Lesson plan

Cooperative Folklore

Folktales are stories that come from all around the world. They allow cultures and traditions to be passed along and kept alive, often times carrying a simple but important moral to the story. This Russian folktale is told with a great concept of cooperation and teamwork that every grade level can adopt and integrate into the classroom. “ A little Story About a Big Turnip" book shows how one person can make a difference when everyone works together. Even if the person is as small as a little mouse.

Objectives

-          Students will learn what about folktales and their long history of oral tradition.

-          Students will analyze the book with a big idea in mind.

-          Students will understand the different components of a folktale.

-          Students will cooperatively create their own folk tale.

Keywords

-          Folktale

-          Moral

-          Cooperation

-          Characters

Lesson

1.       Introduce the idea of a folktale to students. Folktales come from many different cultures and places from around the world. They are stories that carry meaning and are passed along by word of mouth and have been told and retold so many times that the author is often times unknown.

2.       Read “A little story About a Big Turnip”

3.       Energize some discussion points with the class. Let students brainstorm and raise hands to have class discussion.

a.       What is the moral of this story?

b.       What do we do as a class that requires teamwork and cooperation?

c.       Why is it important to work together?

d.       Who are all the characters in the book? Who ended up being the character who helped to ultimately pull the turnip out? The small little mouse.

e.       What does this tell us? Even unexpected people may be able to help us the most. The mouse was a squeaky little thing but was able to contribute to the cooperation just as much as the others. Highlight the point that EVERYONE can contribute in their own way because we all are talented, individual thinkers and people.

f.        How can you make a difference?

g.       How can you help at home, your friends, your teacher, your neighborhood?

 Activity

I. Create a Cooperative Class Folktale

Work cooperatively as a class to create your folktale. Teacher should continue to highlight the idea of cooperation and individual thinkers coming together to create a large idea or project. An example to use would be a puzzle. Each puzzle piece is unique and different but when put together it works to create a larger picture. Use the title “A little story about a _________”  to lead the creation of their own story.

1.       As a class brainstorm ideas on what the moral of the story should be. Write ideas up on large paper. Have class collectively choose the moral to use by voting. The moral could be a common, small problem that the class is currently having.

2.       The students as a class, along with the teacher will be the main characters of the story.  Together the students and teacher will be the characters in the story working together.

3.       Have five large sheets of paper set out in sequence. Each sheet of paper will be one part of the small story. Teacher can add more paper for a longer story.

4.       Create a story with a beginning and end that incorporates the decided moral, and the class as the characters.

II. Working together

1.Brainstorm on how as a class they can help the community or the school. (Ex. Bring in can foods to donate, plant a little garden, bring in gently used clothes for donation, etc.)

2. Get involved as a class and do something proactive.

Closure

As a teacher, use the students ideas for the story to put together an oral story. Animatedly retell the student the students the story that they created.