This is a sample lesson plan based upon information gained from EDSITEment! The Best of the Humanities on the Web: http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/aesop-and-ananse-animal-fables-and-trickster-tales#sect-introduction Content Area or Developmental Focus: ELA Age/Grade of Children: Second Grade Length of Lesson: 1 hour Goal Students will become familiar with fables and trickster tales from different cultural traditions and will see how stories change when transferred orally between generations and cultures. Objective · Identify the definition and understand elements of fables and trickster stories · Recognize Aesop's fables and Ananse spider stories · Identify the specific narrative and thematic patterns that occur in fables and trickster tales across cultures · Compare and contrast themes of fables and trickster tales from different cultures · Differentiate between the cautionary lessons and morals of fables and the celebration of the wiles and wit of the underdog in trickster stories Standards Included CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.2 Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3 Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5 Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action. Materials Print or online versions of the following stories: Set A · The Lion and the Mouse (Aesop) · Mr. Buffu and the Snake (Ananse) Set B · The Fox and the Crane · Anansi and the Turtle Introduction Begin the lesson with a game of telephone. The students will sit in a circle, in close enough proximity that they can whisper to their neighbors. You start the message be stating a one sentence message to the first student (just make up anything but be sure to remember it). Then the first student will whisper the message to the next person and it continues on in this fashion until you get to the last person. Have the last student write the message on the board. You then write the original message as well. They will be different, which is the point. You will then have a conversation about how oral storytelling allows for interpretation and change as it is told from person to person and travels to different locations. Lesson Development: Review the vocabulary and elements of folktales from previous lesson: Direct Instruction · Vocabulary Words: Folktale Fable Trickster Story Oral Tradition Moral Folk Wisdom · Elements of Folktales: Folktales…  … are very old stories  … have special beginnings (such as "Once upon a time…" or "There once was…") and endings  … often repeat words or sentences  …have characters, settings, problems, and solutions Guided Practice: · Read aloud the first two stories (Set A) to students and stop to check for understanding and questions. · Ask students to compare the animals and their beha ...

1. This is a sample lesson plan based upon information gained
from EDSITEment! The Best of the Humanities on the Web:
http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/aesop-and-ananse-animal-
fables-and-trickster-tales#sect-introduction
Content Area or Developmental Focus: ELA
Age/Grade of Children: Second Grade
Length of Lesson: 1 hour
Goal
Students will become familiar with fables and trickster tales
from different cultural traditions and will see how stories
change when transferred orally between generations and
cultures.
Objective
· Identify the definition and understand elements of fables and
trickster stories
· Recognize Aesop's fables and Ananse spider stories
· Identify the specific narrative and thematic patterns that occur
in fables and trickster tales across cultures
· Compare and contrast themes of fables and trickster tales from
different cultures
· Differentiate between the cautionary lessons and morals of
fables and the celebration of the wiles and wit of the underdog
in trickster stories
Standards Included
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.2
Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse
cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3

2. Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and
challenges.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5
Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing
how the beginning introduces the story and the ending
concludes the action.
Materials
Print or online versions of the following stories:
Set A
· The Lion and the Mouse (Aesop)
· Mr. Buffu and the Snake (Ananse)
Set B
· The Fox and the Crane
· Anansi and the Turtle
Introduction
Begin the lesson with a game of telephone. The students will
sit in a circle, in close enough proximity that they can whisper
to their neighbors. You start the message be stating a one
sentence message to the first student (just make up anything but
be sure to remember it). Then the first student will whisper the
message to the next person and it continues on in this fashion
until you get to the last person. Have the last student write the
message on the board. You then write the original message as
well. They will be different, which is the point. You will then
have a conversation about how oral storytelling allows for
interpretation and change as it is told from person to person and
travels to different locations.
Lesson Development:
Review the vocabulary and elements of folktales from previous
lesson: Direct Instruction
· Vocabulary Words:

3. Folktale
Fable
Trickster Story
Oral Tradition
Moral
Folk Wisdom
· Elements of Folktales:
Folktales…
… are very old stories
… have special beginnings (such as "Once upon a time…" or
"There once was…") and endings
… often repeat words or sentences
…have characters, settings, problems, and solutions
Guided Practice:
· Read aloud the first two stories (Set A) to students and stop to
check for understanding and questions.
· Ask students to compare the animals and their behavior in the
fable and the trickster tale. Why do the types of animals change
from one culture's fable to the next? How does the behavior
change according to the type of animal? What types of
behaviors lead to what types of endings in these stories?
· Then fill a Double Bubble Thinking Map that
compares/contrasts the characters, setting, problem, solution,
and morals/lessons in both stories (you will be modeling the
skill that the students will then do in pairs).
Check for understanding- Whole Group (Informal Assessment).
Pose the following questions to the students:
· What is a fable, and how are fables different from other types
of stories?
· What is a trickster tale, and how is it different from other
types of tales and from fables?
· What are the elements common to fables and trickster tales?
· What kinds of wisdom about human nature and human
behavior do we learn from fables, and how is this wisdom
relevant today?

4. Differentiation
· Frontload vocabulary with English Language Learners before
the lesson
· Seat the two students with attention issues close to teacher and
ask for their help with materials
· Plan student groups based on levels: Ensure that the ELL
students are paired with a competent student
[These are generic ideas. You will base
modification/accommodation/differentiation on the specific
needs of your students]
Assessment
(Practice/ Checking for
Understanding)
Independent Practice:
Collaborative Groups:
· Group students in 2s or 3s
· Students will partner read the stories in Set B
· They will create their own Double Bubble Thinking Map using
the same elements you modeled with the first set of stories.
· If time permits, students can present their maps and discuss
any similarities and/or differences between the groups
Written Response:
· The students will write a journal response answering the
following question:
· Describe a real-life situation that applies to one of the morals
presented in the four stories.
· Student work will be graded based on a rubric. Students may
share their journals as the introduction to the next lesson.
Closing
Close lesson with a review of vocabulary, elements of folktales,
and the following questions:
· Which characters did they like best?

5. · Which did they like least?
· Which story had the best ending and why?
Developed by Kristina Bodamer and Jennifer Zaur, Full-Time
Faculty, College of Education, ECE/CD Department
Content Area or Developmental Focus: Math- Geometry
Age/Grade of Children: 7th grade
Length of Lesson: 50 minute class/3-5 days
Goal
Students will create a city, park, or other structural plan usi ng
geometry
Objective
Identify the total number of degrees in supplementary and
complementary angles
Describe the relationship between vertical and adjacent angles
Explain how the volume and surface area would be affected
when dimensions of a figure are doubled and/or tripled
Identify acute, obtuse, straight and right angles
Identify perpendicular, parallel, and intersecting lines
Work collaboratively
Create and conduct an oral presentation
Standards Included
7.G.2: Draw (freehand, with ruler and protractor, and with
technology) geometric shapes with given conditions. Focus on
constructing triangles from three measures of angles or sides,
noticing when the conditions determine a unique triangle, more
than one triangle, or no triangle.
Materials

6. Digital Cameras
iPad/Computer
Projector/Smartboard
Pencils
Paper
Self-Assessment
Rubric that assesses the final project as well as the presentation
skills (can be created by the students or teacher-made)
Introduction
Introduction will take one class period
· Pose the following question and discuss: Where do we find
geometry?
· Place students in groups of 3-4. Go outside and take pictures
of any shapes that you see in the neighborhood, paying
particular attention to different shapes and angles: acute,
obtuse, right, straight angles, and triangles
· Have students share some of their findings with the projector
or smartboard
Lesson Development
Students, in groups of two to four, will create a city, public
park, or other structure using geometry
· Students will need to create a paper blueprint as well as one
using technology (they can start with whichever version they
feel comfortable exploring)
· Their creations must include:
· acute, obtuse, straight, and right angles
· adjacent and vertical angles
· perpendicular, parallel, and intersecting lines
· triangles and quadrilaterals
· Students will name their city and label all the building,

7. streets, etc. appropriately
· Students will present their design to the class with a
thoughtful explanation of how they derived their design
· Students will self-assess themselves with a quick checklist to
determine how well they think they did working in a group,
collaborating, designing, and presenting
Assessment
(Practice/ Checking for
Understanding)
· Project Finished to Completion
· Successful Presentation of Project
· Self-Assessment
· Traditional quiz based on math terms and concepts included in
the project
Closing
· Use Virtualnerd.com to highlight/review the essential math
concepts
· Ask for student feedback
· Teacher self-reflection:
· What went well?
· What needs to be changed?
· What should be reviewed?
· Possible extension activities