 |
Students will work in groups to retell a folktale as well as find and present information on their folktale’s country of origin.
A humorous retelling of a Cuban folktale in which a cockroach interviews her suitors in order to decide whom to marry.
Ehlert, Lois. Cuckoo: A Mexican Folktale = Cucu: Un Cuento Folklorico Mexicano. Illus. Translated into Spanish by Gloria de Aragon Andujar. Harcourt Brace, 1997.
Text in English and Spanish. A traditional Mayan tale which reveals how the cuckoo lost her beautiful feathers.
Gonzalez, Lucia M. Senor Cat's Romance and Other Favorite Stories from Latin America. Illus. by Lulu Delacre. Scholastic, 2001, c1997.
A collection of popular tales told to young children in places such as Argentina, Cuba, Colombia, Nicaragua, and Mexico. We will use two of them: “The Billy Goat and the Vegetable Garden,” a cumulative tale from Puerto Rico and “How Uncle Rabbit Tricked Uncle Tiger,” a trickster tale from Venezuela.
Introduction/Part One:
Have a map on display showing all the countries in Latin America as a backdrop. Start by teaching them the phrase: "Y colorín, colorado, este cuento se ha acabado"--the traditional ending to many Latin American folktales. Analogous to Western culture’s “Snip snap snout, this story’s told out,” it translates to, "And, my many-colored feathered friend, now the story has found an end." And just like “snip snap snout,” it’s really fun to say. Then tell “The Wild Cherry Tree” (Gordh 93-96), a Mexican folktale. This is an unusual story with strange details (even talking vegetables!). It gets (and keeps) kids’ attention; it is suspenseful and requires audience participation. This is to get the students very interested. Make sure to end all stories with "Y colorín, colorado, este cuento se ha acabado" and make sure to have the students say it along with you.
After telling the story, booktalk the Latin-American Folktales. Ask each student to vote on their favorite story, the one that appeals to them the most. Use secret ballots. Collect these and use them to create four groups of five/six students.
Each group gets assigned a folktale and its corresponding country. Again, offer a choice of working alone as well.
Explain the unit. Working cooperatively, student groups will create a presentation about their country and a short dramatization of their folktale. They will share both components with their classmates.
Teacher collaboration: The teacher will take the books back to the classroom. During a planned reading time, student groups will read and discuss their stories. They will take notes on their initial ideas and then revisit those ideas to come up with some real conclusions (see Discussion Guide handout).
Questions to guide them:
Is there a life lesson/moral to be learned from this folktale?
Can you compare and contrast this tale to another tale you’re familiar with?
Could you possibly change this tale to be a modern-day tale? How?
Do you get a sense of the culture/country from which the tale originated? Why or why not?
They will use a Story Action Map (attached) to help shape their retelling/dramatization.
Steps to guide them:
Some ways you might choose to retell your folktale:
1. Using literary elements: Identify the setting, characters, plot, conflict, and resolution.
2. Spinning a weave: Take turns to tell the story around the circle.
3. Acting it out.
Remember to highlight the most important parts of the story (see your Story Action Map). Have fun! Be creative!
BODY/Part Two: Have a map on display showing all of the countries in Latin America as a backdrop. Tell “How the Hummingbird Got Its Colors” (Gordh 117). This story introduces specific flora and fauna from the rainforest, e.g. pumas, the urucu plant, liana vines. As a class, use the map to identify Latin American countries that have rainforests. Dazzle the class with some interesting facts about rainforests, e.g., 80 inches of rain a year! (compared with our 38) or over half the world’s 10 million species live in tropical rainforests! How do I know? Did I make it make it up? Or did I find it out? Show sources of information for these facts. Make sure sources are varied—a print encyclopedia, an electronic database, etc. Then show completed source citation forms for interesting facts.
Teacher collaboration: Students will go back to their classroom with print outs and notes about their topics/countries. There will be planned work time. Using the information gathered and possibly gathering even more, student groups will finish filling out their Graphic Organizer. They will then use that to design their presentation. They will also get a copy of the assessment rubric to guide their presentation (see attached).
Steps to guide them:
BODY/Part 3: Have a map on display showing all the countries in Latin America as a backdrop. Tell “The Tomorrow Monkeys” (Gordh 107-111), a Brazilian folktale. Repeatedly telling stories is not only modeling part of their assignment but also an incentive for them. It holds their interest and it’s fun. This is our major Practice Day. Student groups will practice acting out/retelling their stories and start putting the final touches on their presentations.
Teacher collaboration: Student groups will have in-class time to prepare and polish their presentations.
BODY/Part 4:
Additional Material Needed:
Presentation Day! Display a large world map. Student groups take turns identifying their country on the map and presenting their folktales/reports for an audience of their classmates, teacher, and librarian. All audience members will be filling out assessment forms for each presentation. The student form is a modified version of the teacher/librarian one (see attached).
Conclusion/ Part 5: The End/Closure. Congratulate them on how well they did! Spend some time reflecting on the process. Revisit our initial notes and compare them with our final presentations as a way of reinforcing the learning and research process that happened during this unit. Ask for a quick, written self-assessment. Spend five to ten quiet minutes free writing on the following questions:
· What do you think of your research skills? Why? What did you do well? What would you like to improve?
· What was it like working in a group (or alone if you made that choice)? What would you differently next time?
· How did it feel to be in front of the class during your presentation? Why did it feel that way?
Then, reward them with a story: Tell “Half a Blanket” (Gordh 98-99), a favorite Mexican tale about caretaking a grandfather. It is appealing to kids (of all ages) because the child in the story becomes the parent’s teacher. It can also open up a discussion of personal grandparent stories. We can make a leap from the stories of Latin American culture to the stories of our own personal cultures. We can see the value of sharing stories.
