Lesson 4: Flutes

Dizi flutes

My daughter came home from school and told me that some older students had visited her class to perform flute music, which, of course inspired me to look up flutes around the world.  Two that particularly interested me were the Native American flute and the Dizi, a traditional Chinese flute. The Native American flute appears in many Native American cultures.  I found a very useful website with information on different Native American cultures that is geared towards kids here.  One of the composers, Mary Youngblood, is half-Aleut and half-Seminole, and you could use that site to expand the lesson.  

Mary Youngblood

Tears for Kientepoos- composed and performed by Mary Youngblood.
A Joyful Reunion- composed and performed by Yu Xunfa

Here is the lesson plan.
Here is the coloring page. Print one for each student (double sided).
Here are the visual aides.  If you have the capacity to project these, that would be great.  I have mine in a binder and walk around the tables giving everyone a closer look.

I also point out the geographical origins of the pieces on a large world map.  






Here is what my daughter, Willa, came up with:

The second seems to be a flute that has turned into a fairy!

I love to see what the students are inspired to draw.  I saw rain, rainbows, dancers, dinosaurs, ninjas, Chinese characters, many flutes, and one child cheerfully reported she was drawing "happiness".


Enjoy!