John C. Warner
Lesson Plan I
Topic
Analysis of a folktale through discussion and writing. The discussion segment of the activity will last one class period. The writing assignment which goes with it is an outside writing project. Students should be given two days to complete the assignment.
Objective
Students will read a folktale in English and analyze it as a group according to a set of questions drawn up by the teacher. They will then be asked to write about the legend.
Procedure
The following is an adaptation of a short legend by Pura Belpre. The actual legend can be found in translation in a collection of Belpre legends entitled
Once in Puerto Rico
(included in the bibliography).
The Legend of the Hummingbird
Long long ago . . . far up in the hills there was once a small pool fed by a waterfall that tumbled down the side of a mountain. It was the favorite place of Alida, the daughter of a great and powerful Indian chief.
One day when Alida came to the pool to rest after a long walk, she was startled by a stranger—a young indian not from her tribe who was picking fruit from the trees.
He told her about himself to make her feel at home. He was a member of an enemy tribe who had been left behind after an attack and had lived in the forest by the pool ever since. Alida and Taroo became good friends. They would meet often at the pool. Their meetings were always brief so that no one would discover their secret friendship. In spite of Alida’s precautions, there came a day when someone saw them and told her father. Alida was forbidden to return to the pool, and her father decided to arrange a wedding to a man of his own choosing in order to put an end to Alida and Taroo’s romance.
Alida was grief stricken and prayed to her god for help. “Do not let me marry this man whom I do not love!” The god took pity on her and changed her into a beautiful red flower.
Meanwhile, Taroo, knowing nothing of Alida’s saddness, still waited for her by the pool, but she never arrived. One night, the moon took pity on him and called out “Do not wait for Alida. Your secret has been found out, and to avoid marrying another man, she cried out to the gods for help and was changed into a delicate red flower.” “Help me to find Alida”, Taroo cried out. The gods took pity on him also and changed him into a small multi-colored bird saying “Fly, Colibri, find your love among the flowers.” His wings made a humming sound as he rapidly flew away.
In the morning, the indians saw the new bird darting among the flowers as swift as an arrow and as bright as a jewel. They heard the humming of his wings and saw him hovering over every flower he passed and kissing the petals. They liked the bird with the music in his wings and called it a hummingbird.
Ever since then the little bird has hovered over every flower he finds, but he returns most often to the red ones still looking for Alida. He has not found her yet.
GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Use the following questions as the basis for a class discussion about the legend.
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1. Who are the four characters of the legend?
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2. Where does the legend take place? Does the location have anything to do with the end of the legend?
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3. Why is it important for Alida and Taroo to keep their relationship a secret?
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4. How does Alida’s father find out about Taroo?
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5. What happened to prevent Alida’s marriage to an unknown suitor?
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6. Of whom does Alida ask assistance to avoid the marriage? Why is this typical of a legend?
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7. What is the significance of changing Alida into a beautiful red flower?
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8. Why do you think the gods called Taroo “calibri”?
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9. What do we learn about hummingbirds from the legend?
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10. What is the purpose of this legend? What makes it a myth?
TOPICS FOR COMPOSITION: Students will choose one of the following topics and write a brief composition about how it relates to the legend.
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A. Briefly explain the importance of the gods in this tale. What purpose do they serve?
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B. Tell how the myth explains a philosophy. Why is this philosophy Puerto Rican?
Here are several charming tales in both English and Spanish that can be analyzed according to the discussion/ writing method. They are easy to understand and are excellent examples of a rich Puerto Rican folk tradition.
In English-(from
Once in Puerto Rico
by Pura Belpre)
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Three Tales of Old San
Juan
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The Little Blue Light
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The Parrot Who Wouldn’t Say Catano
In Spanish-
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Santiago—
by Pura Belpre
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El perrito que deseaba un nino—
by Catherine Wolley
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Juan Bobo y el hermanito
(y otros) by Rafael Ramirez de Arellano
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(from
Folklore Portorriqueno
)
(See the bibliography for other possible suggested tales)
Lesson Plan II
Topic
Create an original legend. This is a week long creative writing assignment.
Objective
Students will write original legends based on the Puerto Rican folktales they have read throughout the year. These tales may also be presented as skits.
This activity is meant to be the culmination of the exploration of Puerto Rican mythology, and as such will be used near the end of the school year.
Procedure
The following lesson plan is laid out by day to illustrate a particular progression of events.
Day One:
TOPIC SEARCH
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A. Organize students into groups of three or four. Each group is responsible for one legend.
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B. Search for a topic within each group. Students will make a list of all the possible themes they can think of as a basis for their legends.
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C. Eliminate any theme that does not appeal to the group as a whole. Only one theme is to be agreed upon; this is is the topic for the legend. At the end of the class period, each group must turn in a topic for its legend.
Day Two:.
FACT FINDING—This day is devoted to coming up with as much information about the chosen topic as possible.
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A. Students must decide on the CHARACTERS of the legend. What kind of characters (human or supernatural) are going to take part in the legend? How many characters are involved? (There should only be the number of characters in the legend as there are students in the group.) Who are the characters? What are their individual “personality” traits?
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B. Students must also decide on a SETTING (place and time period) for their legends. Character and setting information will be collected at the end of the class period.
Day Three:
THE OUTLINE
Students will spend the period in groups working on a chronological outline for their legends. They must decide what is going to happen in the legend, and in what order it will take place. It is best to have students set up an actual outline for their legends, taking into account all the major events and details they want in the legend.
Example:
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I. Major Event I
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A. Detail A
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B. Detail B
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II. Major Event II
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A. Detail A
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B. Detail B
Major event I should be the first event to take place in the legend. Major event II should be the second and so on, so that every aspect of the legend follows as strict a chronological order as possible.
Since it is often difficult for students to organize their ideas clearly, it may be useful to do outlining with them as a separate note taking activity in order to insure that this vital skill is learned well. Once the legend is organized in the students’ minds—the events and characters are in proper sequence—it is time to think about writing the legend.
Day Four:
THE ROUGH DRAFT
With outlines in hand, the students are ready to begin writing the first drafts of their legends. It is important that they realize they are writing a tale, so it is at this point that the teacher steps in as structural co-ordinator.
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A. Put a list of possible opening phrases on the board: “Once upon a time; Long long ago; In the beginning” etc. The students’ legends must read like legends and must therefore begin in this fashion.
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B. The body of the legend is left up to the students. As long as they are following their pre-approved outlines, everything should progress properly.
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C. The last paragraph of the legend should be devoted to a moral—the purpose or lesson of the tale. Tales were told expressly to teach something and therefore, the students’ legends must also contain morals or lessons.
Day Five:
THE LEGEND
The day has finally arrived to put the finishing touches on the legends. Students copy over their first drafts, incorporating any corrections and doing any last minute polishing that may be necessary.
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A. The teacher may suggest that students with drawing ability design covers for their myths.
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B. The group may also want to include illustrations within the legend.
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C. The legend may be accompanied by a time line illustrating the main events which took place during the particular time in history. In short, any cosmetic embellishment that the student might wish to undertake would be done at this time.
For the following weeks:
All the material has been presented, countless Puerto Rican folktales have been read and analyzed, students have created original legends. Now, the teacher may wish to present the legends as skits for other students possibly as part of a festival. The transformation of the legends is not complicated. Staging is rather simple and quite entertaining.
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A. Make the characters from the legends come to life. Each student is responsible for one character since the legends have the same number of characters as students per group. The best way to make a character come to life is to make a visual representation of the character. This can be done in any number of ways. Students could make sock puppets to represent the characters and put on puppet shows using their original legends. They could get even more involved in the activity by making paper mache masks which they would paint, decorate and wear to act out the legends themselves.
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B. Each student then plays the part of a character in the legend. Using dialogue from the legend, students would reinact the stories. One student from each group would act as narrator and give a brief introduction to the legend explaining what was taking place in the skit, and perhaps the reasons the group had for writing the particular legend.
By the end of the year, students have gained a storeroom of knowledge about Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican people through the country’s folk tradition. They have also learned to be more creative and hopefully will not be reluctant to explore other cultures on their own. The key to understanding is a willingness to explore new and varied avenues of thinking. It is our hope as educators that, through knowledge and exploration, the students will gain a clear understanding of people and events which affect their lives.