Art Institute of Chicago
African Myths and Stories
Young historians discover African stories associated with a royal altar tusk from the Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria, read myths illustrated on the tusk, and write a story about the life of an oba using figures depicted on the tusk.
Curated OER
African Myths
Students discover the role of storytelling in the African culture. In this multicultural lesson, students discuss the elements of the African myth and record them on the board. Students visit an African folktale website and read examples...
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African American Poetry: Family and Traditions
Learners 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...
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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...
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Storytelling: Using the arts to enrich the curriculum
Students examine storytelling in a cross curricular unit. Language arts, social studies, science and math are all incorporated in this project as well as technology through the use of Hyperstudio.
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Sundiata, Mali’s Lion King
Students investigate the history of Mali. In this African cultures lesson, students research the impact of Sundiata Keita as king of Mali, recognize the significance of historical Malian festivals, and create character masks to be worn...
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History: An African American Cultural Celebration
Students prepare and organize a cultural celebration of African migration and immigration. Working in groups or individually, they research topics and present the information, including dance demonstrations, instrumental or vocal...
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Music: Off the Wall & Onto the Stage - Composing
Kids explore Gullah music from Africa and then create original compositions based on what they've learned. They practice traditional melodies and rhythms then make some of their own, which they then perform for the class.
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Reliving History through Slave Narratives
Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...
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Music in West Africa
Learners explore power and the symbols of power in West African music. They discuss the music of West Africa and compare it to African American music of today. In addition, they investigate musical instruments of Africa, identify the...
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Oral traditions: Facilitating education through verbal traditions
Bring oral traditions into the classroom to engage learning and facilitate best practices. From story telling to listening skills, this article provides reasons and rational behind oral traditions as a tool for education.
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...
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A Moroccan Fairy Tale vs. European Folk/Fairy Tale
Second graders explore world geography by reading two different fairy tales. In this cultural storytelling instructional activity, 2nd graders read Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and the Moroccan story The Girl Who Lived with the...
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Literacy & Art: The Story behind the Quilt
Students examine the many ways quilts were used to chronicle the history and experiences of African slaves and African-Americans in America. They analyze a story quilt using the elements of storytelling, then create a class quilt.
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Keeping the Past Alive
Students read about the oral histories of West Africa and complete related activities. In this oral histories lesson plan, students read about the importance of oral customs in African cultures. Students interview a family member about...
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Great Gullah Story Telling Packet
Sixth graders examine the Creole language known as Gullah which is a form of speech comprised of a number of unrelated languages. They determine how slaves used this to communicate so that slave masters would not be able to understand...
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 organizers,...
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Folktales (African American, Chinese, Japanese and Korean)
Students participate in a variety of activities that are concerned with comparing different cultures through the literary genre of folktales. The stories are used to stimulate student interest and provide a context for how a society...
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Folklore and Oral History
Learners listen to a lecture about the tradition of story telling and oral history. They research three examples of African American and/or Negro Leagues oral tradition. they work in groups of four, and decide on one example from their...
Adult Fiction by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Ghost Boys: Educator Guide
The spirit of the Civil Rights Movement lives on in a more literal than figurative way in Ghost Boys. A focused lesson plan features Jewell Parker Rhodes' novel about ghosts of slain black teenagers, including the main character, Jerome,...
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Making Cultural Connections
Students explore cultures through storytelling. They read African folktales. Students discuss characteristics of folktales. They research and write a folktale that includes an animal. Additional cross curriculum activities are included.
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Southern Society during the Civil War: Black Society
Students research and discuss the societal changes during the Civil War as it relates to various parts of southern society. For this southern society during the civil war lesson, students examine what life was like for slaves during the...
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Reliving History Through Slave Narratives
Learners read slave narratives and retell the stories to the class, identifying sensory details. In this slavery lesson, students discuss the importance of sensory details, then read the slave narratives looking for specific examples. ...
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Powerful Memories, Powerful Words
Students identify and describe the influence slavery had on Mark Twains writing, and then determine the status of race relations and ethnic differences in contemporary life.