August House
Anansi And Turtle Go To Dinner
That tricky Anansi! Join him and Turtle in the story Anansi and Turtle Go to Dinner by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk, based on the African folktale. Kids answer comprehension questions and sing songs about spiders before creating spider...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Folklore in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
Learners define folklore, folk groups, tradition, and oral narrative. They identify traditional elements in Their Eyes Were Watching God Analyze and understand the role of traditional folkways and folk speech in the overall literary...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A “New English” in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”: A Common Core Exemplar
To examine the “New English” Chinua Achebe uses in Things Fall Apart, readers complete a series of worksheets that ask them to examine similes, proverbs, and African folktales contained in the novel. Individuals explain the meaning...
Curated OER
Myth, Legend and Folklore
Students examine the role of myths and folklore in the Native American culture. They listen to examples of oral history and write their own. They share their story with the class.
August House
Anansi and the Tug o' War
Combine art, math, language arts, drama, and delicious Jell-o with a instructional activity based on the African folktale Anansi and the Tug o' War. Kids make predictions and discuss plot points of the story before joining in...
August House
Anansi Goes to Lunch - Kindergarten
Greed is the theme of the West African folktale, Anansi Goes to Lunch and this multidisciplinary collection of lessons. First, scholars listen to a read aloud and participate in a grand conversation about the book's key details and...
August House
Anansi Goes to Lunch - Pre-Kindergarten
In a multidisciplinary lesson plan, you will focus your instruction around the West African folktale, Anansi Goes to Lunch by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk while your little learners sing songs, play games, participate in a grand...
Curated OER
African-American Folktales
Students are introduced to the characteristics of folktales and their purpose. As a class, they listen to a folktale, answer questions about the characters and share which part they enjoyed the best. In groups, they compare and...
Curated OER
Comparing African, American, and European Folktales
Students find compare an African, Native American, and European folktale. In this folktale lesson plan, students listen to three different folktales before finding the similarities and differences in them. They complete a worksheet of...
Curated OER
A Bird's Eye View of the Caribbean: Art, Folklore, and Music
Students examine the Caribbean in terms of its music, art, and folklore. As a class, they listen to a folktale and discuss the difference between telling a story and reading a story. In groups, they write their own folktale and share...
Curated OER
Printing and Publishing
Explore African literature and artwork in a multicultural literacy and art lesson. Begin with a read aloud of Tiger and the Big Wind: A Tale from Africa, and afterward, have kids retell the main events in the story. They...
Curated OER
A Moroccan Fairy Tale vs. European Folk/Fairy Tale
Second graders describe similarities and differences between The Girl Who Lived with the Gazelles, an African folk tale from Morocco, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves on a class chart.
Curated OER
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
Young scholars appreciate African folktales, make "connections" between geography and literature, and research facts about Africa's animals and present findings through art and writing.
Weekly Story Book
Folk Tales and Fables
Pages and pages of engaging activities, worksheets, and writing projects on teaching folktales and fables await you! You don't want to miss this incredible resource that not only includes a wide range of topics and graphic...
Curated OER
Identifying Characteristics - Anansi, The Spider
Learners identify character traits in African folklore by creating a character web of Anansi the Spider. In this character web lesson, students watch a video featuring a storyteller who tells a Pourquoi story about Anansi the Spider....
Curated OER
The Clever Monkey Rides Again
Students explore a West African folktale. In this folktale lesson, students read the book The Clever Monkey Rides Again and discuss the trickster characters from the tale. Students participate in a discussion about the folktale and...
Curated OER
Introduction to African Folklore
Young scholars are read "Anansi the Spider" to begin their discussion on continents. Using a map, they locate the continent of Africa and the country of Ghana. They discover who the Ashanti people are and view examples of their artwork....
Curated OER
Cinderella in Africa
Explore African folk tales! After reading the African folk tale "Mufaro's Beautiful daughters" and the American version of "Cinderella," youngsters list differences and similarities between the two. Draw a T-chart on the board, and hold...
Curated OER
Transforming Anansi Folktales Into Storyboards
Students work in small groups to illustrate a story board of a folktale. They develop the meaning of a trickster as a humor device in folktales by listening to several about Leprechauns and the Coyote of Native American tales. They then...
Curated OER
Literature Overview of African Folktales
Students play a game of tug-of-war, participate in a discussion about the story, discuss the phrase "bigger doesn't mean better." , and illustrate a scene from the story.
Curated OER
Sun and Moon Folktale
Students become familiar with characteristics of folktales by reading or listening to African folktale that explains why sun and moon live in the sky. Students then create their own folktales about the sun and moon or another aspect of...
Curated OER
From Remus to Rap: A History in Theory and Practice of the African-American Storytelling Tradition
Students examine the specific form and function of tall tales and toasts.
They discover the importance of performance in the telling of a story and the importance of rhythm in the telling of toasts. They create stories of their own, in...
Curated OER
Comparing African, American, and European Folktales
Students listen to John Steptoe's story, "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters," and then identify similarities and differences between an African, a Native American, and a European folktale.
Curated OER
"Owl" A Haitian Folk Tale
Eighth graders read and discuss the Haitian folktale, "Owl." They compare it to the story, "Brer Possum's Dilemma," using a Venn diagram to show how they are different and alike. In groups, they retell the story in a skit format.