LESSON 2: Hawaiian Vocabulary

LESSON 2: HAWAIIAN VOCABULARY LESSON AT A GLANCE

LESSON OBJECTIVE: Students will learn about Hawaiian culture by exploring the Hawaiian alphabet, and identifying key words. Students will understand the different ways to express a word using movement and gesture.

DURATION: 60- 90 mins

MATERIALS: Handout 3: “Pua I Ka Ua Lyrics,” Handout 4: “Hawaiian Alphabet and Words”, a large open space for movement, Internet access and playback capabilities for recordings

STANDARDS: CCSS, Literacy.SL.4.1.C: Pose and respond to specific questions to clarify or follow up on information, and make comments that contribute to the discussion and link to the remarks of others. VAPA Music, Grade Three: 1.6 Identify simple musical forms. VAPA Music, Grade Three: 3.1 Identify the uses of music in various cultures and time periods. VAPA Music, Grade Three: 5.1 Identify the use of similar elements and other art forms. VAPA Music, Grade Four: 5.3 Relate dance movements to express musical elements or represent musical intent in specific music. Social Emotional Learning competencies: teamwork

CONCEPTS/VOCABULARY: Active listening - When you listen to music carefully and give it your full attention. 'Aumākua - An ancestral spirit guide, which can also be an animal. Call and Response - The interaction of two phrases of music, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or in response to the first. Glottal Stop - A consonant formed by the audible release of the airstream after complete closure of the glottis. It is widespread in some nonstandard English accents and in some other languages. Kahakō - Indicates that the vowel over which it is placed is drawn out, and, therefore, that it is a long vowel in Hawaiian. Indicated with an – over the vowel. Melody - Sequence of musical notes that sound good together. 'Okina - A glottal stop, similar to the sound between the syllables of “oh-oh.” It is used in Hawaiian language as a stop of sound between and within words. It is symbolized by an '. Pua – The Hawaiian word for flower. Rhythm - Combination of long and short, even and uneven sounds that convey a sense of movement in time. Ua – The Hawaiian word for rain.

GUIDING QUESTIONS: What do I already know about musical form? Are all languages “spoken”? Can they be used with gestures or signs?

LESSON PLAN Warmup: “Mirroring flocking” game

In a large open space, ask the class to make a pyramid shape where one student is the point, two stand behind, three behind, and so on. The students should all be facing in the same direction. Discuss how there are different points to the shape and how looking in different directions can change the entire make-up of the group.

Explain the directions for the “Mirroring Flocking” game. What does flocking mean? Have you ever seen birds fly in the sky in a big group all making the same motion? That’s flocking. The students should have enough room from a standing position. The student at the front most part of the group leads everyone in controlled movement. You should model this first. Let the students know that they you will move slowly and they have to mirror or follow the exact movement as closely as possible. The second line follows the leader, the third follows the second, and so on. If you move to face a new direction, the students at the next furthest point is the leader and can control the “flock.”

The object of the activity is for all the group to move as one. All movement should be improvised by the students and it can be done with or without music. In fact, try both methods. You can also call out particular motions to give variety to the movement. “Move like you’re swimming. Like you’re in outer space. Like you can only use half of your body. Etc.” This is where different types of music queued up can really be fun; hip hop, swing, classical, rock, etc.

A variation on this is to split the groups evenly into 4 different shapes with points. Explain the rules to the students and follow the same steps. After a while, combine the groups to create two different groups, and finally one large group.

After playing the game, lead a class discussion. Sample reflection questions are below:

What did you notice about being a leader of the group? What are some characteristics of being a good leader? What did you notice about being a follower? What are some characteristics of being a good follower? How did we work together as a group in this activity? Did anything change when you heard music? How did it feel to communicate to your group through movement and no words?

Part 1: “Pua I Ka Ua” or “Flowers in the Rain,” by Amy Ku'uleialoha Stillman and Daniel Ho

Have students listen to the song, “Pua I Ka Ua.” While listening, encourage students to actively listen to the beats, lyrics, and instruments in the song. Active listening is when you listen to music carefully and give it your full attention.

https://soundcloud.com/broadstage/pua-i-ka-ua/s-cEDGm?in=broadstage/sets/hawaiian-ohana/s-pYKF0

After listening, have students write down or draw any words, feelings, or thoughts that come into their mind. You could use the prompt: I Hear? I Think? I Wonder?

Hold a short discussion about anything that they observed in the song or that activated their curiosity (call and response, echo, instruments, meaning of the song, etc.)

Review the translation of “Pua I Ka Ua” lyrics together and pass out Handout 3: “Pua I Ka Ua” Lyrics.

“Pua I Ka Ua” is a song from Hawaiian 'Ohana written by Amy Ku'uleiaaloha Stillman and Daniel Ho. This song follows a strophic form pattern in music, where each verse of the song is sung by the same melodic line.

Read Handout 3: “Pua I Ka Ua” Lyrics together. The lyrics refer to flowers blooming after the rain. Ask students to consider these questions:

What significance does this hold? Can it mean that after something dark and cold, even scary passes, something beautiful can sprout in front of you? The thematic nature of the song can be applied to bad things happening and good things coming out of it. Or there is “light at the end of the tunnel.”

Have students listen to the song again with a partner. Ask the pair to identify when the new verse starts with different lyrics. This can be challenging since the melody stays the same each time! As a hint, the melody repeats itself over 8 measures. Have the students try to identify the 8 measures by counting during the melody.

If time permits, play the song again and encourage the student partners to improvise movements to the lyrics of the call and response. Remind students of the definition of call and response. Partners can switch their roles as caller and responder as well.

For a wrap up, allow students some time to discuss any additional observations upon further listening, as a class or in small groups.

Part 2: Learning Hawaiian alphabet, words, and motions.

NOTE: This part of the lesson uses the Curriculum Video for “Hawaiian 'Ohana” featuring Keali'i Ceballos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISheO7ROdEw&t=21s

TASK: Students follow along and learn the Hawaiian alphabet, words, and hula gestures.

There are five vowels and seven consonants and one 'okina. The vowel sounds are quite similar to English, but can be combined to create different sounds. For example, when vowels are paired to have a different sound such as the word “ouch.” The language only includes 7 consonants with the following consonants not represented in the alphabet: b c d f g j q r s t v x y z. The 'okina is a glottal stop that creates space within a word. For example, when we say “uh-oh!” when something surprising happens, we are essentially using an 'okina to break the vowels. Keali'i will explain the alphabet, the 'okina, and the kahakō; which is a macron or line over a vowel that indicates the vowel sound to be much longer.

Follow the video and have the students demonstrate the “hula” motions for the words “pua” (flower) and “ua” (rain). Gestures in hula can be used to “say” words and tell a story. In the performance “Hawaiian 'Ohana,” the song Pineapple Mango has motions for each fruit.

Ask the students if they know of any other gestures with their hands that mean anything? Some might be a “thumbs up” for good, and maybe a “wave” to say hello.

Pass out Handout 4: Hawaiian Alphabet, words, and phrases. Practice the pronunciation of the words with students.

A E I O U H K L M N P W '

Aloha = Hello/Goodbye Ua = Rain Mahalo = Thank You Hale = House/Home 'Ohana = Family Hula = Dance Pua = Flower Mele = Music 'Aumākua = Ancestral Spirit Guide

Part 3: Discover Nonverbal Communication

After learning a few words in Hawaiian, and with hula, “’ohana, aloha, mahalo, flower, rain, pineapple and mango” ask the students if they can create their own hula gestures to represent different things in the environment with a partner. Each student will get half of a list of words that they will create a hula movement for. The students will trade off and figure out what is trying to be said. You are welcome to use whichever words you’d like, but here are a few options for you.

TREE CLOUDS RIVER MOUNTAIN BEACH WAVES ROCK BIRD

After they each get a chance to demonstrate their gestures for each word, have the groups share with the class. You’ll see that a lot of the movements will be similar, and a lot will be wildly different.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: • All students participate and collaborate. • All students demonstrate understanding of nonverbal communication. • All students demonstrate the role of listener and speaker.

PURPOSE: To understand why people come together to play, sing, or dance and to make connections between elements of music like rhythm, beat, and tempo.

Student Reflection Students write a short paragraph on what their favorite activity was in this unit and why.