All Stories Are Anansi ’s All Stories Are Anansi’s 10A

Introducing the Read-Aloud 10 minutes

What Have We Already Learned?

Begin with a brief review of “The Tale of Peter Rabbit.” Have a discussion with students about the plot of the story. Students should be able to recall the following:

• Mrs. Rabbit tells Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter not to go into Mr. McGregor’s garden while she is away and to stay out of mischief.

• However, while his sisters pick berries, Peter is naughty and disobedient.

• Peter’s sense of adventure leads him into Mr. McGregor’s garden, where he helps himself to some vegetables.

• Peter is seen and chased by Mr. McGregor, and he barely escapes.

• When he finally gets home, Peter is sick and tired, and has to go to bed, while his sisters, who were obedient, get to stay up for a nice supper.

Ask students if they think Peter learned his lesson and if he will listen to his mother next time.

Tell students that today’s folktale has a trickster in it, a character that tricks others. Ask students to listen to see how the trickster in this story tricks others.

Background Information and Essential Terms

Tell students that today’s story is a folktale that was probably first told in Africa. Have a student locate the continent Africa on a world map. (You may want to specifically ask them to locate the country Ghana.) Ask students what it means to say that this story is a folktale. (Folktales are stories that were told from generation to

 generation.) Tell students that many tales from the Ashanti people of Ghana, in Africa, begin with the same message: “We do not really mean, We do not really mean that what we are going to say is true.”

Explain that this means the stories are fiction, because they are not really true.

Show image 10A-2: Nyame and Anansi

Ask students what they see in the illustration. Tell students that like many folktales, the characters in this story are animals. Point to the spider, and explain that this is Anansi, the main character in the story. Have students share what they know about spiders.

Tell students that the Ashanti people call their folktales “spider stories.” Tell students that many African folktales feature the spider, “Kwaku Anansi,” as a main character. Anansi is a folk hero to the Ashanti. He is a lovable trickster, a mischief maker who triumphs over larger foes.

The common theme of all spider stories is a small defenseless creature, like a spider, outwits other characters to succeed against great odds. Point to the man in the picture and explain that he is called Nyame, the sky god, and he is another character in the story.

Making Predictions About the Read-Aloud

Tell students that there are many spider stories. This is just one example of many stories passed down from generation to generation. Ask students to predict why they are called spider stories.

Purpose for Listening

Tell students to listen carefully to find out whether or not their predictions are correct.