet could be taken up after rather than before discussion.

Contact Information

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Tags: kréyol creole louisiana french maroon societies creolito creolization zydeco slavery

Last updated: July 23, 2019