Sixth grade choir students got a rare treat today. Thanks to a friend of choir teacher Ms. Carla Wisler’s, students studying world music were able to get a literal, “hands on” lesson in Swahili.
All three of Ms. Wisler’s classes have been learning about the language of Swahili and its use by over 50 million people world wide. Students welcomed the classroom visitors from Burundi, Africa by singing the Swahili song “Dansi Na Kuimba,” which means "Dance while the music sings to you." Visitor Sandrine Horien, Nijimbere Nadia and other special guests then demonstrated the song’s meaning by playing the drums so the students could feel and dance to the music.
Mrs. Horien and her friends also showed the students how to play the drums using buckets. Choir students got a chance to learn about what it’s like to be a middle school student in Africa by asking about the food, sports, music, and technology in countries like Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya.
With today’s lesson, Mrs. Wisler’s hope was for the students to “take away a sense of how music unites cultures, how we express emotions through music even when we don’t know the words, and how there is simply joy in making music together.”
Please enjoy the photo galley below of today’s visit. To download high resolution jpg files from the photo gallery below, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. We are happy to provide this service to you, free of charge!
