Literature: Non-African Folktales and Their Features for JSS 3

Class: JSS 3
Term: First Term
Week: 2
Age: 14 years
Duration: 60 minutes
Subject: English Studies
Curriculum Theme: Literature
Previous Lesson: Grammar/Structure: Adverbials of Frequency, Purpose and Reason
Topic: Literature
Subject Matter: Features of non-African folktales: didactic, entertaining and archaic

Specific Objectives

By the end of the lesson, pupils/students should be able to:

Cognitive Domain

• State and explain the features of non-African folktales.
• Describe key features, themes, and moral lessons of selected non-African folktales.

Affective Domain

• Appreciate the cultural diversity present in non-African folktales.
• Show interest in reading and discussing different types of folktales.

Psychomotor Domain

• Identify specific examples of didactic, entertaining, and archaic elements in folktales.
• Summarize the themes and moral lessons from a given non-African folktale.

Social Domain

• Participate actively in discussions about folktale characteristics.
• Collaborate with peers to identify common themes across different folktales.

Reference Materials

The following resources were used in planning this lesson:

• 2014 Senior Secondary Education Curriculum (SSEC)
• Relevant State Unified Scheme of Work
• A suitable English Language textbook for JSS 3
• FCT ERC/NAPPS Scheme of work

Instructional Materials

The teacher will teach this lesson with the aid of:

• Selected non-African folktales (printed copies or summaries)
• Whiteboard or chalkboard
• Markers or chalk
• Pictures or illustrations related to the folktales

Rationale for the Lesson

This lesson is important as it broadens students’ understanding of literature beyond their immediate cultural context, exposing them to diverse storytelling traditions. It helps students develop critical thinking skills by analyzing the underlying messages and cultural values embedded in these narratives. Understanding these features also enhances their appreciation for the universal elements of storytelling.

Prerequisite/Previous Knowledge

Students should have a basic understanding of what folktales are and some experience with reading or listening to simple stories.

Lesson Content/Board Summary

Literature

Features of Non-African Folktales

Non-African folktales are traditional stories originating from cultures outside the African continent. They are often passed down orally through generations and typically feature common characteristics that distinguish them.

Key features of non-African folktales include:

1. Didactic Nature: Many non-African folktales are didactic, meaning they aim to teach a moral lesson or convey a particular value. They often illustrate the consequences of good and bad behaviour, promoting virtues like kindness, honesty, perseverance, or warning against vices like greed, deceit, or laziness.
2. Entertaining Elements: Folktales are primarily meant to entertain their audience. They achieve this through engaging plots, interesting characters (often including magical beings, talking animals, or heroes and villains), elements of fantasy, adventure, and sometimes humour. The narrative structure is usually simple, making them easy to follow and enjoy.
3. Archaic Language: While not always overtly present in modern retellings, many traditional folktales originated in periods when language was different from contemporary usage. They may contain archaic words, phrases, or sentence structures that reflect older forms of the language, adding to their historical and cultural flavour.

Key Features, Themes, and Moral Lessons in Selected Folktales

Let’s examine some well-known non-African folktales to identify their features, themes, and moral lessons:

Cinderella (European Folktale)

1. Features:
   1. Didactic: Teaches about perseverance, kindness, and the triumph of good over evil.
   2. Entertaining: Features a magical fairy godmother, a grand ball, a lost slipper, and a royal search.
   3. Archaic elements: Reflects old European societal structures (princes, kingdoms, step-families).
2. Themes: Hope, injustice, transformation, kindness rewarded.
3. Moral Lesson: Goodness and humility will eventually be rewarded, even in the face of adversity.

Little Red Riding Hood (European Folktale)

1. Features:
   1. Didactic: Warns against talking to strangers and disobedience.
   2. Entertaining: Features a cunning wolf, a naive girl, and a dramatic rescue.
   3. Archaic elements: Depicts traditional village life and dangers of the forest.
2. Themes: Obedience, danger, deception, innocence.
3. Moral Lesson: Be cautious of strangers and always obey your elders’ instructions for your safety.

The Three Little Pigs (English Folktale)

1. Features:
   1. Didactic: Emphasizes the importance of hard work, planning, and diligence.
   2. Entertaining: Features talking pigs and a huffing, puffing wolf, with repetitive phrases.
   3. Archaic elements: Simple rural setting and animal characters.
2. Themes: Hard work, perseverance, wisdom, consequences of laziness.
3. Moral Lesson: Hard work and careful planning pay off in the long run, while laziness can lead to trouble.

Teaching Methods/Instructional Techniques

Discussion, Explanation, Question and Answer, Guided Reading, Group Work

Instructional Procedures

Step 1: Introduction

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Activating Prior Knowledge

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher greets the students and asks them to recall some folktales they know, especially those from Nigeria. The teacher then introduces the idea that folktales exist in other parts of the world too.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils respond by mentioning Nigerian folktales they know.

Learning Point: Introduction to folktales

Step 2: Defining Non-African Folktales

Time: 10 minutes

Teaching Skill: Explanation/Definition

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher explains what non-African folktales are, giving examples of regions where they originate (e.g., Europe, Asia, Americas). The teacher then introduces the first key feature: didactic nature.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils listen attentively and ask questions for clarification.

Learning Point: Non-African folktale meaning

Step 3: Discussing Didactic Feature

Time: 10 minutes

Teaching Skill: Guided Discussion

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher explains “didactic” with examples, highlighting how folktales teach moral lessons. The teacher reads a short summary of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” (a non-African folktale) and guides students to identify its moral lesson.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils participate in the discussion, identify the moral lesson, and share their understanding of the didactic feature.

Learning Point: Didactic nature of folktales

Step 4: Exploring Entertaining Elements

Time: 10 minutes

Teaching Skill: Illustration/Analysis

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher explains how folktales entertain through plot, characters, and fantasy. The teacher reads a summary of “Cinderella” and guides students to identify the elements that make it entertaining (e.g., fairy godmother, glass slipper, transformation).

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils listen, identify entertaining elements, and discuss what makes the story engaging.

Learning Point: Entertaining elements identified

Step 5: Understanding Archaic Language

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Explanation

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher explains “archaic” in the context of language, noting that traditional folktales sometimes use older words or expressions. The teacher provides simple examples of archaic words or phrases that might appear in older versions of folktales (e.g., “hark,” “thou,” “perchance”).

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils listen and note the explanation and examples.

Learning Point: Archaic language explained

Step 6: Group Activity: Analyzing Folktales

Time: 10 minutes

Teaching Skill: Group Work/Application

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher divides the class into groups and provides each group with a summary of a different non-African folktale (e.g., “Little Red Riding Hood,” “The Three Little Pigs”). Each group is tasked with identifying the didactic, entertaining, and archaic features, as well as the main themes and moral lessons.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils work in groups to analyze their assigned folktale and prepare to present their findings.

Learning Point: Folktale analysis practice

Step 7: Evaluation/Review

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Questioning/Assessment

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher evaluates the learning by asking the following questions:

1. Mention two features of non-African folktales.
2. Explain what it means for a folktale to be “didactic.”
3. From the folktales discussed, state one moral lesson you learned.
4. How do non-African folktales entertain their audience?

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils answer orally and in writing.

Learning Point: Folktale features assessed

Step 8: Note-Taking

Time: 10 minutes

Teaching Skill: Guided Writing

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher guides pupils/students to copy the essential Board Summary notes on the features of non-African folktales and the analysis of selected folktales into their notebooks.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils/students copy the notes carefully into their notebooks.

Learning Point: Board notes recorded

Step 9: Conclusion

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Reinforcement

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher briefly summarizes the main points of the lesson, emphasizing that non-African folktales, like all folktales, serve to teach, entertain, and preserve cultural heritage. The teacher encourages students to read more folktales from different cultures.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils listen and reflect on the lesson.

Learning Point: Lesson consolidation

Continuous Assessment/Further Study

Type: Homework

Instruction: Choose one non-African folktale you know or can find (e.g., “Hansel and Gretel,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “The Tortoise and the Hare”). Read it and then answer the following questions in your notebook:

1. Briefly summarize the folktale.
2. Identify and explain one didactic feature present in the story.
3. Describe one element that makes the story entertaining.
4. What is the main theme of the folktale?
5. What moral lesson does the folktale teach?

Lesson Keywords

• Folktale – A traditional story passed down orally.
• Non-African – Originating from outside the African continent.
• Didactic – Intended to teach a moral lesson.
• Entertaining – Providing amusement or enjoyment.
• Archaic – Very old or old-fashioned language or style.
• Theme – The main subject or idea in a piece of writing.
• Moral Lesson – A message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story.

Differentiation

Support: For students who struggle, the teacher can provide simplified summaries of folktales and guide them with sentence starters for identifying features. Pair them with stronger students for group activities. Focus on identifying just one feature or moral lesson per story.

Extension: Advanced students can be challenged to compare and contrast the features of a non-African folktale with a Nigerian folktale, discussing similarities and differences in their didactic messages or entertaining elements. They could also research the cultural context of a specific non-African folktale.

Suggested Lesson Videos

Search on YouTube for: “features of non-African folktales JSS 3 English”

Search on YouTube for: “Cinderella story with moral lesson”

Search on YouTube for: “Little Red Riding Hood story analysis”