Overview

LADAMA: Movement, Music, and Community in South America gives elementary school students the opportunity to explore the performing arts, culture, and ecology of Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil.

With interactive instruction from the members of the group LADAMA, students sing in Spanish and Portuguese, perform traditional dances, and learn the underlying rhythms to musical styles throughout South America. In addition, each lesson offers a variety of worksheets and classroom activities to introduce students to South American history, culture, and ecology.

Learn more about what the lesson collection has to offer below:

Lessons

lesson:
Colombian Cumbia: African, Indigenous, and Spanish Roots of Rhythm

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Elementary K-3, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Geography, Physical Education, Social Emotional Learning

What is Cumbia, and how do you play its traditional rhythms?

lesson:
Joropo: Music Inspired by Nature from the High Plains of Venezuela

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Elementary K-3, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Geography, Physical Education, Social Emotional Learning

What is Joropo, and how is it inspired by nature?

lesson:
Quitiplás: Deep Listening and Rhythm Building with Afro-Venezuelan Bamboo Drums From Barlovento

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Elementary K-3, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Geography, Physical Education, Social Emotional Learning

What is Quitiplás, how does it incorporate the natural world, and how is it an example of polyrhythm?

lesson:
ChocQuibTown: Embracing Cultural Identity through Colombian Rap

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Elementary K-3, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Geography, Physical Education, Social Emotional Learning

How can the music of ChocQuibTown, from the Pacific Coast of Colombia, help students express and celebrate their cultural identity through Rap?

lesson:
Ciranda: The Brazilian Music and Dance that Creates Community

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Elementary K-3, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Geography, Physical Education, Social Emotional Learning

What is Ciranda, and how can group singing and dancing help us feel like a part of a community?

lesson:
Aguinaldos: Venezuelan Songs for the Holiday Season

Subjects: General Music, Social Emotional Learning, Social Studies/History

What are Aguinaldos, and how do children in Venezuela celebrate the winter holiday season known as La Navidad?