Objectives
The main objective for this unit is to study folktales as a literary genre facilitated by the tools of technology. In discovering the characteristics and patterns in folktales, students will acquire a schema for reading and responding to literature as well as engaging other forms of story in multimedia texts. Students will be introduced to the main categories of folklore: myths, legends, and folktales (fairy tales and tall tales). They will learn specific traits as well as overlapping elements. The students will use African and African-American folktales to explore the oral tradition of storytelling in African culture. They will discern the uniqueness and universality of folktales by looking at three types: animal, trickster and pourquoi tales. Students will use the tall tale, John Henry, to initiate discussion of heroes in their heritage. They will learn how folk literature reveals aspects of history, geography and cultural values. Students will use the tools of technology to research background of specific tales, to record retellings of tales, and to prepare a podcast for publishing their work.
Standards
Storytelling is an engaging way to transmit information. From one generation to the next, people have been passing on knowledge through the speaking/listening process of storytelling. In the classroom, the language arts curriculum is the appropriate starting place for the art of storytelling. However, other subject areas, such as social studies can also benefit when narrative is introduced.
This unit will help students fulfill the Pennsylvania Academic Standards for: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; Science and Technology; and Social Studies. They will be listed in the appendix.
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