Submitted by Tina Morgan, Mississippi

Idea posted November 22, 2002

This is one I'm doing this week with my 5th graders, adapted from directions from either Cat Paws or Any Turkey Can Tango. We've done it with the recording of "Legend of the Bluebonnets," which I've made sure to tell my students is not a "true" Native American song, but tells a Native American legend in the NA style.

This is the pattern:

Hit flip 4 times

Left right front back

High low hit hit pass

This is the way I teach it:

Hit Hit rest - hit stick on floor 2 times, then rest 2 beats

Hit Hit pass - hit stick on floor 2 times, lay it on the floor of the person to your right (pass)

Add this step:

High low hit hit pass - hold stick high (2 beats), hold stick low (2 beats), hit hit pass

Next:

Hit stick to left (in front) then to right, Hit directly in front then hit behind

Try this:

Left right front back

High low hit hit pass

Practice flipping stick - only flip one time. Then try hitting floor one time, then flipping stick. Keep trying hit flip part. (Hit rest flip rest)

Complete pattern:

Hit flip - hit flip - hit flip - hit flip

Left right front back high low hit hit flip