Anansi the Spider

This unit plan provides a two-week lesson plan with teacher instructions, slide decks, links, and activity pages.

Overview:  In this unit, students will use their listening, speaking, reading, writing, and inquiry skills to analyze a variety of West African folktales. They will learn the purpose of stories that have been passed down from generation to generation. Through reading different folktales about Anansi the Spider, students will distinguish between good and poor behaviors to infer the theme and what each story teaches us about responsible decision-making. Students will also identify the traits of different characters and explain how their relationships contribute to the plot of the story. Synthesizing the information and then summarizing the text will help students create a new understanding of West African folktales. In addition, students will recognize elements of drama through diverse texts.  Formative and summative assessments will be given throughout the unit to monitor student learning. As a performance of understanding, students will choose a culminating project to demonstrate their understanding of drama, theme, or character traits. They will prepare and present their project on the last two days of the unit.

Skills:

• Theme
• Summarize & Synthesize
• Comparative and Opinion Essay
• Elements of Drama