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Myth Lesson Plans
What is the difference between myths, legends, and folktales? From greek mythology and creation myths to heroes and heroines, here is a nice series of lessons for providing your kids with solid foundational knowledge about myths.
August House
The Drum
Take a journey to India with a read aloud of The Drum: A Folktale from India by Rob Cleveland. Make connections to the story's theme by building and practicing drums, role playing story characters, and practicing skills in phonics, math,...
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Cloudy Days are for Reading and Writing
Students research weather proverbs and determine the scientific validity of 3 weather proverbs. They write an essay presenting their reasoning. They interview elderly people to graph the most frequently heard proverbs and theorize...
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Writing Myths
Learners read and write myths. In this world mythology activity, students read and analyze myths from various cultures and then recognize their attributes as they write their own myths that explain natural phenomena.
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Tantalizing Tangrams
Students identify polygons and develop spatial and fractional relationships and geometric concepts by using ancient Chinese puzzle of tangrams. They develop an appreciation of the folktale by identifying its elements and then writing...
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Lomax the Songhunter
Students write in their journals about the role of music in their lives. They discuss the media's use of music and watch a video clip about someone who prohibited the use of music. They create an illustration to show the folklife in...
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Weather Folklore
In this weather folklore worksheet, learners decode symbols into phrases about weather lore from farmers, sailors and shepherds. There are 7 phrases to decode.
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Electronic Journals about Latin American Folktales
Students exchange folktales with a key-pal using dialog journal writing. They write out a folktale from their own cultural background and exchange it with students of another. They record their impressions of each other's folktales.
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African Art and Personal Adornment: African Folktales
Students write a folktale based on an African adinkra symbol. They research its meaning and relate it as the theme.
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Comparative Folktales
Pupils analyze Mongolian and Native American folktales and compare the two types. They discuss the importance of storytelling in nomadic cultures and read a story in small groups. Following the story, they answer questions and construct...
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Storytellers Past and Present
Students read and discuss an article about Olga Loya, a modern storyteller. They watch a videotaped performance of a story and then create a storytelling experience for a story of their choice to share with the class.
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The Drum
Students complete a variety of activities related to the folktale from India, "The Drum." They listen to the story and answer comprehension questions, construct a coffee can drum, and complete a phonics and matching worksheet.
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Desert Drama
Students read both fiction and nonfiction books with desert themes. Then they write desert stories and reports, reviewing texts for information to include in writing. Students also design desert scenes with details and setting elements...
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Once Upon a Time
Young artists view pieces of artwork by Robert Harris, then have class discussions, write collaborative stories, make a painting or drawing, and analyze and create their own advertisements. This series of lessons should lead to some...
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Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Plot and Setting
Students examine plot and setting of Cinderella, and how it changes as it is translated into different cultures, discuss universal literary elements of the Cinderella story, and write narratives with original settings and plots...
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Lesson Plan for The Little Red Hen
Cultivate young performers while teaching them about helping one another with this interactive storytelling instructional activity. Elementary schoolers read or listen to the story The Little Red Hen by Mike Lockett and then act out the...
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Mrs. Watson Tall Tales
Tall tales are so much fun! Introduce your class to Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, and Davy Crockett, among others! Learn about their lives before reading some of the tall tales as a class. Then, write some tales of your own!
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Rocks
A Reading Adventure Pack focuses on rocks. Scholars participate in three activities after reading a fiction and nonfiction text—The Jade Stone, a Chinese folktale adapted by Caryn Yacowitz, and Rocks in His Head by Carol Otis Hurst....
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Folktales: The Wide World of Animals
Learners recognize and explain the roles of animals in folktales prior to retelling stories in their own words. Using teacher-provided Websites, they research animals and present their tales along with visuals. In related activities,...
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Social Studies: Religions and Folktales of India
Young scholars examine the world's major religions, focusing on India as presented in folktales. They take notes while reading the stories and retell them orally. Students research belief systems and write one-paragraph reflections...
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Literary Elements and Vocabulary: Mini Quiz
Readers match five literary terms -- personification, narrator, tone, dialogue, foreshadowing -- with their definitions. They also spell, identify the part of speech, define, and write a creative sentence for each of five dictated words....
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Folktale Unit
Students read different types of folktales. They participate in many activities in which they examine characters found in the tales. They create their own folktales and shares them with the class.
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Folktale Unit Ideas
Students read a variety of folktales and participate in writing, drawing, measurement, and time activities that relate to the stories. They graph the number of different versions of one folktale that the class finds and reads.
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Exploring American Tall Tales
Students explore elements of American folktales and tall tales. In this literature lesson, students read examples of American folktales and tall tales and prepare a monologue or news report to present to the class based on their readings.