Grade Level: Fifth Grade / Teacher: Rachel Previs
State Standards:
Geography Standards:
· WJC 5.4 Describe some physical and human characteristics of places.
o Focus questions: What are some cultural characteristics found among the people of Africa: Development of many art forms, including cloth weavings, woodcarvings, metal jewelry, and pottery--storytelling is a special art form passed down through generations
English Standards:
· 5.2 The student will use effective nonverbal communication skills.
o Use gestures to support, accentuate and dramatize verbal message.
o Use facial expressions to support and dramatize verbal message.
o Use posture appropriate for communication setting. / School: DJ Montague Elementary
Objectives: Using online articles, the students will analyze information about Ghana geography, the Ashanti people, and African storytelling to prepare for and demonstrate an Anansi folklore that contains at least 3 storytelling criteria.
Exploratory Introduction
Materials/Time Needed: A Story, A Story audio clip from http://www.thinkport.org/classroom/onlineclips/languageartsclips.tp, laptop, speakers (because story is very quiet, even when volume is up high), Internet connection, paper, pencil (Play clip from 0:00-3:45)
(Day 1: 15 minutes) This part of the lesson will take place as a whole group. I will select student volunteers to share their responses.
Procedures / Assessments
I will begin the lesson by telling students that we are going to hear a folktale entitled “A Story, A Story.” I will play the excerpt on my computer and ask students to take notes while they listen. The excerpt will begin at 0:00 and will end at 3:45. Following the brief excerpt, I will ask students what their observations were. Were they able to create a mental image? Did they hear anything other than the narrator’s voice? How did the narrator’s voice make the story come alive? Why do you think storytelling used to be popular among African tribes? Once the students have concluded that storytelling is a means for communication and expression, I will tell students that storytelling used to be the primary form of entertainment among African tribes, especially in a country called Ghana. I will tell students that we are going to learn more about how these people used storytelling, but first we are going to learn more about the geography of Ghana and the culture of the Ashanti people. I will tell students that we will use a WebQuest to explore this information. / The class discussion of storytelling will serve as an informal, pre-assessment of students’ knowledge of the uses and purposes of storytelling in the African culture.
Lesson Development
Materials/Time Needed: 24 laptops, projector, WebQuest URL: http://www.webquest.org/questgarden/lessons/34215-061106132510/
(saved under student folders) /
(Day 1: 45 minutes) This part of the lesson will take place with students sitting at their desks. Each student will have his or her own laptop. The students will begin the WebQuest in cooperative groups and work together to complete the worksheet, and I will walk around the room to assess student progress. (Day 2: 45 minutes) Upon completion of the worksheet, they will be work in the same groups on their storytelling task. The performance of the storytelling task will take place in the front of the room.
Procedures / Assessments
(Day 1) I will show students how to open the WebQuest address that is saved under their student folders on the H: drive. I will go over the introduction aloud with the students. I will help them understand that this WebQuest requires that they pretend they are all temporary members of an Ashanti tribe. In order to become a member of the tribe, they must work as a group to explore Ghana, the culture of the Ashanti people, and the use of storytelling among these people. In order to become a full-time member of the Ashanti tribe, the students must work with a group and perform a story for the class. The students will use the information gained in the WebQuest to accomplish their mission. I will direct students to print out the worksheet and to follow the systematic steps of the WebQuest as a group. The students will first read an article to explore the geography of Africa. They will then read two articles, one about the variety of people in Ghana, and the second article specifically about the Ashanti people. The students will then read an excerpt about the uses and importance of storytelling. To help prepare for their presentation of the folktale to the class, they will watch 5 clips on storytelling techniques, and they will read from the Handbook for Storytellers. They will then fill out their worksheet. To narrow the category of folklore, the students will be directed to a variety of information about Anansi folktales. They will first read a short description of Anansi and take a brief quiz to check their own understanding of Anansi as a character in African folklore. They will then read at least three Anansi folktales. As a group, the students will choose a folktale that they would like to work on. (End of Day 1, Begin Day 2) The students will then have the opportunity to plan for their presentation of the story. After students have prepared and practiced their story, groups will be chosen to present the story to the rest of the class. After all groups have gone, the students will have the opportunity to complete a group evaluation to assess the performance of their individual group. The students will vote to determine which groups will be permanently initiated into the Ashanti tribe based on their storytelling initiation performance. To vote in favor of a group, students will use a closed ballot system. The initiated groups will be announced the following school day. After the voting, the students will have a discussion with their group about storytelling, their group’s performance, and storytelling as a cultural tradition. / The worksheet will serve as a formal assessment of student comprehension, and 100% accuracy must be obtained before students can begin working on preparing their folktale.
The storytelling rubric (see attached) will be used as a formal assessment of student mastery of the storytelling art form.
The following individual evaluation of the group will serve as a formal assessment that will be added to the overall project grade, and it will serve as a summative assessment of how the students liked or disliked the nature of the activity.
Circle one: 1 (strongly disagree) 2 (disagree) 3 (neutral) 4 (agree) 5 (strongly agree)
I contributed to my groups project: 1 2 3 4 5
My group worked well together: 1 2 3 4 5
My group was on task: 1 2 3 45
Comments: ______
______
______
Lesson Expansion
Materials/Time Needed: Writing prompt (Day 2: 15 minutes)
Students will be assigned an individual writing prompt to be completed at their own desks. I will read the prompt to students and answer any questions about the prompt. I will then hand the prompt to students, and I will walk around the room to assess progress.
Procedures / Assessments
I will hand students a writing prompt activity. The students will be given the following task: Compare and contrast methods of entertainment in your life, and the storytelling used by the Ashanti people. Write about the strengths and weakness of both, and how it impacts the culture. Draw a picture below to illustrate how information if communicated in your culture and how information was communicated among the Ashanti people. / The following rubric will be used to grade this assignment:
Check: two pictures depicting different cultures are evident and strengths and weaknesses are clearly identified for both cultures
X (Redo assignment): less than two pictures depicting different cultures are evident and strengths and weakness are not clearly identified for both cultures.
Background: This lesson uses indirect instruction and cooperative groups to explore the geography of Ghana and the human characteristics of the Ashanti people who lived there. This lesson incorporates both geography and English standards because students are learning the art of storytelling, which was a key feature of the Ashanti civilization, but it also can be used to cover English SOL objectives.
Important Terms (from The Microsoft Word Encarta Dictionary*)
· Ashantià member of Ghanaian people*
· Storytellingà the telling or writing of stories*
References
A Story, A Story from:
Maryland Public Television and John Hopkins University Center for Technology in Education. (2006). Language art clips online. Retrieved November 9, 2006 from http://www.thinkport.org/classroom/onlineclips/languageartsclips.tp
Article about Ghana :
Interknowledge Corp. (1996-2005). Exploring Ghana . Retrieved November6, 2006,fromhttp://www.geographia.com/ghana/
Diverse groups of people:
Global Volunteers (2002-2005). The people of Ghana : Dignified and diverse. RetrievedNovember 6, 2006, from
http://www.globalvolunteers.org/1main/ghana/ghanapeople.htm
Ashanti people:
West, A. (1996-2006). African people and culture. Retrieved November 6, 2006 fromhttp://africaguide.com/culture/tribes/ashanti.htm
Importance and purposes of storytelling:
National Storytelling Association. (1997). What is storytelling? Retrieved November 6, 2006, from http://www.eldrbarry.net/roos/st_defn.htm
Clips 60-64
Scheub, H. (2005). Intro to African storytelling. Retrieved November 6, 2006, from University of Wisconsin , African Languages and Literature Department Website:http://streaming.wisconsin.edu/showcase/showcase_oralTraditions.html
Handbook for Storytellers
Ramsey, J. (n.d.) Handbook for storytelling. Retrieved November 6, 2006, from http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/storyhandbook.htm
Anansi
Lindermans, M. F. (1999). Anansi. Retrieved November 6, 2006, from http://wwwpantheon.org/articles/a/anansi.html
Quiz
Kidspoint. (n.d.) Anansi the spider stories: Tales from the Ashanti. Retrieved November 6, 2006 from http://www.kidspoint.org/quiz.asp?quiz_id=54
Anansi & Turtle, Anansi Tries to Steal All the Wisdom in the World, and Anansi & Firefly
Kids Zone. (n.d.). Myths and fables from around the world. Retrieved November 6, 2006,from http://www.afro.com/children/myths/myths.html
Rubric obtained from:
Rubistar. (2006).Retrieved November 6, 2006, from University of Kansas , ALTECWebsite: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
This WebQuet was used as a referenceand for links:
Gilbert, T. (n.d.) Anansi the spider: Tales from the Ashanti . Retrieved November 6, 2006from http://www.manteno.k12.il.us/webquest/elementary/LanguageArts/Anasi/anansita skpagehtml
Used as a reference WebQuest and for links:
Educational Technology and Portal Services. (2003-2006). Amazing Africa WebQuest.Retrieved November 6, 2006 from http://www.instantprojects.org/webquest/process.php?AuthorID=758
The idea to use cooperative learning activities to recreate Ashanti stories was adapted from:
Boehm, Armstrong, Hunkins (n.d.) Cooperative learning activities: Geography. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill.