Southaven Intermediate 4th Grade Class
Presents
Mississippi My Home
Friday, March 31, 2017
10:20-10:55 a.m. Program #1: Coker, Gibson, Jenkins, Lindsey, Sloan, Stiles, Villanueva, Wade
1:30-2:05 p.m. Program #2: Daniels, Hatley, Howard, Porter, Sparrenberger Stevens, Stubblefield, Temple
Costumes: White shirt and blue jeans (unless the student has an auditioned part)
donations: Suggested donation $1.
Practice: Students will be given a CD and packet with lyrics to practice with at home.
Information: www.desotocountyschools.org/sis.
Go to the Teacher Website of Alyssa J. Pendergrast.
Auditioned Parts:
Parents will receive a letter informing them if their child got an auditioned part in the program.
For questions or concerns, please contact Alyssa J. Pendergrast at or 662-253-0123 ext. 413.
Auditioned Parts/Costumes
Costumes provide by the school are listed below. Pieces parents need to provide are in bold.
Costumes can be made as simple or elaborate as you wish.
NARRATOR suit for a boy, nice dress for a girl
(will provide a notebook w/script)
INDIAN BOYS-CHANT moccasins, drum,
INDIAN GILRS-SOLOS (3) moccasins, brown panty hose, feathers, dress, headband
CHIEF PHYLIS ANDERSON Indian headdress, modern clothes
EXPLORERS (4)
HERNANDO DE SOTO white shirt & blue jeans, helmet, vest, sword
FATHER JACQUE MARQUETTE short sleeve shirt & dark/brown pants, brown gown, belt, beard LOUIS JOLLIET dark pants/khakis, dark colored shirt, fur cap, beard
ROBERT CAVALIER DE LA SALLE vest, white button down shirt, cape(optional), moustache, renaissance hat
(map, old guns, limb for walking stick, old telescope)
TEACHER long skirt, heels, spectacles, books, ruler, etc.
BLUES SPEAKERS blue shirts or accessories, blue jeans, hat, guitar
B.B. KING blue shirt, guitar
BLUES DANCERS (6-8) black hat, white gloves, black shirt
COUNTRY SPEAKERS boots, cowboy hat, button down shirt
JIMMY ROGERS railroad hat, or cowboy hat, plaid or stripe shirt, guitar
GOSPEL SOLOISTS choir robe, tambourine
ELVIS black shoes, white costume, wig, glasses, guitar
DANCERS (6-8) poodle skirt, scarf, white button-down shirt, shoes & white socks
ROCK ‘N ROLL SPEAKER mullet, sunglasses
ROCK ‘N ROLL SINGER shades, button down shirt
1. Look Around
Choir: Look around Mississippi,
Look and you will see
All the treasures and the beauty
That’s here for you and me.
Rolling hills and the Delta land,
Lakes, rivers, and gulf shore sand,
What a place to live, this is my home
Mississippi sing your song.
Blossoms on magnolias, mocking-birds in flight.
Tall and stately pine trees, cotton fields so white.
Narrator 1 (boy): Home to us is Mississippi—a place of beauty and great historical interest!
Narrator 2 (girl): Over the years, Mississippi has been home to many different people. The total of their lives and heritage has contributed to our culture.
Narrator 1 (boy): Today we are going to take a look around our state and recall some of the people and events that have contributed to its uniqueness.
Narrator 2 (girl): The Indians discovered a great body of water and called it Mississippi. That is where the state got its name. The spelling changed many times and the final version became…
2. MIS-SIS-SIPPI
M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I
Mississippi, Mississippi,
M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I
Mississippi, Mississippi,
M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I
M-I crooked letter-crooked letter I
Crooked letter crooked letter I
Hump back hump back I.
NARRATOR (boy): There are many cities & towns in Mississippi with Indian names.
NARRATOR (girl): Let’s find out their meaning!
NARRATOR (boy): What does Mississippi mean?
INDIAN 1: Great Water.
NARRATOR (girl): What does Pascagoula mean?
INDIAN 2: Bread people.
NARRATOR (boy): What does Ittawamba mean?
INDIAN 1: Wooden bench.
NARRATOR (girl): How about Tupelo?
INDIAN 2: Make a noise.
3. INDIAN CHANT
INDIAN MAIDEN 1: The land that was to become Mississippi was inhabited by the Indians long before the explorers and settlers came.
INDIAN MAIDEN 2: There were three large and powerful tribes—the Choctaws in the middle, the Chickasaws to the north and the Natchez to the south.
INDIAN MAIDEN 3: We feel that we contributed to the culture and history of Mississippi because we were a part of the land long before you.
4. Many Moons Ago
Choir: Ah…….., Ah……
Solo 1: Many moons ago we lived here on this sacred ground.
The white man came and conquered, and now we can’t be found.
Solo 2: They moved our people to the West, a few of us remain,
to carry on our heritage, uphold our tribal name.
Solo 3: Many moons ago we lived here, it was our very own. We lost our freedom and our land.
They took away our home.
Choir: oo…………………………………oo………………..
NARRATOR 1 (boy): Today there is only one Indian reservation in Mississippi, the Choctaw reservation near Philadephia.
NARRATOR (girl): We’d like for you to meet their current Chief, Chief Phyllis Anderson.
(Chief Anderson enters)
CHOCTAW CHIEF: Our Choctaw tribe received Federal recognition in 1945. Our tribe of 10,000 people lives on a 35,000 acre reservation. We live in comfortable homes like you with our own system of transportation. We have a shopping center, hospital, retirement home, museum, schools, and law enforcement.
(Chief Exits)
EXPLORER (De Soto): Hi ho! Hi ho!
NARRATOR 2 (girl): I think I hear the Explorers coming.
(Explorers at mic)
5. Explorers
Explorers and Choir: Hi ho, Hi ho, Hi ho Hi ho Hi ho.
Hi ho, Hi ho, Exploring we did go.
Explorers: We came from near and far, to explore the land
Through the wilderness and o’er the plain.
With danger yet intrigue, we crossed the new terrain.
By foot, on horse and riverboat we came.
Choir: Hi ho the merry o look away, look away.
Searching for a world unknown they loved it everyday.
They came from near and far, to explore the land
Through the wilderness and o’er the plain.
With danger yet intrigue, they crossed the new terrain.
By foot on horse and riverboat they came.
Explorers & Choir: Hi ho, Hi ho, Hi ho Hi ho Hi ho. Hi ho…., Hi ho…..
De Soto: I am Hernando de Soto from Spain. I led an expedition and discovered the Mississippi River on May 5, 1541.
Marquette: I am Father Jacque Marquette and this is my fellow explorer Louis Jolliet. We are Frenchmen from Canada.
Joliet: I am Louis Jolliet. We explored the Mississippi river as far south as Rosedale. We turned back after learning there were Spaniards and unfriendly Indians further south.
La Salle: Robert Cavalier de La Salle is my name. In 1682 we sailed the Mississippi River all the way to its mouth and claimed some of the land for France. (Explorers exit)
Narrator 1: The land was dominated by the Spanish, the French, and the English, until 1798 when Mississippi was organized as an American territory.
Narrator 2: Mississippi became the 20th state, December 10, 1817. In January of 1861, it became the second state to secede from the Union. Jefferson Davis was President of the Confederacy at the time.
Narrator 1: After the fall of the confederacy, Mississippi was readmitted to the Union in 1870.
Teacher: As a teacher, I know that Mississippi continues to improve its education system. After the Civil War the recovery was slow, but Mississippi has made great strides in agriculture, business, industry, and education.
Blues Speaker #1: As early as the American Civil War, white soldiers noted a different music created by black soldiers – songs about marching and other toils of war.
Blues Speaker #2: The blues were born in the Mississippi Delta, an elaboration on work chants, “sorrow” slave songs, and the lyrical and haunting “field hollers.”
Narrator #2: Now here from the Mississippi Delta, the King of the Blues…B. B. King!
6. The Blues
B.B. King Solo:
Oh, when you’re down and feelin’ sad; oh, when you’re low and feelin’ bad;
Oh, when you feel so crummy you don’t know what to do;
if crummy was a color that color would be blue; here’s what you do:
You sing the blues, the blues, the blues.
Choir: (blues dancers come downstage)
(like crying) Wah wah wah. Boo hoo hoo.
Woe is me. Woe is you.
Whimper whimper. Sigh sigh sigh.
Sniffle sniffle. Cry cry cry.
Choir & B.B. King:
Oh, when you’re down and feelin’ sad; oh, when you’re low and feelin’ bad;
Oh, when you feel so crummy you don’t know what to do;
if crummy was a color that color would be blue;
Here’s what you do:
You sing the blues, the blues, the blues.
Here’s what you do:
You sing the blues, the blues, the blues.
Here’s what you do!
You sing the blues. You sing the blues….(jazz hands)
Country Speaker #1: Music that told the story of the poor folk who lived in Mississippi and worked on the railroad become known as country music.
Country Speaker #2: Country music solidified in the late 1920s with Jimmy Rodgers who started what was known as the “blue Yodel”.
Narrator 1: Ladies and gentlemen. From Meridian, Mississippi, the Father of Country Music, Mr. Jimmy Rodgers! (Jimmy Rodgers enters with guitar)
7. Miss the Mississippi
Jimmy Rodgers Solo:
` I'm growing tired of the big city’s lights
Tired of the glamor and tired of the sights
In all my dreams I am roaming once more
Back to my home on the old river shore
I am sad and weary far away from home
Miss the Mississippi and you
Days are dark and dreary everywhere I roam
Miss the Mississippi and you
Roaming the wide world over
Always alone and blue, blue
Nothing seems to cheer me under heaven's dome
Miss the Mississippi and you
Choir & Jimmy:
Yodel Ay-EE Odel-Ay-EE
Yodel Ay-EE Odel-Ay-EE
Mississippi and You.
(Jimmy Rodgers exits, Gospel singers enters)
Narrator 2: It’s Gospel music time!
(Gospel singers get tambourines) (Choir sways and claps)
8. Down By The Riverside
Gospel Solo 1: Gonna lay (clap) down my sword and shield, Down by the Riverside,
Down by the Riverside, Down by the Riverside.
Gonna lay down my sword and shield, Down by the Riverside,
Gonna study war no more!
Everyone: I ain’t (clap) gonna study war no more, Ain’t gonna study war no more,
ain’t gonna study war no more,
I ain’t gonna study war no more, Ain’t gonna study war no more,
ain’t gonna study war no more.
Gospel Solo 2: Gonna lay (clap) down my burden, Down by the Riverside,
Down by the Riverside, Down by the Riverside.
Gonna lay down my burden, Down by the Riverside,
Gonna study war no more!
Everyone: I ain’t (clap) gonna study war no more, Ain’t gonna study war no more,
ain’t gonna study war no more,
I ain’t gonna study war no more, Ain’t gonna study war no more,
ain’t gonna study war no more.
Gospel Solo 1 &2: Gonna try (clap) on my starry crown, Down by the Riverside,
Down by the Riverside, Down by the Riverside.
Gonna try on my starry crown, Down by the Riverside,
Gonna study war no more!
Everyone: I ain’t (clap) gonna study war no more, Ain’t gonna study war no more,
ain’t gonna study war no more,
I ain’t gonna study war no more, Ain’t gonna study war no more,
ain’t gonna study war no more.
Narrator 2: From the country, gospel, & blues came Rock ‘n Roll and The King!
(Elvis enters carrying a guitar)(50s dancers on floor in front of stage)
9. Hound dog
Elvis: You ain’t nothing but a hound dog,
Crying all the time.
You ain’t nothing but a hound dog,
Crying all the time.
Well you ain’t never caught a rabbit
And you ain’t no friend of mine.
Choir: When they said you was high class.
Well that was just a lie.
When they said you was high class.
Well that was just a lie.
Well you ain’t never caught a rabbit
And you ain’t no friend of mine.
Elvis: Thank you, thank you very much.
(Elvis exits to the bottom of the floor)
Rock ‘n Roll Speaker: After hearing all this music, can you tell me the styles of music that came out of Mississippi?
Rock ‘n Roll Singer: Even better! I’ll sing it for you! “There’s blues, and jazz and rock ‘n roll; gospel hallelujah and country.”
Narrator 1: As you can see, Mississippi has so much of which to be proud. Music from Mississippi has spread all over the world!
Narrator 2: Talk about it-sing about it-be proud to say, “I am a Mississippian.”
10. Finale
Everyone: You ain’t nothing but a hound dog, (Elvis twirls the 50s dancers)
Crying all the time.
You ain’t nothing but a hound dog,
Crying all the time.
Well you ain’t never caught a rabbit
And you ain’t no friend of mine.
When they said you was high class.
Well that was just a lie.
When they said you was high class.
Well that was just a lie.
Well you ain’t never caught a rabbit And you ain’t no friend of mine. (Bows)
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