Curated OER
American Folklore
Students develop an idea about American Folk heroes. Individual slideshows are going to be made by each student to be viewed by their peers. Students also have an opportunity to take part in role play situations from various folklores.
Curated OER
Chinese Shadow Puppet Play
Students experience through role-play the art of shadow puppetry and appreciate the role of oral traditions in Chinese history. They research the origins and history of puppetry as a part of a unit on China. They discover what Chinese...
Curated OER
Tall Tales
Students read tall tales and then write their own tall tales. In this tall tales lesson plan, students read tall tales, write their own, produce plays, and watch videos of their tall tales.
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 - First Grade
Greed is the theme of this collection of multidisciplinary activities. As a class, read The West African folktale, Anansi Goes to Lunch by Bobby Norfolk, and take part in a grand discussion about it's plot and theme. Reinforce the theme...
Curated OER
Her stories: African American folktales, fairy tales, and true tales
Students discuss the illustration's allusion to the myth, Pandora's Box. Students locate instances of folk sayings or expressions that make these tales seem authentic to the reader. Students draw a Venn diagram comparing Catskinella and...
Curated OER
Stories of Hope: Dragonfly and Mosquito
Students identify and interpret the value of the dragonfly as a predator of the mosquito. They create their own folktales using the dragonfly or a creature of their choice to solve the malaria problem or another issue. Students also...
Curated OER
African Myths
Students discover the role of storytelling in the African culture. In this multicultural lesson plan, students discuss the elements of the African myth and record them on the board. Students visit an African folktale website and read...
Curated OER
Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas
You can keep this printable idea sheet and use when you're in a tight spot. It contains cross-curricular ideas that span every subject while relating to the African tale, "Anasazi the Spider." Learners will act, write, move, count, and...
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.
Curated OER
Can You Stretch the Truth?
Students study folk tales. They write a class folk tale and then one of their own using a famous character or known celebrity as their main character. They put on a class play of one of the student's folk tales.
Curated OER
Cuentos
Students revise Spanish mystery stories. They sequence the events from a group's mystery story and suggest revisions for the setting. They revise their stories using the suggestions from classmates and describe characters in folktales....
Walters Art Museum
The Symbolism of Allegorical Art
Introduce learners to allegorical art with four bronze sculptures by Francesco Bertos. After modeling how to recognize bias and allegory in Bertos' Africa, class groups examine the other three sculptures in the series before creating...
Curated OER
Folktales: Uncle Cricket, the Soothsayer Lesson Ideas
Students read the Nicaraguan folktale, "Uncle Cricket, the Soothsayer," prior to participating in various activities. Among the ideas presented here are completing story maps, analyzing characters, summarizing the plot, writing...
Curated OER
Telling Stories Through Creative Drama
Students examine fairy tales. As an introductory activity, students play the statue game. In groups, they write statements that tell the plot of the story. Using props, and without voices, students retell the story by creating...
Curated OER
A Storytelling Festival
Students explore the native cultures of the Americas, to learn some aspects of oral storytelling, and to share their knowledge with others. They, in groups, write a story that should say something important about the culture from which...
Curated OER
Folk Tales for ESL Students
Using the folk tale "The Man, The Boy, and The Donkey" (linked in the lesson) and a SMART board, teachers can help pupils access multiple skills. Reading the story allows learners to create a timeline of the sequence of events based on...
August House
The Stolen Smell
Some smells are better than others! Explore your sense of smell with a series of activities based on the Peruvian folktale, The Stolen Smell. With exercises about phonics, counting, cooking, art, and drama, the lesson is a well-rounded...
University of Northern Iowa
Additional Folklife Information
Use a packet packed with ideas for how to celebrate the traditions of your country, state, community, and pupils's families. Suggestions for how to draw on oral and material traditions, customs, beliefs, music, and stories all find a...
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 webs...
August House
The Hidden Feast
What is a proverb? This is the leading question of this resource. First, explore proverbs and their meanings. Then, read aloud The Hidden Feast: A Folktale from the American South by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss and partake in a grand...
Curated OER
African American Poetry: Family and Traditions
Students are introduced to the elements of African-American poetry. As a class, they are read different types of poems to discover there are different styles of poems and practice rhyming words. They share information on their family...
Curated OER
Our Side of the Story: African Americans Share Their Experiences of Slavery
Seventh graders listen to a variety of folktales sharing experiences of slavery. As a class, they compare and contrast reading a story and telling a story. They participate in a role play activity to discover the journey of a slave and...
Curated OER
Simile Stories
Fourth graders view song lyrics and identify similes in the song text. In this similes lesson, 4th graders define and identify similes on a worksheet. Students write their own similes using various adjectives.