Unit 6: Music of Mali with Yacouba – A Djely, Like Me!: Bookmaking Project

Project Overview:

In this project, students will reflect on the meaning of “Kele Faba” and “Wawanko” and write poems or songs about peace and friendship. Each student will create a book with a picture of a kora on the front. The book will feature their poems and illustrations, as a way to share their words and stories for years to come, in the tradition of the djely.

Vocabulary from the Musical Word Wall: djely, kora

Materials You Will Need:

  • 5 x 11 unlined paper
  • markers
  • crayons
  • color pencils
  • pencils
  • lined paper
  • stapler
  • staples
  • Musical Explorers CD or online audio

Process:

This project can be completed in four 30 minute sessions.

 

Session One

Step 1: CLASS CONVERSATION

Listen to and discuss the meaning of the song “Kele faba” ( Track 24).

  • “Kele magni den” means “fighting will lead to no good” in Mandingo, which is the language in which this song is sung.

Lead a class discussion about fighting and problem solving.

  • Has anyone ever had a fight that REALLY solved a problem?
  • What are some things you can do to solve a problem that work better than fighting? (i.e. talk it out, compromise, etc.)

 

Step 2: Ask your students to write a poem about peace or solving a problem to make things work better. Depending on the age/ability of your students, they can work individually on poems or create a class poem together.

If your students are writing individual poems, invite a few students to read them out loud.

 

Session Two

Step 1: CLASS DISCUSSION:

Listen to and discuss the meaning of the song “Wawanko” ( Track 30).

  • This song is about friendship and how a good friend can make us happy for a long time.

 

Step 2:  Ask your students to write a poem about the ways that our friends make us happy and make life better. Depending on the age/ability of your students, they can work individually on poems or create a class poem together.

If your students are writing individual poems, invite a few students to read them out loud.

 

Session Three:

Prep: Fold 8.5 x 11” paper in half to create the pages of a book.

Make folios out of 3 sheets of paper (so that each book will have 6 pages.)

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Step 1: Hand out folios to each student, as well as their poems from previous classes. Ask students to write their poems on the pages of the book. Encourage them to think about how to spread out the words across each page. Tell them that when they finish the writing, they will be adding illustrations. ‘

Step 2: Once writing is complete, pass out markers, crayons, color pencils and spend the remainder of the class making illustrations.

 

Session Four:

Step 1: CLASS DISCUSSION:

Discuss the djelys of Mali with your students.

  • The djelys are very important people in the community, because they are the keepers of all of the most important stories. It’s a djely’s job to pass stories down so that they stay alive in the community. We’re making our book of poems as a way to be like the djelys and share our stories and ideas.

Remind students that the kora is one of the traditional instruments that djelys play to accompany their songs. Yacouba plays the kora.

Share an image of a kora with your students (see SG38).

kora

Step 2: Pass out student’s folios, pencils, markers, crayons. Ask students to draw a picture of a kora on the front cover. Once the cover is finished, students can spend the rest of the class finishing up the illustrations for their poems.

Once the books are complete, staple each student’s book together. This completes the Djely bookmaking project!

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