Writing (1-2 periods)
STEP 1: Put students in groups of about six. Each group
should choose or be assigned one of the stories you read.
It is OK if more than one group has the same story. Make
sure they know the country, or at least the region of Africa
the story comes from.
STEP 2: Going around the group,
they should retell the story. Each person will be responsible
for 1/6 (based on 6 in a group) of the story. Tell them
to write down their “episode” in their own words.
All the episodes should add up to the entire story.
Research (1-2 periods)
Once their episode is written, they need to illustrate it.
But the illustration(s) must include one or more authentic
details from the country the story comes from. For example,
they could show a character in the clothes of the region,
they could include plants or animals of the region, homes,
tools, characters could be playing instruments of the region,
traditional art or masks could be included in the illustrations,
etc.
STEP 1: To find these authentic
details, they need to do research on the country or region
of the story. In the For Students section of this
site, students can click on Research,
which was used in the "Who? What? Where? When? How?
Why?" lesson. Then they will see a list of links. Each
one takes them to a different site, some of which have photos
or drawings of aspects of cultural and natural life in different
countries and regions of Africa. You may want to preview
these sites yourself, so you can see how to search for,
say, “plants of Zimbabwe”, and then explain
it to the students. If they want to include instruments
or art in their illustration, they should click on Instruments
or Art.
Of course, they can also go to the
school or public library. For this project, you may want
to gather some resource books on Africa in your room that
you have taken out from the library.
STEP 2: Once they have found the
necessary pictures, they can download them from the sites.
If that’s not possible, they should draw the picture
on a piece of paper, including the colors (either by drawing
in color or writing in the names of the colors). If the
picture is found in a book, they can photocopy it, if possible,
or, as above, draw it. They should label all their pictures
with the name of the authentic detail (i.e. Kente cloth,
yam plant, etc.), where it’s from, etc. They must
keep this information, the “research”, for the
next step.
Artwork (2-3 periods)
For this part of the lesson, art supplies need to be decided
on and made available or collected from home. You may want
to collaborate with the art teacher on this part.
STEP 1: Each group must decide
on the “look” of their book. Will the illustrations
be drawn? If so, with what? Pencils, crayons, markers, paint?
Will the background paper be white, colored, patterned (perhaps
with African textile designs)? The group might also consider
collage: making the illustrations with cut or torn construction
paper, shiny paper from magazines, fabric, or other materials
(but, remember, this is a book, so the illustrations can’t
be too three dimensional). The book will need an illustrated
cover, with the title of the story and the names of everyone
in the group.
The supplies will therefore include:
• paper on which to write and draw their episode of the story
• whatever they’re going to write with
• whatever they’re going
to create the illustrations with: pencils, crayons, markers,
paint, brushes, or other. If collage, they will need scissors
and Elmer’s glue.
• a stapler to staple the
pages of the book together.
STEP 2: Once they (or you) decide
on the supplies, they can begin to create the pages of their
episode of the story using their research to create the
illustrations. Encourage them to do a rough sketch
of their pages on scrap paper first to get an idea of how
and where the words and the picture(s) will fit on the page.
This doesn’t have to be too detailed and should take
10-15 minutes at most.
STEP 3: Then they can begin the
final version. If they’re doing collage, remind them
that they don’t need a lot of glue, a few drops will
do. Then they need to leave the glued piece alone for a
while to “set”. During that time, they can work
on other parts of the picture.
STEP 4: When all the pages and
the cover are done, the book can be assembled and stapled.
Presentation (1 period a day for 3-4 days)
STEP 1: Each group should rehearse
an out-loud reading of their book, including the showing
of the illustrations. Everyone in the group should participate.
They should remember not only to speak loudly and clearly,
but to communicate the personalities of the characters and
the mood of the story. They should be prepared to point
out on the map where their story originated and any important
things they learned about that country or culture in their
research.
Use your judgment about the attention span of your students
to decide whether all groups should present on one day or
whether you should spread the presentations out over several
days.
STEP 2: Each group will then present
their book to the rest of the class. After each presentation,
lead a discussion of the book in which you elicit what the
class noticed about the story, the look of the book, and
the style of presentation – what stood out to them.
Ask both the presenters and the listeners to identify something
new that they learned from either working on the book or
from the presentation (including the illustrations). After,
more than one group has presented, see if the class can
compare and contrast things they observed in the various
presentations.
The Grand Tour (time varies)
STEP 1: Each group can present
their story to another class and/or do a presentation for
the parents.
STEP 2: Display the books in your
room or in the hall.
