Jamaica 1

Two 30 minute lessons

Unit 2, Day 2
(5th) & 6th Grade

NafMe National Standards

1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied
repertoire of music.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
MU:Pr5.1.6a: Identify and apply teacher-provided
criteria (such as correct interpretation of notation, technical accuracy,
originality, and interest) to rehearse, refine, and determine when a
piece is ready to perform.
MU: Pr4.2.6c: Identify how cultural and historical context inform
performances.
MU:Pr4.3.6a: Perform a selected piece of music demonstrating how
their interpretations of the elements of music and the expressive
qualities (such as dynamics, tempo, timbre, articulation/style, and
phrasing) convey intent.
MU:Pr5.1.6a: Identify and apply teacher-provided criteria (such as
correct interpretation of notation, technical accuracy, originality, and
interest) to rehearse, refine, and determine when a piece is ready to
perform
MU:Re7.2.6b: Identify the context of music from a variety of genres,
cultures, and historical periods.

Objectives (concept-based, skill and knowledge)

Students will be able to sing songs with appropriate dialect and pitch
accuracy alone and while hearing accompanying drum patterns.
Students will be able to perform drum patterns with accurate rhythms
and alternating hands alone and while accompanying singing.
Students will be able to maintain a steady pulse while repeating and
performing rhythms.
Students will learn the drumming patterns for Nyabinghi and Dinki
Mini.

Materials
-accompanying tracks
-Mango Time
-Drums
-Rivers of Babylon

Procedures
1. Students will follow classroom procedure and listen to Rivers of
Babylon as they enter the classroom. Students will respond to
predictions about the song and style of music that they are hearing,
then learn where Jamaica is located on a map of North America and the
Caribbean.
2. Students listen for pitch direction differences in words -mango
time while teacher models the song Mango Time. Students will
identify whether the 3 phrases -mango time went up, down, or a little
of both, and will indicate with a hand sign.
3. Students will learn the -mango time phrases with sulfege and hand
signs. Students will sing -mango time phrases and indicate pitch
direction on their hands while teacher models Mango Time again.
4. Students learn about the Jamaican language, Patois. Students read
and speak Patois lyrics for Mango Time. Students learn Mango Time
by rote with music and lyrics on screen for independent connection
opportunities, noticing as the teacher points out the sulfege that they
sang.
5. Students perform Mango Time with teacher performing
accompanying rhythm, which serves as a model and transition for the
drumming segment of the lesson.
6. Students will learn the dinki mini pattern on their lap, practicing
alternating hands. Students listen to drum procedure about turning
their seat and sharing a tubano and sitting quietly at their drum until
told otherwise. Students will then follow the procedure and establish
pairs; one student arranges chairs while the other retrieves their drum.
7. Students echo dinki mini repeatedly using their alternating hands
and using the center and edge of the drum to achieve pitch
differences, then practice looping the pattern repeatedly, 8 times for
example.
8. One partner will perform the dinki mini rhythm while the other
performs the song Mango Time. (Rhythm starts, singers come in
together)
9. Students will learn Nyabinghi with their hand on their heart, using

the ta-a gesture on their hands, and then on the drums, practicing the
heartbeat rhythm together and then performing it with the recording of
Rivers of Babylon.

Assessment
Assessment is formative as students respond to questions throughout
the lesson and teacher listens for pitch matching and monitors hands
in rhythmic patterns in order to provide instant feedback.

Continuation
In the next lesson, students will find the rhythms that they have
learned in the song that is playing and will learn Rivers of Babylon
(which they have heard and played drums with) as well as the Bruckins
rhythm pattern.

Jamaica 2
Second 30 minute lessons
Unit 2, Days 3
(5th) & 6th Grade

NafMe National Standards

1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied
repertoire of music.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
MU:Pr5.1.6a: Identify and apply teacher-provided
criteria (such as correct interpretation of notation, technical accuracy,
originality, and interest) to rehearse, refine, and determine when a
piece is ready to perform.
MU: Pr4.2.6c: Identify how cultural and historical context inform
performances.
MU:Pr4.3.6a: Perform a selected piece of music demonstrating how
their interpretations of the elements of music and the expressive
qualities (such as dynamics, tempo, timbre, articulation/style, and
phrasing) convey intent.
MU:Pr5.1.6a: Identify and apply teacher-provided criteria (such as
correct interpretation of notation, technical accuracy, originality, and
interest) to rehearse, refine, and determine when a piece is ready to
perform

MU:Re7.2.6b: Identify the context of music from a variety of genres,

cultures, and historical periods.

Objectives (concept-based, skill and knowledge)

Students will be able to sing songs with appropriate dialect and pitch
accuracy alone and while hearing accompanying drum patterns.
Students will be able to perform drum patterns with accurate rhythms
and alternating hands alone and while accompanying singing.
Students will be able to maintain a steady pulse while repeating and
performing rhythms.
Students will learn the drumming patterns for Bruckins and will be able
to recall the patterns for Nyabinghi and Dinki Mini when asked, and will
be able to play back the rhythm when asked.

Materials
-listening track Land of My Birth
-Mango Time, Rivers of Babylon, Bruckins
-Drums

Procedures
1. Students will listen to Land of My Birth and drum on their laps,
trying to find how the Nyabinghi and Dinki Mini patterns fit. Students
will practice rhythms in time with the teacher, reviewing the patterns.
Students listen as the teacher models Bruckins pattern with the track
Land of My Birth.
2. Students sing Mango Time together, reviewing the sulfege and
connecting it to the written music on the screen, and then practice
Dinki Mini on their laps. Students take turns playing Dinki Mini and
singing Mango Time.
3. Students listen as the teacher models Bruckins, and will learn about
the Jamaican food bun and cheese.
4. Students will speak I like bun and cheese and pat it on their lap
using appropriate hands. The same technique will be used to learn the
phrase I like peanut butter.
5. Students will practice call and response of bun and cheese and
peanut butter, and then will loop their patterns simultaneously.
6. Students will form pairs with drums around the room. The class will
practice the two parts of Bruckins as a group, and then practice call
and response before looping or playing the patterns in cannon.
7. Students will learn Rivers of Babylon while keeping the Nyabinghi
pattern with their hand over their hearts, and as a soft clap.

8. Students will respond to quiz over names of rhythms (say name of

rhythm, all students pat rhythm on lap) and patterns (teacher plays
patterns, students briefly discuss in groups and then share answer with
teacher).

Assessment
Assessment is formative as students respond to questions throughout
the lesson and teacher listens for pitch matching and monitors hands
in rhythmic patterns in order to provide instant feedback. Summative
assessment happens at end of class as students respond to the name
or rhythm of a Jamaican rhythm pattern that they have learned.

Continuation
In future lessons, Bruckins and Dinki Mini may be used as a
springboard into a lesson on syncopation. Students may continue to
learn cultural music from the Caribbean with their base knowledge of
lyric content and rhythmic trends. Students have now practiced and
performed rhythms in call and response and ostinato/cannon, and will
be able to continue more complex patterns with multiple parts of two
or more. This is also a lesson that can connect to cultural information
about British Colonization and how countries have gained their
independence.