Starting on Day One, students choose to help a local food bank or organization that feeds the poor in the community. The students make a plan for helping and carry out their plan.

Optional Culmination: Display the seven principles of Kwanzaa along with explanations and examples on a school bulletin board. The goal of the bulletin board would be to encourage the other school community members to apply the principles. Or hold a Karamu feast and invite another class, parents or senior citizens. At the feast, students will demonstrate their projects and music, and teach what they have learned.

Anticipatory Set:

Write “opportunity costs” on the board. Tell the students that being part of a community sometimes requires selflessness and giving up opportunities for oneself. Ask the students to recall times when they felt they had been selfless and given up opportunities for the good of a larger group. Discuss how that feels and what good comes of it for the group and the individual. Remind the students that one of the goals of Kwanzaa is to enrich the African American community. The principles of Kwanzaa remind people to be selfless and make choices for the good of the whole community.

• Play African drum music while you review the first three principles of Kwanzaa learned in the last lesson. 1.) Ask students to join hands and slowly walk around the circle while chanting “umoja” (oo-MOW-jah). 2.) Sit in a circle and fold your legs. Clap the rhythm of “concentration” while chanting “kujichagulia” (koo-jee-chah-GOO-lee-ah). Concentration: hit your lap with both hands, clap your hands, snap on right hand and then snap on left hand. 3.) Pass out the index cards with the letters in the word u-ji-ma. Tell the children to arrange themselves in groups of three to spell the word ujima. When they have it spelled, they start chanting it (oo-gee-mah).

• Write the word “Ujamaa” on the board. Tell the students that today’s principle is ujamaa (oo-JA-mah - “cooperative economics”). Tell the students that you will say Habari Gani (What is the news?) and you want them to respond by saying “ujamaa.”

• Tell students that they may “light” the black candle of the kinara. This is the candle representing ujamaa.

• Read aloud to students about ujamaa in one or more of the books about Kwanzaa, such as Kwanzaa Fun or Seven Candles of Kwanzaa. (See Bibliographical References.) Ask the students to tell what ujamaa means (cooperative economics—working together to meet financial needs).

• Tell the students that there are families in your own community that don’t have enough money to buy food. Share information about organizations that help them get food. Discuss ways that they as a class can give to one of these organizations. Work together to form a plan and carry it out (canned-food drive, work in soup kitchen, raise money, etc.). Please be sensitive about the children in the class who may benefit from these services. This experiential component may take several lesson periods.

• During this time, ask the students to analyze the opportunity costs to themselves for participating in this project.

• At the end of Day One, play African drum/chant music and allow students to create free movement as they chant the vocabulary words learned (Kwanzaa, mishumaa, kinara, umoja, kujichagulia, ujima and ujamaa).

Day Two:

• Write the word “Nia” on the board. Tell the students that today’s principle is ujamaa (NEE-ah – “purpose”). Tell the students that you will say Habari Gani (What is the news?) and you want them to respond by saying “nia.”

• Tell students that they may “light” the first red candle of the kinara. This is the candle representing nia.

• Read aloud to students about nia in one or more of the books about Kwanzaa, such as Kwanzaa Fun or Seven Candles of Kwanzaa. (See Bibliographical References.) Ask the students to tell what nia means (purpose—having personal goals that are beneficial to others).

• Each student will develop a written purpose and put it on a scroll. A purpose isn’t a private goal such as keeping my room clean. Rather it is something that benefits others. A purpose may be something like the following statement: I will be kind to everyone and invite a different person to play at least once a week. Demonstrate how to make a scroll following the directions in Kwanzaa Fun by Linda Robertson. See Bibliographical References.

• At the end of Day Two, play African drum/chant music and allow students to create free movement as they chant the vocabulary words learned (Kwanzaa, mishumaa, kinara, umoja, kujichagulia, ujima, ujamaa, and nia). Encourage the students to work this free movement into more structured movement where each word has a designated movement or action that hints at its meaning. To indicate which word they should be chanting, hold up the project completed for that word.

Day Three:

• Write the word “Kuumba” on the board. Tell the students that today’s principle is kuumba (koo-OOM-bah – “creativity”). Tell the students that you will say Habari Gani (What is the news?) and you want them to respond by saying “kuumba.”

• Tell students that they may “light” the second red candle of the kinara. This is the candle representing kuumba.

• Read aloud to students about kuumba in one or more of the books about Kwanzaa, such as Kwanzaa Fun or Seven Candles of Kwanzaa. (See Bibliographical References.) Ask the students to tell what kuumba means (creativity).

• Discuss what art and creativity do for a community. Choose an art project for the students to complete using their creativity and knowledge of Kwanzaa. Suggestions: Make a traditional woven mat for the feast table in red, green and black. Or make African trade bead bracelets from Kwanzaa Fun by Linda Robertson (see Bibliographical References). Or cook and decorate some traditional Kwanzaa foods.

• At the end of Day Three, play African drum/chant music and allow students to move to the music as they chant the vocabulary words learned (Kwanzaa, mishumaa, kinara, umoja, kujichagulia, ujima, ujamaa, nia, and kuumba).

Day Four:

• Write the word “Imani” on the board. Tell the students that today’s principle is imani (ee-MAH-nee – “faith”). Tell the students that you will say Habari Gani (What is the news?) and you want them to respond by saying “imani.”

• Tell students that they may “light” the third red candle of the kinara. This is the candle representing imani.

• Read aloud to students about imani in one or more of the books about Kwanzaa, such as Kwanzaa Fun or Seven Candles of Kwanzaa. (See Bibliographical References.) Ask the students to tell what imani means (faith).

• Divide the class into groups of two students. Give each group a blindfold. While one student of the pair is blindfolded, the other student will guide him or her to a designated destination using words such as right, left, straight and backward. After they reach their destination, the partners switch roles. Give them a new destination. Discuss how well the activity worked. What was difficult and what was easy? Talk about the principle of trust or faith that your partner will keep you safe and help you succeed.

• Discuss why trust is an important part of working in a group. How does trust build unity? Why would trust, or faith, be an important principle in the Kwanzaa celebration? Is trust an important part of helping others? Why?

• At the end of Day Three, play African drum/chant music and allow students to move to the music as they chant the vocabulary words learned (Kwanzaa, mishumaa, kinara, umoja, kujichagulia, ujima, ujamaa, nia, kuumba and imani).

• Interactive Parent / Student Homework:
  Students talk with their families about the principles learned from the first three days of Kwanzaa. (See Attachment One: Kwanzaa Principles.)

• Ford, Juwanda. K is for Kwanzaa. Cartwheel Books, 1997. ISBN: 0590922009

• Hoyt-Goldsmith, Diane. Celebrating Kwanzaa. Holiday House, 1994. ISBN: 0823411303

• Johnson, Dolores. The Children’s Book of Kwanzaa: A Guide to Celebrate the Holiday. Aladdin Paperbacks, 1997. ISBN: 0689815565

• Pinkney, Andrea Davis. Seven Candles of Kwanzaa. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1993. ISBN: 0803712928

• Robertson, Linda. Kwanzaa Fun. Houghton Mifflin Co., 2003. ISBN: 0753456850

• Jay, Stephen. “Africa: Drum, Chant, and Instrumental Music.” Elektra Records. 9720732

• Various Artists. “All the Best from Africa: 20 Tribal Songs.” Madacy Records. ASIN: B000000K45

• Kid’s Domain. Kwanzaa Clip art http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/kwanzaa/ January 7, 2004

• Sistah Space. Order of events for Karamu. January 12, 2004  No longer available.