AFRICAN FOLK TALES
Grades 4th -12
Objectives
Students will:
- Use the geographic themes of location and place to describe settings and cultures represented in African folktales.
- Identify the type of folktales represented by the stories.
- Recognize and describe character traits that are valued in the African tribal cultures.
- Explain how folktales teach.
Lesson Background
Many cultures in Africa have traditions of oral story telling. Skilled storytellers would memorize folktales and captivate audiences with their stories of adventure. Many African folktales have morals, or lessons, for the young audiences.
Stories from Africa were traditionally passed down by word of mouth. Often they were told by the light of the moon around a village fire after the completion of a long day of work. The stories rarely ended with the words we so often heard as children when our parents told us bedtime stories -- "and they all lived happily ever after". Most stories didn't end happily ever after. Usually the stories taught a lesson, and frequently, the selfish person learned that lesson the hard way.
PRE-ACTIVITIES
Read the following sentence: “The main purpose of folktales is entertainment.” Ask the students to agree or disagree and support their points of view with examples.
Explain that it is important to understand people and their environment when studying folktales. The stories for this lesson are African folktales. On a map, locate South Africa and the absolute location (longitude and latitude). Give the relative locations (general descriptors of where the places are located).
In a brainstorming session, have the students describe the country of South Africa as a place by listing recognizable physical characteristics (landforms, water bodies, climate, soil, natural vegetation, animal life) and human characteristics (inhabitants, settlement patterns, languages, religions, government, how inhabitants make a living).
Compare and contrast the two countries of South Africa and the United States. (Use the Internet or other sources to obtain needed information.)
LESSON
This videoconference is from Estelle Condra’s collection of South African folklore. Estelle Condra’s homeland is South Africa, and she has studied the folklore of the Sosotho, Zulu and Xhosa including some of the San people (spelling of the San people differ from region to region.) The African folk tales were told again and again before the time of reading and writing. These stories are very old and have been passed down orally from generation to generation by the “Memory Keepers”. These stories include many great tales with classic African wisdom.
Estelle will tell the students about the “Memory Keepers” and how they “made a story” based on the happenings in tribal society. There was a special way that the people asked the “Memory Keepers” to “make a story” around the fire and only at night.
After much deliberation, Estelle has chosen to tell two stories. The grade level for this lesson and videoconference is 4th grade and up because of the need to examine and appreciate the story.
Estelle will tell these stories in English and with a drum. She will use shades of nuance and cadence to reflect the language patterns of these nations. She will strive to keep the stories as authentic and pure Southern African as possible, keeping stories that are too Westernized and too cute out of her repertoire.
The first story that Estelle will tell is the story of ”N‘tombiembi and her sisters” which could be seen as an African Cinderella story. This is a Sosotho story.
The second story that Estelle will tell is called “The ”Sunman” about how the sun came in the sky. This is a N’tabeli story translated from a rock painting. This story describes how things happen in nature that the people did not understand. This story involves traditional tribal magic and a medicine woman. Listen carefully for the rhythmic language. Many other nations have similar stories but these are authentically Southern African and include traditions and lifestyles of the ancient peoples.
In both of these stories, students will look for the symbolism, the metaphors, and the specific and typical African traditions for men and women during this time period. They will listen carefully to the rhythmic language as Estelle uses shades of nuance and cadence to reflect the language patterns of these nations.
VIDEOCONFERNCE LISTENING ACTIVITY:
As students listen to the two stories, ask them to focus on the following questions:
1. What type of folktale is it (fairy tale, myth, legend/epic, tall tale, fable, religious story/parable)?
2. Is the name a good one for the story?
3. What is revealed about the characters? Would they serve as models for others to follow?
4. What character traits seem to be valued in the story and culture?
5. What is the lesson of this folktale?
6. What is revealed about the country’s culture through the folktale? Do the stories have common elements with other places and people or are they specific to this culture?
7. What lesson is taught about listening to the words of others and following them? How did the character decide whether or not to follow the suggestions of others? (This question may not be applicable to all the stories.)
8. Were there instances where the character’s actions could have produced an entirely different effect if he or she had acted differently (choices/consequences)? How likely was it that the character might have acted differently? Why or why not?
POST ACTIVITIES
1. Working individually, have the students reflect on their lives and apply the lesson of one of the stories to real life. Using a real-life scenario, have the learners write descriptions of how the story fits a situation they have encountered or may encounter in the future. What insight does the story provide in assisting a person to do the right thing?
2. There is a vast wealth of folktales from other countries in Africa which were not part of this lesson. Ask students to select another country from the continent of Africa and become familiar with one of its folk stories. Use the same questions for discussion as were used for the previous stories.
National Academic Standards
CLE 3001.1.2.Employ a variety of strategies and resources to determine the definition, pronunciation, etymology, spelling, and usage of words and phrases.
3001.1.7.Use previously learned strategies to determine and clarify word meanings (e.g., roots, affixes, textual context).
CLE 3001.2.7.Speaking: Participate in work teams and group discussions.
3001.2.7.Listening: Listen actively in group discussions by posing relevant questions and by eliminating barriers to communication.
3001.2.16.2.Behavior of Individuals within the Group: Contribute relevant and appropriate information and ideas that move the team towards its goal.
3001.2.16.3.Behavior of Individuals within the Group: Ask relevant, focused questions.
3001.2.16.4.Behavior of Individuals within the Group: Gain the floor in orderly, respectful ways and listen with civility to the ideas of others.
3001.2.16.5.Goals and Aims of the Group: Understand the purpose for working as a team and work according to that purpose.
3001.2.16.6.Goals and Aims of the Group: Articulate the goals for the team work, based on general task assigned.
SPI 3001.2.7.Select the most appropriate strategies for participating productively in a team (e.g., gaining the floor in orderly, respectful ways and listening with civility to the ideas of others; identifying the needs of the team and sharing various resources to respond to those needs; establishing clear group agreements and ensuring appropriate individual contributions are respected by the team).
3001.3.4.Use a variety of strategies when appropriate (e.g., comparisons, anecdotes, detailed descriptions) to provide facts, details, reasons, and examples that support the thesis.
3001.3.5.Develop ideas as appropriate to audience and respond to readers' potential questions and counterarguments.
3001.3.10.Use precise language, considering audience and purpose (e.g., technical writing, creative expression).
3001.8.1.Analyze the setting, plot, theme, characterization, and narration of classic and contemporary short stories and novels.
3001.8.2.Demonstrate understanding of non-linear plot progressions.
3001.8.3.Analyze how plot elements (e.g., exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution/denouement) function and advance action.
3001.8.4.Analyze the role and function of characters (major/minor, protagonists/antagonists) and determine ways in which the author reveals those characters (e.g., what the author tells us, what the other characters say about him or her, what the character does, what the character says, what the character thinks).
3001.8.5.Analyze the moral dilemmas in works of literature, as revealed by character motivation and behavior.
3001.8.6.Identify ways that the plot shapes the character and the presentation of moral dilemmas in texts.
3001.8.10.Demonstrate understanding that form relates to meaning (e.g., compare a poem, an essay, and a novel on the same theme or topic).
3001.8.15.Identify, analyze, and evaluate the development of similar or contrasting themes across two or more literary texts of varying complexity.
SPI 3001.8.9.Identify the common stated or implied theme in a series of passages.
SPI 3001.8.15.Identify and analyze basic elements of plot (i.e., exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution/denouement).
3002.1.7.Use previously learned strategies to determine and clarify word meanings (e.g., roots, affixes, textual context).
3002.2.7.Listening: Listen actively in group discussions by posing relevant questions and by eliminating barriers to communication.
3002.3.5.Develop ideas as appropriate to audience and respond to readers' potential questions and counterarguments.
3002.3.10.Use precise language, considering audience and purpose (e.g., technical writing, creative expression).
