Land of the Silver Birch

Lyrics

Land of the silver birch,
Home of the beaver,
Where still the mighty moose wanders at will.
Blue lake and rocky shore,
I will return once more.
Boom di dee boom boom, Boom di dee boom boom,
Boom di dee boom boom boom.

Lesson Ideas

I think it is so important to play and sing Native American songs! Where I live, students don’t see Native Americans regularly, so many of them think there are no more Native Americans in the USA! We must remind them of their rich heritage. I play a recording of traditional Native American music. We name the instruments we hear (usually drum and shakers) and the voices: men. This is a good song to play – and eventually show the video. Some Native Americans are dressed in native clothing, and others in street clothes. It’s helpful to tell the students (if they don’t know any Native Americans personally) that Native Americans look just like we do!

In the 2nd grade world music unit, I teach:

Abiyoyo – South Africa
Mama Paquita – Brazil
Bate Bate – Mexico
Land of the Silver Birch – Native American (USA)

We compare and contrast the songs by language, timbre, tempo, melody, mood, etc. I ask the students to tell a partner which is his/her favorite song and why. (They are encouraged to use some of the words we previously discussed: high, low, fast, slow, names of instruments, type of voice used: man, woman, child.)