Anansi and the Sky Kingdom is another folktale from West Africa about the trickster spider Anansi. This timeless story is written by the award winning creative team of Bobby and Sherry Norfolk. In this folktale the world is dark and King Lion asks for someone to go to the King of the Sky to ask for light. Many animals try but all of them fail to bring light to the world. Finally, Anansi offers to take on the task after all of the other animals have failed. He uses his wits and trickster skills to successfully bring light to the world and all of the animals rejoice.
Interest Level: Ages 4-8
Guided Reading Level: I
Lexile Measure: 570L
Bobby and Sherry Norfolk share this classic folktale about the brave and clever spider, Anansi. Just like other folktales from the oral tradition, there is an underlying lesson to be learned from the story and Anansi and the Sky Kingdom provides valuable life lessons in character values. The story also highlights the attributes of courage and resourcefulness that Anansi the spider displays through his efforts to bring light to the world. Anansi might be a trickster but he puts his skills to good use to help others in the animal kingdom.
When you join Story Cove you will have access to differentiated lesson plans for each grade level from kindergarten through the 2nd grade. All of the lesson plans are aligned to the Common Core Standards. The differentiated lesson plans for each grade level are designed to supplement the reading of Anansi and the Sky Kingdom. After reading this African folktale, students can explore the folktale in more depth while utilizing interdisciplinary connections in language arts, math, visual arts, dramatic arts, and character education. Reading comprehension is also a critical skill emphasized in the lesson plans for this story.
Anansi and the Sky Kingdom Online
Three options are available for viewing the online story of Anansi and the Sky Kingdom . There is the read-to-me option where the author simply reads the story, the read-a-long option that requires the student to select an arrow to go forward, repeat or back at the end of each page and finally the fully animated version of the story. All of these options are available with a subscription to Story Cove. Once you login just play each video right from your web browser or even project it onto an interactive whiteboard so that all of your students can watch the Anansi and the Sky Kingdom story at the same time.
Want to buy a copy of Anansi and the Sky Kingdom? The book can be purchased through August House as well as through other outlets like Amazon. There is also a digital version of Anansi and the Sky Kingdom that is available for young digital book readers using the Kindle Fire and an unabridged audio only version is available from Audible.
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