This four- to six-week literacy unit for primary students focuses on folktale characters from the Caribbean. It is a cultural study to help students learn the idea that folktales can be specific to cultures and locations with characters that have familiar traits. They will learn about Anansi, the trickster spider and notable figure throughout the Caribbean; Papa Bois from St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, guards forests and land animals; Mami Wata, a mermaid who protects the rivers in West Africa and Haiti; Bacoos from Guyana and Barbados, are small, bearded men who can appear in houses and have the ability to grant wishes, if treated well; Lit’mahn is a tiny fellow who is magical and mischievous.
The students will participate in five-character studies as they learn the traits of the folktale heroes and troublemakers and the various ways they are depicted through art and description.
(Developed for Reading and Writing, grade K; recommended for Reading and Writing, grades K-2)
