How did stories come to the people? This ready-to-teach packet turns a two-minute narrated folktale into three lessons on listening, retelling, and passing stories on.
In Anansi: The Spider Who Brought Stories, a griot under the baobab tree tells how a small spider with a very hungry mind outsmarted the hornets, the python, and the leopard to win the Sky God's box of stories. Then the stories traveled across the Great Water to the Caribbean and the Lowcountry, where Anansi is still known as Kwaku Anansi, Anancy, and Aunt Nancy.
What's inside (19-page printable PDF):
3 sessions of 20–30 minutes each: Meet Anansi, Small but Clever, and Pass the Story On
Teacher background on the Akan Anansi tales, Nyame the Sky God, tricksters, and griots, with full source links
Talking About the Great Water: gentle, age-appropriate language for the crossing, following Learning for Justice's K–5 framework
Timed narration with scene descriptions and six pause points
Student pages: six Story Words cards, The Three Tricks story map, Clever, Not Strong, What Story Would You Put in the Box?, and an Anansi Has Many Names coloring page
Six Story Chest circle cards from The Anansi Story Chest by Bradford Pazant, M.Ed.
Pass the Story On family page in English and Spanish
Storyteller Checklist for retelling
Standards: Common Core RL.K.2–RL.3.2, RL.K.3–RL.3.3, SL.K.2–SL.3.2, SL.K.4–SL.3.4, and W.K.3–W.3.3; C3 Framework D2.Geo.7
Works with the free video on Teach Between the Lines TV (2 minutes 7 seconds). A QR code on the cover takes students straight to it.
Keep the circle going with The Anansi Story Chest, a free interactive story circle online. Draw a card, hear Anansi answer 70 big questions from curious minds, and talk over each circle question together. New to the Story Chest? Download the free teacher sheet for setup and a step-by-step guide to running your circle.
Ready for the full story circle? The Anansi Story Circle Kit adds 110 questions in Anansi's voice, an offline app, printable cards and a facilitator guide.
This packet stands on its own. For classes that want to keep exploring, The Ancestors' Journeys by Bradford Pazant, M.Ed. is optional further reading.
Digital PDF download. No physical product will be shipped.
License: one teacher, for use with their own students. Please do not share, post publicly, or resell.
