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ABOUT THE BOOK

GUIDED READING: G

LEXILE LEVEL: 540L

CHARACTER TRAITS: Resourcefulness Sharing Trustworthiness

REGION: Africa

ISBN: 978-0-874838-01-5

Kindergarten

Lesson Plans and Teacher GuidesLesson Type: Differentiated Learning

Clever Monkey: A Folktale from AfricaWritten by Rob Cleveland

Outcome

Students will demonstrate an understanding of the story through the use of phonics, comprehension, illustration, and dramatization.

Overview

Students will read and explore a folktale from West Africa while utilizing interdisciplinary connections in language arts and social studies, as they sequence information, use pantomime, explore idiomatic expressions, and write.

Materials

General• Book The Clever Monkey

• Map or globe

• Pencil

• Paper

• Scissors

• Crayons or markers

• Selection of mild cheeses

• Crackers

• Plastic knives

• Napkins

• Plates

COMMON CORE

STANDARDS

NOTE: Find correlating Common Core Standards at the head of each activity section.

Clever Monkey: A Folktale from Africa

Page 2 of 12Story Cove | Lesson Plans

Kindergarten

Assessment Tools

• Discussion Questions

• Cat Phonics worksheet

• Copying Sentences worksheet

• Sequencing Pictures worksheet

Table of Contents

Introduction • 3

Discussion Questions • 4

Language Arts • 5

Phonics • 7

Dramatic Arts • 8

Extension Activity • 9



Kindergarten

Introducing the Story

Directions: • Each student receives a copy of The Clever Monkey.

• Preview the book together looking at each picture and making predictions.

• Discuss the meaning of the word clever.

• Explain: This is a folktale that started in Africa. Use a map or a globe as a visual aid.

• Africa has a very warm tropical climate.

• Africa has rain forests with lots of trees that create a great home for many animals, including monkeys.

• African people place great importance on storytelling.

• Many of the stories or folktales from Africa involve animals that assume human personalities.

• Some of the stories teach a lesson. Listen carefully so you know what lesson The Clever Monkey teaches.

• Read the story aloud as the students follow along in their own books.

• Pause on each page to ask the children, based on the story and the illustrations, how the animals have assumed human personalities.

COMMON CORE

STANDARDS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.5: Types of textCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7: IllustrationsCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.10: Group reading activities with purpose

Introduction



Kindergarten

For Assessing Comprehension

• Who are the three characters in the book?

• What did the cats find?

• What were the cats arguing about?

• What did the monkey offer to do?

• Why did the monkey keep eating little bits of the cheese?

• How did the cats feel when they were left with tiny pieces of cheese?

• How did the monkey feel?

• How did the book end?

• Why was the monkey clever?

• What lesson does the story teach?

COMMON CORE

STANDARDS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1: Details in textCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3: Identify characters, settings, and events

Discussion Questions



Kindergarten

Copying Sentences

Materials:• Copying Sentences worksheet

Directions: • Children copy these sentences and read as a group in

unison.

• Students then read these sentences to the teacher or other students.

• The cat sat.

• The cat is fat.

• A cat is on the mat.

• The rat saw the cat.

• I can pat the cat.

Sequencing Pictures

Materials:• Sequencing worksheet

• Scissors

• Pencil

Directions: • Cut out the pictures on this worksheet and place them

in chronological order.

• Write the number 1 under the first picture, 2 under the second picture, 3 under the third picture, 4 under the fourth picture and 5 under the fifth picture.

• Students practice retelling the story to a partner, while using these pictures as a guide.

COMMON CORE

STANDARDS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.10: Group reading activities with purposeCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.1A/ F: Uppercase and lowercase letters/complete sentences

Language Arts

COMMON CORE

STANDARDS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.2: Retell stories, key detailsCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3: Identify characters, settings, and eventsCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7: Illustrations



Kindergarten

Illustration

Directions: • Tell students: Cats have always stimulated peoples’

imaginations. There are many stories and superstitions about cats. It seems as if people either like or dislike cats. There is not much middle ground.

• Take a survey to determine how many students like cats and how many dislike cats.

• Teacher asks students to form opinions about both cats’ behavior in the story.

• Discuss each of these expressions below and have students illustrate one of these folk sayings about cats.

• When the cat’s away, the mice will play.

• A cat’s a cat and that’s that.

• Curiosity killed the cat. Satisfaction brought him back.

• The cat loves fish but hates wet feet.

• A cat is a lion to a mouse.

COMMON CORE

STANDARDS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.6/ CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.5: Types of text, role of author and illustrator



Kindergarten

Cat Phonics (Differentiated Learning)

Materials:• Cat Phonics worksheet

• Scissors, pencil, lined paper

Directions: Group A

• Complete Cat Phonics worksheet

• Cut out the cat, the letter strip, and the slits in the cat’s nose.

• Feed the letter strip into the slits in the cat’s nose.

• Practice with a partner reading the /at/ family words created by pulling the strip through the opening.

Group B• Complete the worksheet as group A.

• Copy all the words on lined paper.

Group C• Complete worksheet as group A and copy words as

group B.

• Complete Copying Sentences Worksheet.

COMMON CORE

STANDARDS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2A: Rhyming wordsCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.1F: Produce complete sentencesCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.1: Collaborative conversationsCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.2C: Phonemes

Phonics



Kindergarten

Pantomime

Directions: • Explain to students that pantomime is an important part

of African storytelling. Good storytellers can use body language and facial expressions to help tell a story.

• Look at the illustrations in the book. The animals say so much with the expression on their faces and with the position of their bodies.

• Students are divided into groups of three.

• They practice acting out the story using pantomime only.

• Each group performs for the class.

COMMON CORE

STANDARDS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7: IllustrationsCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1: Collaborative conversations

Dramatic Arts



Kindergarten

Cheese Tasting

Materials:• A selection of mild cheeses

• Crackers

• Plastic knives

• Napkins

• Plates

Directions: • Serve a variety of cheeses to the class and have the

children vote on their favorite cheese.

• Class creates a bar graph to show how well the students liked each cheese.

• Students can cut cheese in half with the plastic knife and pretend to be the monkey as they trim the cheese bit by bit.

• Students compare like objects that differ in size.

• They sort and classify items as “bigger” and “smaller”.

COMMON CORE

STANDARDS

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.MD.A.2: Comparisons

Extension Activity

KindergartenClever Monkey: A Folktale from Africa



Documents

Clever Monkey: A Folktale from Africa... · Clever Monkey: A Folktale from Africa Page 7 of 12 Story Cove | Lesson Plans indergarten Cat Phonics (Differentiated Learning) Materials: