Obwisana

O b - w i - s a - n a

O b - w i - s a - n a

na - na,

na - ra,

O b - w i - s a - n a

O b - w i - s a - n a

SINGING
Find differentwaystg kpn th.-b".!tpatshoulders'taPqo.se'
Tap thebeatwhile singingObwisana-.
"rc1 fnuit" childrentoiitTn a circle with nvo rocksor stitks in front of eachchild. Childrenhold
tt-6. "Uo"r ttt" rti.tr in readypositionbeforethe songbegns. On first beatof sgng,nigk u.n,
;d.kr. On secondbear,placeitiL:tcsin front of personon thetigt t, lt may be |glpru to chantthe
the t9i9
iith t!9 -s<ing...Qing
U"iot" trying.the-eame
;;tdr ,.fiiiArop, lifiE;;j;ilir,ytrr.
Agplay the gameriranytimei to givdchildrenoppornrnityfor success.Older childrenmayenjoy the
up tt" stilts or rogkson'ttrefirsibeat"clicking ttremtogetheron thesecond
;h;1fi;;;fplO6"'g
the.sticksmovein a
U"ut,;?dtoiping 6n'thJttritAbeat. This is a particularchallenge,-because
p.ni* "f tfr6[ tfih .U.t, p*r) while the son! movesin a patternof two. Africansarenotedfor
iheir complexrhythmperformance.
PLAYING INSTRUMENTS
Invite somechildrento play drumsto thebeatwhile therestof theclaslplays thg gu$t. Ot t.
instnrmentsthat would ivork well includesticks,claves,or agogobells.Fo-r.qreal challenge,Invite
"f.nifOt " to play thedrumstg-asqong-weakpattern(tw9), while anotherg4oupplays
ilF"p
ttt" rlti.tt to a sfrong-weik-iveakpattern(three). Enjoy thefeelingof strongbeatsnot always
occurringtogether.
CREATING
Invite childrenro rapthe rhythmof Obwisana(the-patternof thewords). Put the rhythm oq qle.
childrento ieadandchantfq-tttyth"l g.sing':ti-ti"for eighth
bdj in ruur-Ueat
fh;;:'Invite
childrento readthem.
thephrases-and-challenge
nores.Rearrange
;ilr;d;b"-foi{uarter
The classcouldmake
quarteinotes.
Invite childrento .rt"up four beatphrasisusingeighttrand
up wordsto go with the new Phrases.

r-l r"] | l
a a a a .

) ) J ) a , ) aana
i-'1

i-

ii

ra a. .] l l

LISTENING
Manv recordinssof musicfrom Africa exist. Considervisitinga boo\ storethatc9rygsrecordings
oi musicfrom Ghana. Childrenmight enjoy litt"1r1ngto the kinds of
;e lffi f;;;rdifii
p"r"mayo World Music hasseieral wonderfulrecordilg: of music
initn rnrns usedin C;11311u."Africa." See
from otherculturesthatchildrenlovi [steningto, includingoneCD called
www.putumayo.com
INTEGRATING
Showthe classa mapof Africa andfind Ghana. Obwisanais sungb-ythe childrenin Ghana. In
pliyed t9 lelp childrenlearnabouttheiriulture andto transfercultural
Afri;*i"ging g*Jr are':Tlie
rock hai crushedmy hand,Grandma,"andthe gameitself is to
;AG: rn"e#oias rn"assurechildrenttratno matterwhathappens,
^fte thereriitt alwaysbe someoneto takecareof them.
The passingis all "bout cooperation. purposeis for evbryoTe.to
{ravepy,cgss.H onePerson
andworksig help$al child be successtul.
,ni"r161g,tfi;o.t it ita feelsresponsible
*ui[*
-O["oiJtfr"
diffelrenceGnn*n the way Ghanachildrenthink aboutplaying games,andS" yuy.
Americanchildrentfri"t *tti"ti is usuallyto keepplayrnguntil thebestonewins. Considerhaving
thechildrendo researchon Ghanato learnmoreaboutthepeopleandthe culture.
Obwisana