Why folktale

In this story, the spider man Ananse must be very clever to tell stories belonging only to the Sky God. Follow this with another Anansi tale, perhaps Anansi Goes Fishing , in which Turtle tricks Anansi into doing all of the work while he takes life easy.

The many tales of Anansi reflect both humor and societal values as the spider learns one lesson after another in trying to outwit his animal friends. As a contrast to this trickster cycle, read students The Orphan Boy , a Maasai tale from East Africa that explains why Kileken the planet Venus appears in the sky both in the morning and at night. Engage the class in a discussion of how these tales are similar and how they differ.

Students can learn more about the values rooted in traditional African cultures as small groups read other tales and the class discusses them.

For example, the value of generosity as opposed to the detrimental effects of greed is clearly demonstrated in John Steptoe's version of a Zimbabwe story, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale.

African folktales do not always spell out their message, but may leave the ending for the audience to interpret. Although the experience of challenging Elephant-and being tumbled unconscious across the savannah in a spray of water-should teach otherwise, Young Mouse awakens to observe that it must have "rained" and washed Elephant away.

The story ends with Young Mouse's reflection: "And in that case, she should consider herself fortunate, for I would have broken her apart and stomped her to bits. Geography and language arts can work together as students trace the roots of African folktales. Have students in groups prepare an index card about the story they have read which includes: 1 its title, 2 a one-line summary, and 3 one thing it suggests about its culture of origin.

Students should place the index cards on the map, or so as to encircle the map, attaching them to the proper location with yarn and pushpins. Folktales can also be good vehicles to bring creative dramatics into the classroom. Students can work in small groups to perform their favorite stories. They might make simple tagboard masks for use with a few other props to highlight the action. The audience's imaginations will fill in the background as the actors bring folktales to life.

Traditional Russian Folktales Help students locate Russia on an up-to-date map. Explain how the shape of Russia has changed since the break-up of the Soviet Union, and point out the countries that have been newly created e.

This is a necessary background for creating a bulletin board display, since the pictures that students bring in to show "Russia" may in fact illustrate what has become another nation. Again, have students prepare charts to note their observations about the stories to be read.

As with other folklore traditions, Russian folktales have characteristic patterns of action and behavior. However, Russian tales are often longer and more complicated than those from other countries, so that children's books sometimes tell just part of a story, or have one story weave into another. A good beginning is the tale of Baba Yaga as told by Katya Arnold. In this story, the witch Baba Yaga captures a young boy who only escapes being eaten by using his wits and accepting the help of a goose.

Follow it with another witch tale, Polacco's Babushka Baba Yaga , and ask students to compare and contrast their observations about the two folktales. As a language and art activity, students might write and illustrate their own story of Baba Yaga using elements of the stories they have read, such as good and bad characters, tasks and rewards, the use of magic, and the effect of repetition.

The illustrations for Arnold's book were inspired by "lubok" pictures, a type of Russian folk art involving hand-colored woodcuts that dates from the 17th century.

This printing technique can be adapted to the classroom using linoleum-cut, styrofoam, or potato printing. A story that offers a wealth of detail about traditional Russian culture is told in Denise's The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship. In this story, more properly classified as a fairy tale, the tsar of Russia proclaims that he will marry his daughter to the man who brings him a flying ship.

The Fool of the World sets out to try his "luck," which consists of using the skills of people he gathers along the way to complete the tasks set for him by the tsar. Have students look for what is similar and different in the two retellings, and what each suggests about the traditional Russian culture it reflects. Like the folk literature of other cultures, Russian tales embody human attitudes and values, although all folktales of the same culture may not reflect the same things.

In a tale of friendship, Rechenka's Eggs , a young girl rescues an injured goose. After the goose accidentally breaks the eggs she has painted for the Easter Festival in Moscow, it lays thirteen beautifully-decorated eggs to replace them, and leaves behind a miracle egg that hatches into a baby goose.

Students could explore the significance of eggs in the Russian Orthodox celebration of Easter, and how much this cultural tradition persists in Russia today. This could begin a discussion of Russia's historical transformation from tsarist state to Soviet Union to fledgling democracy.

Students who are old enough might explore the question: What aspects of their cultural past do and don't modern Russians want to preserve or restore? Write in an informal, colloquial style. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Why are folktales important to culture? Ben Davis May 16, Why are folktales important to culture? What do you mean by folktales? Who invented folktales? Who gave the concept of folk culture? Not surprisingly, working with folktales can also help children develop the critical reading skills of phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension needed to meet the requirements defined in the Common Core Standards for Reading.

While these classic stories are not only highly entertaining, they also play an important role in passing along core values or character traits. Folktales were often employed to share a common history, to reinforce cultural values or highlight important traditions. When people belonged to a tribe or lived in a small village, by necessity they needed to be able to get along well under a variety of circumstances and minimize conflict.

Typically, only the chief, a high priest or a Shaman could confront someone over committing an offense. As a result, stories were often shared to intentionally clarify how a transgression had occurred. As folktales were passed down over generations they modeled behaviors and helped reinforce expectations about how to live a meaningful life.

Over time, folktales subtly incorporated character traits like caring, resourcefulness, trust or courage into the fabric of the stories. Folktales also model the elements of effective decision-making. Characters in folktales invariably encounter conflicts that require them to make difficult decisions and take action to resolve a conflict. As stated in the introduction, folktales hold a lot of wisdom.

Formal education was something else and it was not available to commoners. Folktales were there to instill morals and thinking skills. To memorize the rules in a certain society, people would create tales where the reason behind the rules, official or not, was explained.