African Folktales – The Cat Who Came Indoors
Developer’s Name:
Sally Hooper, Ph.D.
Audience:
Grade 2
Lesson Description – Overview:
Read out loud/ book study/writing/art and drama.
Mandela, N. (Ed.) 2002. The cat who came indoors. In Favorite African Folktales (pp.21-23). W.W. Norton & Company, New York, London.
A folktale is a story passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation with each storyteller adding something new to make the stories more interesting. Often, at the end of the day, as Nelson Mandela was growing up in the Eastern Cape, the adults would gather the children together around a village fire and tell stories, passing down knowledge, history, and experiences from one generation to the next.
African folktales help interpret the universe, resolve natural and physical phenomena, teach morals, maintain cultural values, and pass on ways of survival. The stories reflect a culture that values the diverse types of animals that abound in the natural environment. The animals and birds are often accorded human attributes, so it is not uncommon to find animals talking, singing or demonstrating other human characteristics, such as greed, jealousy, and honesty.
Lesson Objectives:
- understand story elements (character, setting, and plot), vocabulary, and characters’ actions
- describe the characters in the story and how their actions, motivations, or traits contribute to the plot of the story
- determine the lesson or moral of the story
- participate in classroom discussions where they stay on topic, ask questions about information presented in the texts, and use the texts to support their explanations
- express ideas, experiences, and feelings through the process of art making
- express ideas and feelings through drama and role play
Relevant Ontario Curriculum:
Language – Oral Communication
- Listen in order to understand and respond appropriately in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes:
- 1.4 demonstrate an understanding of the information and ideas in oral texts by retelling the story or restating the information, including the main idea and several interesting details
- 1.5 use stated and implied information and ideas in oral texts to make simple inferences and reasonable predictions, and support the inferences with evidence from the text
- 1.8 identify, initially with support and direction, who is speaking in an oral text, and demonstrate an understanding that the speaker has his or her own point of view
- Use speaking skills and strategies appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes
- 2.3 communicate ideas, opinions, and information orally in a clear, coherent manner using simple but appropriate organizational patterns
Language – Reading
- Read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, graphic, and informational texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning:
- 1.1 read some different literary texts1.4 demonstrate understanding of a text by retelling the story or restating information from the text, with the inclusion of a few interesting details
- 1.5 use stated and implied information and ideas in texts to make simple inferences and reasonable predictions about them
- 1.6 extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge and experience, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them
- 1.7 identify the main idea and some additional elements of texts (e.g., narrative: characters, setting, problem, solution, events/episodes, resolution; procedure: goal, materials, method)
- 1.8 express personal thoughts and feelings about what has been read
- 1.9 identify, initially with support and direction, the speaker and the point of view presented in a text and suggest one or two possible alternative perspectives
The Arts – Drama
- B1. Creating and Presenting: apply the creative process (see pages 19–22) to dramatic play and process drama, using the elements and conventions of drama to communicate feelings, ideas, and stories
- B2. Reflecting, Responding, and Analyzing: apply the critical analysis process (see pages 23–28) to communicate feelings, ideas, and understandings in response to a variety of drama works and experiences
- B3. Exploring Forms and Cultural Contexts: demonstrate an understanding of a variety of drama and theatre forms and styles from the past and present, and their social and/or community contexts.
The Arts – Visual Arts
- D1. Creating and Presenting: apply the creative process (see pages 19–22) to produce a variety of two- and three-dimensional art works, using elements, principles, and techniques of visual arts to communicate feelings, ideas, and understandings
- D2. Reflecting, Responding, and Analyzing: apply the critical analysis process (see pages 23–28) to communicate feelings, ideas, and understandings in response to a variety of art works and art experiences
- D3. Exploring Forms and Cultural Contexts: demonstrate an understanding of a variety of art forms, styles, and techniques from the past and present, and their social and/or community contexts.
Relevant Ontario Curriculum
- Ontario Ministry of Education. (2006). The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1-8 Language
- Ontario Ministry of Education. (2009). The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1-8 Arts
Human Rights Instruments:
The Convention on the Rights of the Child
Article 13 – You have the right to find out things and share what you think with others by talking, drawing, writing or in any other way unless it harms or offends other people.
Article 29 – Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.
Article 31 – You have the right to play and rest.
Lesson Plan Details by Stages of African Epistemology:
Activate and Reflect
Real time in the classroom (20 minutes):
- Activate prior knowledge – ask children whether they have a pet cat and if they do, to tell you about the cat.
- Ask children what they know about wild African animals, particularly those of the cat family.
Links and Resources:
- Photographs of domestic and African wild cats.
Instructions and Lesson Breakdown:
- Do you or someone in your family have a pet cat? Give children turns to tell their stories about their pet cats.
- Do you know about other cats – wild cats? If slow to respond, prompt children by showing photographs.
Connect
Real time in the classroom (20 minutes):
- Show children the picture on the cover of the book and the illustration of the story.
- Read the folktale
Links and Resources:
- The cat who came indoors. In Nelson Mandela’s Favourite African Folktales (pp. 21-23).
Instructions and Lesson Breakdown:
Can you predict what and who you think the story is about?
- Who are the main characters?
- Where does the story take place?
- When does the story take place?
Reflect and Connect
Real time in the classroom (20 minutes):
- Making inferences / Interpreting texts
Links and Resources:
- Chart paper or board
Instructions and Lesson Breakdown:
Group Activity
- In a table, with the headings – What happens and Why does this happen – identify the major events and why they happened.
e.g.
-
- What happens: the wild cat goes and lives with another cat.
- Why does this happen: The wild cat is lonely.
Reflect and Connect
Real time in the classroom (60 minutes):
- Expressing ideas, experiences, and feelings through the process of art making.
Links and Resources:
- Photographs of domestic cats and African wild cats
- Art supplies: sturdy paper plates – medium size, Bristol board, poster paints, assorted brushes, elastic for ties
Instructions and Lesson Breakdown:
- Discuss the physical characteristics of domestic cats, lions, leopards, elephant.
- Each child creates a mask to represent one of the characters in the folktale.
Communicate
Real time in the classroom (60 minutes):
- Express ideas and feelings through drama and role play.
- As students’ role play the story, support them in developing an African female understanding about how gender is embraced as empowering.
Instructions and Lesson Breakdown:
- Discuss how the cat chooses each human.
- There is a strong Indigenous feminist theme in this folktale. Though the story is about a cat, the cat makes choices about who it feels in the strongest human. Why do you think the cat ends up choosing a female as the strongest?
- In groups, children practice re-enacting the folktale.
- For an audience of children and teachers from other classes, children enact the folktale.
