After some communication with the instructor I decided to use the plethora of information gathered in this weblog in a paper or slide show rather than a website for teachers. Upon closer examination, I don’t believe a website would do the amount of information justice and I want to make sure it isn’t cluttered. I was also reminded to focus on the cultural aspects and how it is a difficult concept to teach to those who aren’t within the aboriginal culture themselves. Here are my final resources, which I feel are most focused for my final paper.
1.Celebrating Canada’s Indigenous Peoples Through Song and Dance
This pdf focuses on how to teach indigenous music and dance. With my general focus being on introducing the culture to my physical education lessons, I wanted to ensure I touched upon every aspect, not only dance, of indigenous cultures. I am also reminded here, that certain dances and music are sacred to specific regions and cannot be presented in others.
2.First Nations Music in Canada
This link focuses on the history of music in aboriginal peoples. It included quizzes and even an activity. It would be an excellent resource for teachers and students alike. I have yet to include any real music focused resources and since dance is the focus, music should go along with it. This would be an excellent fine arts cross-curricular activity that would allow students to research some of the origins of the music they will be dancing to.
3. Newswire Article: Strength in Dance
Since my final project is how to meld indigenous dance and technology, I felt it necessary to include video or media that teachers could use to show their students as inspiration. The above is a great motivator for students who may not be interested in the concept of indigenous dance. It focuses on the physical aspects of dance, which may be a great motivator for some older students who may be more interested in sports than dance. It creates a great image of what can be accomplished through dance.
While my audience is mostly elementary school, the following could be used for upper elementary grades and high school students . The idea was to have students record their dances and edit them, essentially doing a short film making type unit. I would like to use this with the elementary school students too and think it could easily be modified. They may not be able to film themselves but I believe a lesson on editing could be easy for the middle elementary grades. The younger grades could use technology in different ways such as viewing music and dances via the internet as opposed to live.
Finally,
Since the whole concept of my final project is to integrate technology into physical education, it is only fitting I source something that gives resources to do so seamlessly. While this website has many apps and programs that use technology in the gym, several of them would only work for high school classes. However, the one app that would allow this indigenous dance unit to be successful is the Show Me app. This app allows teachers to record their lessons, and upload them. This would be fantastic for sharing dance lessons with other teachers, and even for students to upload their dances for future viewing.