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Anansi Spider Stories

Anansi the spider is an African folklore character. Spin your own Anansi story and capture it in an accordion-style-book.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

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  • White Paper

Steps

  • Step 1

    Have students read some stories about Anansi, perhaps from "Anansi The Trickster Spider," a collection of short stories by Lynne Garner. Tell them that Anansi originated in an African folktale and has been passed down through generations across West Africa, primarily among the Ashanti people of Ghana. He is a clever spider who uses wit to overcome tricky situations.

  • Step 2

    Have each student draft their own Anansi story --with a trickster as the main character -- in four parts. Give them each a long strip of blank paper and have them fold it accordion-style into four parts. Have them transfer the drafted story onto the accordion booklet and then illustrate it.

  • Step 3

    When complete, invite students to present their stories to the class and discuss them. How did their protagonist use imagination and clever wit to solve a tricky problem?

Standards

LA: Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a story.

LA: Develop real and imagined narratives.

SS: Culture: Create, learn, share, and adapt to culture.

SS: Culture: Through experience, observation, and reflection, identify elements of culture as well as similarities and differences among cultural groups across time and place.

Adaptations

Folktales exist in many cultures around the globe. Many involve talking animals and tricksters, such as Anansi, and they usually involve a weaker animal using its wits to overcome a stronger one. Have the class discuss why they think folktales are important. What is the goal of the stories? How do they help the inhabitants of the region?

Display a map of Africa. Have students choose a country to investigate and then report on an interesting piece of information they learned about that country. Perhaps they can write it out and pin it to the map.

African tribal masks are important symbols in cultural heritage. Students could research examples and create their own mask, then present it to the class and explain its origin, importance, what ceremonies it might be used in, etc.