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Africa - Literature

Sample Learning Experiences

SAMPLE ONE:

Objective:

    Students will listen to and compare the morals of stories written and illustrated by Mwenye Hadithi and Adrienne Kennaway. 

Learning Experiences:

    1.Students will listen to the stories Tricky Tortoise, Hungry Hyena, Hot Hippo, Crafty Chameleon, Lazy Lion and Baby Baboon and discuss the particular habitats in which each animal lives.

    2.After reading any of the stories above, the students will be asked to hypothesize what a trickster and trickstee might be. The teacher will facilitate discussion on what occurs in the story; the character is faced with a predicament, there is a trick, and ultimately a clever solution/resolution. Through discussion and brainstorming, students will develop ideas to write their own Hadithi style story with the same elements described above.

    Assessment:

      Students will first read their story to a friend, in order to correct or review the required contents of the story.  The students will finally read their story aloud to their class.

    3.In small cooperative groups, students will make comparisons between the characters in the different books by categorizing the features in the book, such as setting, charcters, plot, trickster/trickstee. Through a comparison chart students will divide specific features of each book under the appropriate category.

    Assessment:

      Through this cooperative group activity, students will display understanding of each character and defend their reasoning for the particular category in front of their teacher and peers.

References:

      1.Hadithi, Myenye. (1993). Baby Baboon. Illustrated by Adrienne Kennaway. Boston: Little Brown and Company.

      2.Hadithi, Myenye. (1987). Crafty Chameleon. Illustrated by Adrienne Kennaway.  Boston: Little Brown and Company.

      3.Hadithi, Myenye. (1986). Hot Hippo. Illustrated by Adrienne Kennaway. Boston: Little Brown and Company.

      4.Hadithi, Myenye. (1994). Hungry Hyena. Illustrated by Adrienne Kennaway.  Boston: Little Brown and Company.

      5.Hadithi, Myenye. (1990). Lazy Lion. Illustrated by Adrienne Kennaway. Boston: Little Brown and Company.

      6.Hadithi, Myenye. (1988). Tricky Tortoise. Illustrated by Adrienne Kennaway. Boston: Little Brown and Company.

SAMPLE TWO:

Objective:

    Students will be introduced to Swahili words and identify the moral of a story by Massie & Lawson.

Learning Experiences:

    1. Teacher will read Jambo, Watoto, by Massie & Lawson.  Students will listen for Swahili language in the book.  Students will create a class vocabulary list of Swahili words and their English meaning, for example, jambo-hello, watoto- children, asante- thank you, rafiki-friend.

    Assessment:

      Students and teachers will use basic language to communicate in the classroom.

      Students will share their feelings on the moral of this story and make comparisons to their own personal life experiences.

Reference:

    1.Massie, E. & Lawson, B.P. (1998). Jambo, Watato. Illustrated by Marsha Heatwole. Michigan: Creative Art Press.

Additional references:

    2.Browne, Philippa-Alys. (1995). African Animals ABC. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books for Children.

    3. Olaleye, Isaac. (1994). Bitter Bananas. Illustrated by Ed Young. Boyds Mills Press.

SAMPLE THREE:

Objective:

    Students will present their own descriptive sentence of an African animal based on Laurie Halse Andersonīs story, Ndito Runs.

Learning Experiences:

    As Ndito runs to school each day, she imagines that she is "galloping like a wildebeest" and other animals to keep her company on her run.  Students will share the animal dream that she had.  The teacher and students will brainstorm a list of African animals and of descriptive adjectives to go with them.  Each student will write their own animal sentence, illustrate a page and contribute it to a class book.

    Assessment:

      Students' choice of adjectives to describe an animal is reviewed by the teacher, looking for correct usage of the adjective and the appropriate motion of the animal.

References:

    Anderson, Laurie Halse. (1996). Ndito Runs. Illustrated by Anita van der Merwe. New York: Henry Holt and Company.