Hukilau Storytelling

Name: Isabelle Tearse, Alyssa Campbell

Grade level for this lesson: 4

I. Academic Content Standards.

5.2 Integrate several art disciplines (dance, music, theatre, or the visual arts) into a well
organized presentation or performance

Prior Learning.
Students have already studied Hawaiian culture and learned how to sing the Hukilau.

II. Unit of Study.

Hawaiian Culture

III. Academic Learning Outcomes.

Students will be able to demonstrate the art discipline of dance by preforming the beginning
The Hukilau.

IV. Implementation.
A. Introduction to the lesson
Yesterday we learned about the Hawaiian culture. Can anyone tell me what song we learned
how to sing yesterday? (Response The Hukilau). The song talked about the Hukilau, who can
remind us what this word means in Hawaiian culture? (Reponse: A way of fishing or a fishing
party). Yes. Yesterday we learned that the song tells a story about a way of fishing that the
Hawaiians invented. Today we are going to learn the begining dance to this song, so that we can
perform it on Friday at the multicultural celebration.
B. Sequence of Activities
1. TSW listen to and sing to The Hukilau.
2. TTW guide the students in remembering the meaning of specific words discussed in the
song. (TTW record their answers on the board)
3. TSW watch the hukilau dance video and pay attention to how the various motion are
repetitive.
4. TSW help move the tables and chairs to the edges of the classroom.
5. TTW put the students into rows and columns so that everyone is able to see her as she
teaches the dance.
6. TTW then walk the students through the beginning (Chorus) of the dance step by step.
7. TTW play the song and lead the students through the portion of the dance that they
learned multiple times.
 8. TTW have the students perform the learned portion of the dance by themselves. (They
will not be expected to perform it perfectly since they just learned it. TTW look to see
who has a sense of the movements and their order)
9. TSW move the desks back to their original positions.

V. Closure.
TTW lead the students through sharing out their favorite movements that they learned and what
vocabulary word they symbolize.

VI. Assessment.
The teacher will know that the students understood the activity if they are able to connect the
dance movements to the specific words in the song and perform the dance movements in order.

VII. Materials.
1. Hukilau Song Videos (Lyrics version and dance version)
2. Vocabulary

Vocabulary:
Hukilau- a way of fishing invented by the Hawaiians or a fishing party that involved large groups of
people and rivalry
Huki- to pull, with a rope
Laulau- wrapped beef, pork, and fish in banana leaves
Kaukau- food
Ama ama- a common mullet fish that is of very high quality
Laie Bay- A bay off the coast of Oahu near Honolulu
Luau-Hawaiian party or feast