K - 5 Grade ActivitiesWhat’s Up, Africa? LA.A.1.1. SS.B.2.1. Be A Geographic Genius LA.A.1.1. SS.B.2.1.

3rd - 5th Grade ActivitiesDuly Noted Math Fun MAMAM .A.3.3. MA.D.1.3.

6th - 8th Grade ActivitiesMetric Mambo MA.B.MA.B.M 2.2.

9th - 12th Grade ActivitiesTrancendental Tenacity LA.ALA.AL . 2.4.

Our Stage is .... Your Classroom

In this Issue Before/After the Show Activity Ideas

Goals of the Study Guide

Class Acts Program

Evaluations

How to Get to the Performance

How to Contact Us

For EveryoneA Moment For Etiquette LA.A.1.1. LA.C.

For Teachers

For the Teacher Page

About the Performer

About the Performance

Resource Page

Th ursday, February 16, 2006February 16, 2006

10:45 A.M. & 12:15 P.M.

KUUMBAKUUMBA DANCERS AND DRUMMERSDANCERS AND DRUMMERS

at

The Coliseum

KUUMBAKUUMBA

Friday, February 17,February 17,Friday, February 17,Friday,

2006 February 17, 2006 February 17,

10:45 10:45 A.M.A.M.

2

Class Acts Teacher Resource Guides are spon-sored by the Mahaffey Theater/City of St. Peters-burg, FL and their partner the Mahaffey Theater Foundation for the Performing Arts.

Supervising Editor …….......Elizabeth Brincklow, Education Program CoordinatorCoordinating Editor ……..........Fremont Sheldon, Education AssociateWriting and Artistic Design........Missy Schlesman

EVALUATIONS can be completed on the form provided. Your input is very important and useful to the theater’s education program. Plus, your evaluations will be placed in drawings for class appropriate prizes!

Class Acts is presented by the Mahaffey Theater for the Perform-ing Arts and the Mahaffey Theater Foundation with the support from the Division of Cultural Affairs, Florida Arts Council, Flori-da Department of State, Pinellas County Arts Council, and the City of St. Petersburg.

YOUR ROLE IN THE PRODUCTION

ARRIVAL Please plan to arrive at least 20 L Please plan to arrive at least 20 Lminutes before show time. Proceed to the en-trance with your group and look for the sign-in table. A designated representative must stop and sign in for the entire group.

Upon entrance, ushers will seat groups on a fi rst come, fi rst served basis and will seat your group as quickly and as effi ciently as possible. After your group is seated, the restroom may be visited. Young students should be escorted.

EXITING Ushers will help your group move out of the theater in a quick and orderly fash-ion. You will be directed to the parking area using various routes. Exit routes may be differ-ent from your entrance path due to the ingress of students entering for the next performance. Please follow the ushers’ directions.

QUESTIONS AND QUESTIONS AND CORRESPONDENCEClass Acts, The Coliseum535 4th Ave. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33701-4346ATTN: Class Acts/ Perkins Elementary SchoolPony Route #5 Phone 727-892-5800Fax 727-892-5770 www.stpete.org/classacts.htm

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DIRECTIONS TO THE COLISEUM

Take I-275 to Exit 23A then Exit 2 which becomes 4th Avenue North.

The Coliseum is on the left and north side.

Follow the directions of our parking staff.

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FOR THE TEACHER PAGEBEFORE/AFTER THE SHOW

• Younger students will challenge their basic reading comprehension and geography skills with a written introduction to Africa. LA.A.1.1., SS.B.2.1.

• Middle school students will convert our standard measurement units to metric units. MA.B.2.2.

* Older school aged students will use their math skills in deciphering note values. MU.A.3.3., MA.D.1.3.

• High school students will read about several African countries and their cultural customs; the fact that certain traditions of the indigenous cultures survived despite the arrival of other countries and their economic and political agendas. LA.A.2.4., SS.A.1.4.

• All students will be exposed to new terms and concepts while learning about new cultures. LA.A.

In this issue

• For all students: Infuse your classroom with Africa. Stock your classroom library with books about Africa, display a world atlas featuring the continent of Africa, play African music during downtime in your classroom, or to stimulate a classroom discussion. Use the internet resources listed on page 12 of this guide for colorful pictures that can be printed and displayed in

your classroom.

• For all students: Encourage your students to learn more about Africa and strengthen their communication skills by adopting a pen pal from Africa. Safe sites to investigate include www.wiredkids.org/educators/penpals.html and www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/article/penpal.htm.

• For K-2 students: Take out your world atlas or globe and challenge your students to strengthen their geography skills with this simple game: Divide your classroom into two teams. Have students come to the atlas or globe in pairs; one student from each team. Call out an African country or a bordering body of water and see which student fi nds it the quickest. Award points for each fi rst correct answer and see which team wins!

• For Middle School students: Challenge your students to work metrically at home and in the classroom, taking opportunities to convert from English to metric units when cooking, weighing, measuring or calculating long and short distances.

• For high school studentsFor high school students: Challenge your students to monitor the daily newspaper, internet and cable news shows for stories about Africa. Use the stories to stimulate

classroom discussion about the issues Africa currently faces and what can be done to help solve them.

For high school studentsFor high school students: Use the current challenges today’s Africa faces to stimulate classroom discussion about current events. For example, Liberia’s governmental philosophy was originally inspired by our Constitution, but has fallen victim to more autocratic rule over time. Use the Liberian experience to stimulate discussion in your classroom about the comparisons and contrasts between their current government and ours.

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The world is made up of seven continents, or masses

of land. You live on the continent of North America.

Africa is the second largest continent in the world.

China is the largest.

Africa is bordered on all sides by a body of water. The

Atlantic Ocean borders Africa on the west and south sides. The Indian Ocean borders its east

side. The Mediterranean Sea lies on its north side. But Africa is not an island. It is connected to

Spain to the northwest and the Middle East to the northeast.

Africa is made up of 40 different

countries. A country is the land

a group of people has claimed as

their own. You live in the country

of America. Over 800 different

languages are spoken in Africa. Some

countries have jungles and rainforests where apes and hippos live. Other countries have vast

savannas, or prairies, where elephants and lions roam free. Some countries have beautiful

beaches, and others have large cities, just like here in America!

Africa has been around for a long time. There are stories and dances that people

tell and perform today that have been passed down for hundreds of years. These

stories and dances tell about what life was like back then. Stories are told by the

griot (pronounced GREE-oh) and dances are done to the beat of several drums.

Each movement tells a different part of the story. Every country has its own

story and dance to share.

AFRICA

NORTH AMERICA

WHAT’S UP, AFRICA?

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Map courtesy of www.education.yahoo.com/reference/factbook/regional_maps/Africa

Did you know?you know?you

That the island ofThat the island ofTMadagascar is an African country? It’s located in the Indian Ocean, off the eastern coast of Africa. It has plants and animals there that cannot be found anywhere else in the world!

Be a Geographic Genius

1. Mark a red “X” on the Atlantic Ocean.

2. Mark the Indian Ocean with a purple “X.”

3. Find the country of Spain and put a yellow “X” on it. (Hint: It’s located to the north and west of Africa. Use the compass rose to help you find north and west.)

4. Find the Middle East and mark it with a blue “X.” (Hint: It’s located to the east of Africa. Use your compass rose to find east and then look for the place where Egypt touches the countries of Israel and Jordan.)

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Musical theory dictates that rhythms be measured out in beats. Each beat can be counted out with a different number value. Use the chart at right to answer the questions at the bottom of the page. The chart is set in 4/4 time.

• If one quarter note, equals two eighth notes , then one

quarter note equals ____________ sixteenth notes .

• If one quarter note, equals two eighth notes , then one

whole note equals ____________ sixteenth notes .

• If eight sixteenth notes equals one half note , then four

eighth notes equals ____________ whole notes .

Answers: 1. 4; 2. 16; 3. 1/2

African drum music is based

in rhythm. Without Without

rhythm, there is no music.

Duly Noted

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6th - 8th Grades

Metric MamboThe metric system is used throughout the countries of Africa. Use the conversion formulas listed below to answer the following questions.

1. In Africa, the nomadic tribe, the Tuareg, cross the hot Sahara desert during their travels. If they were

to travel 14 miles in one day, how many kilometers would that be? _________ km

How many meters? _________ m

2. A fully-grown adult elephant can weigh up to 4500 kilograms. How many pounds is this?

_______________ lbs.

3. A medium sized Djembe drum measures approximately 11” x 24”. Can you convert these

measurements into centimeters? ______x______ cm

4. That same Djembe drum can weighs approximately 4.6 kilograms. What is the

weight in pounds? ________ lbs.

5. The Mendjani is a West

African dance of celebration African dance of celebration Af

danced to the beat of the Djembe

drum. If the space they danced

within measured 2.7 meters X

4.5 meters, what would these

measurements be in yards? In

feet? Inches? _____x___ yrds. feet? Inches? _____x___ yrds. feet? Inches? __

____x____ ft.

To convert:Inches to centimeters, multiply by 2.54. To reverse, divide.

Miles to kilometers, multiply by 1.6 To reverse, divide.

Pounds to kilograms, multiply by 0.45. To reverse, divide by 2.2.

Yards to meters, multiply by 0.9. , multiply by 0.9. To reverse, divide.

There are 1000 meters in one kilometer.

There are 3 feet in one There are 3 feet in one yard, and 12 inches in one foot.

Answers: 1. 22.4 km; 22, 400 m 2. 2, 045 lbs;. 3. approximately 29 x 61 cm; 4. about 2 lbs. (2.09 lbs.); 5. 3 x 5 yrds., 9 x 15 ft., 108 x 180 in.

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Despite the bitter bite of the slave trader’s whip and the greed of European colonists, the drum beat. Despite the droughts that threaten to wipe out whole nations, the stories continue. Despite the pestilence of AIDS and the devastating cries of those raped, pillaged and oppressed in the civil wars and political unrest from South Africa to Liberia, the dancers dance. Art is a tradition that transcends circumstance.

Nowhere is the resilience of the human spirit through art more evident than in the evolution of the South African Gumboot dance. The Gumboot dance was created as a way for oppressed mine workers to communicate with one another. Workers in the mine were often chained and forbidden to speak to one another. To circumvent these oppressive rules and keep morale from slipping away, workers communicated with stamped-foot rhythms and rattling chains -- developing a new language of rhythm and sounds.

Poor drainage in the mines caused the mines to overfl ow, resulting in infectious skin conditions and disease. Rather than spending money to repair the problem, mine bosses bought rubber boots for the workers. Hence, the name: gumboot dance. Soon lyrics were added in the workers’ native tongue, describing the challenges faced in everyday life in the mine. Mine bosses, in an effort to camoufl age the deplorable working conditions and improve the image they portrayed to the outside world, would allow these “gumboot dancers” to perform for visiting dignitaries, totally unaware they were being openly criticized and satirized in the performances. Gumboot dances and songs continue today, often refl ecting the current issues facing the South African working class.

As you can see, storytelling is more than simply telling a story. Storytelling is an art that takes many forms. It can be oral. It can be stomped. It can be danced. It can be sung. To be effective, storytelling has to permeate the senses. It has to be seen and heard -- felt.

People have been telling stories since time began. Stories give a history, teach a lesson, tell the future and simply entertain. Over time, storytelling in Africa became a calling – a profession and an identity for certain castes, or families within a tribe. In West Africa, a storyteller is called a griot (GREE-oh), and the privilege and tradition of being a griot is traditionally passed down from father to son. In other tribes like the nomadic Tuareg tribe of the Sahara, women write the music that tell the stories.

Some of the best loved and most popular stories from the oral tradition come from a people of very rich culture -- the Ashanti people of Ghana. Anansi the Spider is a classic from that region. African American folktales featuring Brer Rabbit have

their roots the West African folk tales that survived the harrowing journey to America with those who arrived here on slave ships.

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Trancendental Tenacity

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Dance in Africa varies from country to country, tribe to tribe. The commonalities that nearly all dances share are communication and spirituality. Some of the dances that have survived the test of time include the West African Mendjani dance of celebration featuring the Djembe drum, and Senegal’s Sabar dance featuring the drum of the same name. Drumming is an integral part of almost all cultures throughout Africa. Drumming is used for religious ceremonies and celebrations, as well as for storytelling and communicating news.

The West African Djembe drum is the most popular of the drums used. Its unique cone shaped base carved directly from the trunk of a tree gives it a deep, rich tone. A set of three metal pieces placed around the Djembe drum head, called ksink ksink, provide a shaker like sound to the deeper sound of the Djembe drum. The Balafon is a xylophone like instrument whose name is derived from two African words; bala, meaning wood, and fon, meaning to speak. Tuned wooden keys are arranged on a frame with gourds hung below, below, below through which the sound resonates when the keys are struck with a mallet. Balafons are used as traditional accompaniment for storytellers throughout Africa. ditional accompaniment for storytellers throughout Africa. ditional accompaniment

So whether it continues in its native form on the continent from which it began, or it travels abroad and resurfaces in a new form -- African art continues. It is as resilient as the people from which it came. The drum, the dance and the story. They continue.

9th - 12th Grades

Thoughts to ponder:What is the author’s point in writing this piece? Did the opening paragraph adequately introduce the writer’s point? How? How would you have written it to introduce the main idea?

Why was the piece written? To inform? Educate? Entertain?

How did the writer illustrate this point? How would you have done it differently?

What would make a better title?

How are some of the ways African music has affected world music?

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A Moment for EtiquetteDuring a performance of Kuumba Dancers and Drummers, audience members will at times be invited to participate by clapping, stomping and singing. Many times, the invitation will come in the form of call and response. Call and response is just what it sounds like. A leader will invite the audience to repeat what he or she does. That’s the call. The audience repeats back what the leader said or did. That’s called response.

Other times, performers need the audience to just be still, listen, and observe. This is for the audience’s benefi t as well as the performers’. The dances, songs and stories all have a tale to tell. It’s important that the audience hears what is being said or sung, and observes what is being communicated in the dances. This way, the message is received.

A performance like this one involves all the senses. Allow it to permeate yours. Enjoy!

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ABOUT THE PERFORMER ABOUT THE PERFORMER A

ABOUT THE SHOW ABOUT THE SHOW ATeacher Page

African dance and music has been used for centuries to communicate all kinds of messages from storytell-ing to prayer, celebration to rites of passage. In its col-orful presentation featuring costumes and instruments constructed by the members themselves, Kuumba Dancers and Drummers will take its audience on a sto-rytelling musical tour of Africa with stops in Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Liberia, Nigeria and Cameroon!

Based in Tampa, Kuumba Dancers and Drummersfeatures dancers and musicians ranging from young children to middle aged men and women. Keeping the beat going since 1980, the group has appeared on stage with such notable performers as South Africa’s Lady-smith Black Mambazo (the musical group featured on Paul Simon’s acclaimed Graceland recording), King Sunny Ade, Dick Gregory and Gil Scott-Heron.

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ResourcesTe

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Asanti, Kiriamu, et al, African Dance, Chelsea House Publishing, 2004Ayo, Yvonne, Africa, Eyewitness Books, 1995Barlow, Sean & Eyre, Banning, Afropop! An Illustrated Guide to Contemporary African Music, Chartwell Books, 1995Bebey, Francis, African Music: A People’s Art, Lawrence Hill & Co., 1995Cohen, David Elliot (Editor) and Liberman, Lee, A Day in The Life of Africa, Publisher’s Group West, 2003Cowen-Fletcher, Jane, It Takes a Village, Scholastic, 1994Diagram Group, (The) Peoples of Africa, Facts on File, Inc., 1997Diop, Samba, The Oral History and Literature of the Wolof People of Waalo, Northern Senegal: The Master of the Word, Edwin Mellen Press, 1995 Master of the Word, Edwin Mellen Press, 1995 Master of the WordEllis, Veronica Freeman, Afro-Bets First Book About Africa, 1990Green, Yuko, African Boy and Girl Paper Dolls, Dover Publications, 1997Kuklin, Susan, Dance, Hyperion Books for Children, 1998Kuklin, Susan, How My Family Lives in America, 1992Lemascalai-Lekuton, Joseph, Facing the Lion: Growing Up Masai on the African Savanna, National Geographic, 2003Musgrove, Margaret W., Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions, Puffi n, 1992Onyefulu, Ifeoma, A is for Africa, Puffi n, 1997Welch-Asante, Kariamu, African Dance: An Artistic, Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, African World Press, 1997

Books

Glennie/Cameron (composer), Beat It! African Dances (Group Percussion for Beginners), Faber Music, 1998

www.Djembe-LFAQwww.acslink.aeone.orgwww.africanmusic.org

Music

www.lam.mus.ca.us/africa/main.htm

www.clickafrique.com/Arts%5CCulture.asp

www.copla.org/yoder.htm - Liberian political culture study

www.bcconline.org/wolof/Culture.htm information on the Wolof people of Senegal

www.bcconline.org/wolof/Language/Vocab/instruments.htm explores music and drums of Senegal Wolof

www.us-africa.tripod.com/cameroon.html information on Cameroon

www.africanmusic.org

www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index_section11.shtml

www.humnet.ucla.edu/afl ang/zulu/culture.html information on Zulu culture

www.us-africa.tripod.com/link.html

Web