Singing with Meaning: What the Song Is About
Primary 1 · Creative Arts
Singing with Meaning: What the Song Is About
Lesson 4 of 8
12 min
Let's begin
It is Umuganura at Ishimwe's home. The new food is cooked and laid on the mat.
Before anybody eats, his grandmother starts a song. Everybody joins in.
Today you will learn how a day chooses its song.
Some days are not like other days.
Umuganura is the harvest day. Families thank the land and share the new food.
Liberation Day is a big day for the whole country.
The day school closes is a big day for you and your friends.
Umuganda morning is the day your whole umudugudu works together.
They sing, and somebody beats a drum.
Some people dance while the others sing.
They eat together, often from one big pot.
They bring gifts and they say kind words.
A thank-you day gets a thank-you song.
A welcome day gets a welcome song.
A working day gets a song that keeps everybody going.
Worked example
It is Umuganura and the food is on the mat.
Step 1 Ask what the day is for. It is for thanking the land.
Step 2 Look at your songs. A counting song? No. A school song? No.
Step 3 Choose the song that says thank you for the food. That one fits the day.
Mugisha sings his school song at the harvest meal.
It is a good song. It is the wrong day for it.
Ask first: what is this day for? Then choose.
Tip
The day chooses the song
Ask what the day is for, then pick the song that says the same thing.
A harvest day wants thank you. A closing day wants goodbye and well done.
Do each one, then tap Show answer to check.
What is Umuganura?
Answer: the harvest day, when families thank the land and share the new food.
Name three things people do on a big day.
Answer: sing, dance, beat a drum, eat together, bring gifts. Any three.
It is the last day of the school term. Which song fits better: a goodbye song or a song about washing hands?
Answer: the goodbye song. The day is about leaving your friends for the holiday.
Keza sings a harvest song on umuganda morning. Does it fit?
Answer: not really. Umuganda is about working together, so choose a working song.
Think of one big day in your own family. What would its song say?
Answer: any true sentence. Start it with: this song says that ...
What you learned today
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