Part One
During the first part of the expedition, students listened to Aquarium from Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns and read Water by Frank Asch. We talked about the way water sounds and how music can imitate the sound of water.
We looked at photos of the Dakota Pipeline Protest from 2016 and early 2017. We learned words water is life, mni wičoni, and all are related, mitakuye oyasin, in the Lakota language.
We listened to a song by Sara Thomsen. She wrote:
“This song was inspired by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and all the tribes, nations,
people coming together in North Dakota to protect the water and halt the construction
of the Dakota Access Pipeline.”
Sara Thomsen was moved by the words of LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, the founder of the Sacred Stone Camp in Cannonball, ND.
She wrote:
“We are the river and the river is us.
We have no choice but to stand up.”
The song resonated with students and they decided it would be our final song for our Celebration of Learning.
Water is Life by Sara Thomsen:
We are praying, come. We are praying, come.
We are the song and we are the drum. We are one.
We are the river, come. We are the river, come.
We are the boat, the paddle, the shore. We are one.
Mni wičoni, sing. (Mitakuye Oyasin…) Mni wičoni, sing.
Mni wičoni,“water is life” for everything.
We are the water, sing. We are the water, sing.
We are the water. We are where all life begins.
We are the ancient ones. We are the ancient ones.
In your breath and bones we sing on. We are one.
We are the meadow, come. We are the meadow, come.
We are the lark that sings the new day has begun.
We are the new day, run, run, run. We are the new day, run, run, run.
We are the old and we are the young. We are one.
Mni wičoni, sing. (Mitakuye Oyasin…) Mni wičoni, sing.
Mni wičoni, “water is life” for everything.
We are the water, sing. We are the water, sing.
We are the water. We are where all life begins.
We are the earth and sky. We are the thunder cries.
We are the fire. We are the light in your eyes.
We are standing strong. Like a rock, like a stone.
On this sacred ground we belong. We are home.
All my relations, come. Every nation, come.
All my relations under the sun. We are one.
—Sara Thomsen
Mni wičoni (Mni wi-cho-nee) —Lakota for “water is life”
Mitakuye Oyasin —Lakota for “All My Relations”
echoesofpeace.org/track/1112891/water-is-life-mni-wiconi
We listened to a song by Sara Thomsen. She wrote:
“This song was inspired by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and all the tribes, nations,
people coming together in North Dakota to protect the water and halt the construction
of the Dakota Access Pipeline.”
Sara Thomsen was moved by the words of LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, the founder of the Sacred Stone Camp in Cannonball, ND.
She wrote:
“We are the river and the river is us.
We have no choice but to stand up.”
The song resonated with students and they decided it would be our final song for our Celebration of Learning.
Water is Life by Sara Thomsen:
We are praying, come. We are praying, come.
We are the song and we are the drum. We are one.
We are the river, come. We are the river, come.
We are the boat, the paddle, the shore. We are one.
Mni wičoni, sing. (Mitakuye Oyasin…) Mni wičoni, sing.
Mni wičoni,“water is life” for everything.
We are the water, sing. We are the water, sing.
We are the water. We are where all life begins.
We are the ancient ones. We are the ancient ones.
In your breath and bones we sing on. We are one.
We are the meadow, come. We are the meadow, come.
We are the lark that sings the new day has begun.
We are the new day, run, run, run. We are the new day, run, run, run.
We are the old and we are the young. We are one.
Mni wičoni, sing. (Mitakuye Oyasin…) Mni wičoni, sing.
Mni wičoni, “water is life” for everything.
We are the water, sing. We are the water, sing.
We are the water. We are where all life begins.
We are the earth and sky. We are the thunder cries.
We are the fire. We are the light in your eyes.
We are standing strong. Like a rock, like a stone.
On this sacred ground we belong. We are home.
All my relations, come. Every nation, come.
All my relations under the sun. We are one.
—Sara Thomsen
Mni wičoni (Mni wi-cho-nee) —Lakota for “water is life”
Mitakuye Oyasin —Lakota for “All My Relations”
echoesofpeace.org/track/1112891/water-is-life-mni-wiconi
Part Two
During the second part of the expedition, students listened to the blues. We talked about the blues at the beginning as a complaint. Students wrote a one or two sentence complaint on post it notes and we created blues songs using each student’s complaint. We sang the songs together.
Complaint Blues by Mrs. Frix's Class
- My dog chews up his toys. I got the chewed up toy blues. I got the blues baby. I got the dog chewing blues
- My hamster died. I got the dead hamster blues. He’s gone from this world. And it is really bad news.
- My brother hits me. He hits me every single day. I can’t stop him and my mommy doesn’t care.
- My brother is bad. I’ve got the bad brother blues. My brother is bad. I’ve got the bad brother blues. He’s so naughty all the time. My parents don’t know what to do.
- A certain person. He bothers me a lot. A certain person. He bothers me a lot. He bothers me all day. But name him I will not.
- A boy at my camp. He’s a bully all day long. He picks on other people. Even though he knows it’s wrong. This boy at camp. He bullies all day long.
- My friend bullies. And I don’t know what to do. My friend bullies. He bullies me. He bullies you. My friend bullies. And I don’t know what to do.
- My sister is annoying. She went and pushed me down. My sister is annoying. She makes me wear a frown. My sister is annoying. She went and pushed me down.
- My life is too good. I have the no complaint blues. I have no complaints. I just don’t know what to do. When your life is without complaints. You get the no complaint blues.
- My brother yells at me and then he pulls my hair. My brother yells right at me. And then he pulls my hair. He yells and pulls and annoys me. I wish he’d go away somewhere.
- My brother is annoying. He’s annoying all day long. My brother is annoying. Even when he sings this song. My brother is so annoying. He annoys me all day long.
- My sister is so annoying. Not the baby, but the four year old. My sister is so annoying. I know you’ve heard it. You’ve been told. My sister is annoying and she’s only four years old.
- My dog begs for food. It’s annoying as can be. My dog begs for food. Why does she want to eat with me. She cries and makes a fuss. I wish she’d stay away from me.
- My brother gets on my nerves. He’s annoying as can be. My brother gets on my nerves. I wish he’d get away from me. My brother gets on my nerves. Why don’t you set me free?
- My brother yells at me. He just yells the whole day through. My brother likes to yell. And I don’t know what to do. If he won’t stop his yelling. I’m gonna throw my shoe.
- My brother annoys me. He annoys my friends too. My brother just annoys me. It’s all he knows how to do. He annoys my friends and he annoys me too.
- I couldn’t think of anything. My mind went blank as can be. I couldn’t think of anything. What will Ms. Gwaltney think of me? I couldn’t think of anything. La, la, la, la. Dee, dee, dee, dee, dee.
- My brother kicked me. And then my mom yelled at me. My mom’s yelling at me. And my brother won’t let me be. My brother kicked me. And then my mom yelled at me.
- I never get the pink cup. Because I’m the oldest one. What if I want the pink cup? The older one should have some fun. Being older all the time. What if I want the pink cup?
- I’m blue as I can be. I can’t think of anything to write. My mind is idea free. I cannot think of anything to write. I’m blue as I can be when I can’t think of anything to write.
- My tower is getting knocked down. I’ve got the knocked down tower blues. My tower is getting knocked down. You tell me what am I gonna do. My tower is getting knocked down. I am super sad and blue.
- I’m stuck in a video game. My kitty kind of hates me too. I’m stuck in a video game. I’ve got the kitty video blues. I’m stuck and my kitty hates me. I just don’t know what to do.
- When people lie a lot. I get so sad and I get so blue. When people lie a lot. I get so sad and I get so blue. When people tell lies. It’s really bad and I get so blue.
- My brother is annoying because he doesn’t listen to me. My brother is annoying. He doesn’t listen to me. My brother is annoying. He’s annoying as can be.
Complaint Blues by Mrs. Foster's Class
- Ms. Gwaltney stole my paper. I’ve got the stolen paper blues.
- My brother made me lose. I’ve got the video game blues.
- My Grandma keeps on bossing me. She keeps a bossing me around.
- I was writing a comic book with my brother. I didn’t have time to write the rest.
- It’s the end of the world. I’ve got the end of the world blues.
- I have an annoying brother. And I’m not getting another dog.
- I missed the 100th day of school. It was a sad, sad time.
- People won’t stop being annoying. I’ve got the annoying people blues.
- I’m upset about everything. I’ve got the everything blues.
- There’s a tornado chasing me. It’s chasing me all through the night.
- My brother calls me stupid. I’ve got the mean brother blues.
- My dad makes me do homework and I don’t get enough T.V.
- China is too far away. It needs to be not so far away.
- My brother is annoying. I’ve got the annoying brother blues.
- I never think we’ll get this. And this is bad, bad news.
- Why do songs repeat? I’ve got so many questions.
- I need sleep and an IPad. I need sleep and an IPad.
- Sometimes I don’t know which book to read. And it makes me so sad.
- J.K. Rowling didn’t write enough Harry Potter books. And it’s making me mad.
- I want to be on the computer. But it’s too small to sit on.
- I have really bad hangnails. They hurt and they are annoying.
- My brother is a meanie. I’ve got the mean brother blues.
- The FG is too high. It hurts my eyes.
- My dad said no more cats. I’ve got the too few cat blues.
- My dog knocked over my neighbor and she was super duper mad.
Complaint Blues by Mrs. Mansfield's Class
- My sister steals my stuff. It makes me really, really sad.
- I hate my car. When I drive it it’s a drag.
- My little sister is annoying. She plays on my video games. She annoys me when I’m with someone. She’s making me insane.
- My sister is a thief. She’s a thief all day.
- Life has too few video games. Life has too little games.
- My sister is annoying. She copies whatever I say. She doesn’t flush the toilet and I have to do it anyway.
- My brother is so annoying. He copies whatever I say. He tries to be funny. He is not funny in any way. My brother is crazy.
- I hate it when I go to school and they don’t play twenty-one pilots. My life is the worst. I have the worst life blues.
- I don’t want to do my chores. I’ve got the lazy lazy blues.
- My sister is really annoying. I’ve got the annoying sister blues.
- Music is too long. I’ve got the long music blues. I love my music teacher. She is super, duper cool.
- My little brother drives me crazy. He drives me crazy all day long.
- I cannot control myself. I cannot control myself sometimes. I cannot control myself. I cannot control myself sometimes. I like to go crazy. I can’t control myself sometimes.
- My brother drives me crazy. He drives me crazy day and night.
- I don’t get enough french fries. I just don’t get enough french fries.
- I’ve been waiting in line for pizza. I’ve been waiting in line for pizza all day long.
- My brother is an annoying teenager. He’s super annoying all day long.
- My friend's big brother is annoying. I’m just telling you the truth.
- My sister is so annoying. You don’t want her in your group.
- Littering is annoying. I hate litter all day long.
- My sister is crazy. That girl is crazy as they come.
- My sister stole my candy from the homecoming parade.
- I don’t like it when my sister acts like she’s a cartoon.
- My sister is so mean. Even monsters are afraid.
- People leave their pencils all over the floor at dismissal time.
Improvisation
Students began improvising on drums as others played rhythmic patterns as a foundation for the improvisation. Students played multiple patterns on the drums to create a polyrhythmic foundation for the improvisation of small groups.
Part Three
Creating collaboratively on Water Blues Pieces
During the third part of the expedition, students worked on singing in harmony during the refrain of Water is Life. Students completed a final draft of their blues song inspired by their learning during the expedition. Students sang their blues pieces for one another. Have your student log into google slides to view his/her blues song lyrics.
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Students collaborated for a performance to unveil the art installed near the creek. Student created rhythms and movement were used to tell about what they had learned during the expedition. Students sang as they led parents to see the installation and students ended their performance with Water is Life.