Hey Art Teachers!

National Museum of African Art
Teacher Voices:
Hear from area teachers on how they have worked with African art, literature and music.
Saturday, April 1, 10:15 * 1:30
Registration Required, fee: $30
Using African Epics and Poetry to Build Community and Literacy
Lynn Rothberg, social studies teacher at Georgetown Day School and poet Omekongo Dibinga, outline strategies for making the West African epic about Sundiata Keita, the 13th century Mande king and founder of the Mali Empire more accessible to middle and high school students. The workshop includes reading selections from John William Johnson's translation of the Epic of Son-Jara which is accompanied by a study of West African oral traditions, praise songs and proverbs. The final component requires students to choose an ancestor whose life and times they celebrate in a long narrative poem in the style of Mande epic poetry. Workshop participants will receive sample lessons and rubrics for evaluation.

To Register please call 202 633 4646. Send payment to Teacher Workshops, National Museum of African Art, 0708, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012.