Submitted by Sally, South Carolina
Idea posted March 14, 2003
I once used World Music Drumming. As a part of our unit, we made drums from those big cans from the cafeteria. We used the window tint film from the auto parts store as a drumhead and taped it on real tight. (I think you can blow dry it to make it shrink.) I used dowel pieces and wrapped the ends with rubber bands to make mallets. If you also created shakers, woodblocks, or sticks and a bell, you could then have your own ensemble, layering different rhythms for each type of instrument.
I used an African song from the 5th Music Connection, Kokoleoko. We added a recorder part using BAG. Then we created our performance form using introduction, rhythms, vocals, recorders, etc. The kids really enjoyed the unit.