lesson plan examining a culture through its folktales...

Lesson Plan Examining a Culture through Its Folktales: ChinaWritten by Sarah Winne

1

Lesson Plan

Grade level ~ 3 to 7With adaptations for youngeror older students.

Subject AreasChinese LiteratureAsian HistoryFolkloreAnthropology

Time RequiredLesson 1: Two class periodsLesson 2: One class period

SkillsAnalyzing written and oraltexts for plot, theme, andcharacterization

Working collaboratively

Comparing and contrasting

Gathering, classifying, andinterpreting written and oralinformation

Making inferences anddrawing conclusions

Observing and describing

IntroductionBy examining the traditional literature of a society, one can discovermany cultural aspects of that society. Throughout all times, elders havecaptivated the attention of the children with tales of people and animals.Embedded in these folktales is information about a country’senvironment – its physical location, topography, and climate – andcultural information unique to the country - its housing, food, dress,religion, or education. Folktales also offer us a window to a culture’svalues, beliefs, and practices through problems that are faced and lessonslearned – the morals of the folktale.

This unit begins with a lesson based on a collection of folktales: Sweetand Sour: Tales from China Retold by Carol Kendall & Yao-wen Li.These are tales that have survived thousands of years throughout Chinesehistory, primarily passed down through oral tradition. The lessonconcentrates on tales that convey a moral, reflecting Chinese values.Students discover and identify aspects of culture, both unique to Chinaand universal in nature

The second lesson demonstrates how to portray a cultural belief throughliterary context. Many Chinese folktales have survived as short proverbs,understood and used by the Chinese as guiding wisdom for living.Students read a several Chinese proverbs and then select one as thetheme for their own storytelling.

Learning ObjectivesThrough these lessons, students will:• Identify the definition of a folktale• Compare & contrast folktales in traditional folktales from China• Identify cultural elements that are unique to China and incorporate

some of these in their own writing• Interpret the meaning of Chinese proverbs• Apply their understanding of a cautionary lesson or moral by

creating their own folktale based on a proverb

Guiding Questions1. What are folktales, and how are they different from other

stories?2. What do we learn about human nature and human behavior

from reading folktales?3. What do we learn about China from reading these folktales?4. How are folktales and proverbs alike and different?5. How can one use the literary construct of a folktale as the

vehicle for imparting wisdom to others?


2

A FolktaleA traditional narrative,handed down through oraltradition, usuallyanonymously.

The folktale involves ordinarypeople and perhaps talkinganimals or people with magic.The plot is adventurous withcharacters facing some sort ofproblem that is solved withinthe course of the story. Indoing so, the folktale conveysa sense of fairness or wisdom.

Purposes of a FolktaleEntertainRecount historyExplain originsConvey values

Literary Elements of afolktaleCharacters• Animals• Common folk• Those with wisdom• Those with magicSettingCultural elements• Dress• Food• Customs• ValuesProblem and solutionMoral lesson or wisdom

LESSON 1 – Day 1Procedure

1. Begin by asking the students if they know what folktales are.Ask they to tell you the names of some of the better-knownfolktales that they may remember. Ask if the stories are true, andif they know how old they are.

2. Begin by reading the story, Bagged Wolf, a story passed downfrom the Ming Dynasty, 1368 - 1644 AD.

3. After reading the tale, complete a folktale element chart with thestudents, discussing, listing and recording a short description ofthe folktale’s:• Main characters• Secondary characters• Setting• Cultural elements (dress, food, customs, etc.)• Problem and solution• Moral lesson or wisdom

4. Ask the students if any of them remember the dynasty fromwhich this particular folktale came. Have them look on a dynastytimeline to see where the Ming fits among the other dynasties.

5. Within the character discussion, review the type of characters(animal, common folk, privileged) and the special skills of thecharacters (wisdom, magic, education). Ask how the charactersin this folktale differ from other folktales and other kinds ofstories.

6. Review the cultural elements and the cultural context of thecharacters, setting, and plot by asking the students which aspectsappear to be uniquely Chinese and which are universal in nature.

7. Discuss the problem faced by the main characters, the solutionthat was reached, and the lesson that was learned. What valuesdo these reflect? Are the values uniquely Chinese or universal innature? Are there folktales from other cultures that reflect similarlessons?

8. Ask the students to word the moral lesson – the wisdomimparted by the folktale – in a short phrase or proverb that couldstand by itself as a reminder of the story and its lesson.


3

Sweet and SourTales Imparting Wisdom

Bagged WolfThe Clever Wife

The Living KuanyinSerpent Slayer

From Bad to Good to Bad toGood

The BetrothalThe Noodle

LESSON 1 – Day 2Procedure

1. Divide students into small groups of three to four, and assigneach group a different folktale from the Sweet and Sourcollection.

2. Each student group is to read the folktale and then complete aposter listing the elements of the story that were reviewed duringDay 1 of this lesson:• Main and secondary characters• Time period• Setting• Cultural information• Problem and solution• Moral lesson or wisdom

The chart on page 5 of this unit outlines this information for eachof the stories.

3. Each student group shares its poster with the entire class.

4. As a class, again review the ways the folktales are universal innature. What stories do the students already know that aresimilar in plot or lesson to the Chinese folktales that were justread. Then, also ask which aspects of folktales make the storiesuniquely Chinese.

5. Review the moral lesson or wisdom imparted by each of thefolktales.

6. Ask the students to return to their groups and create a shortphrase, or proverb, that could substitute for each of the folktales.

ADAPTATIONS and/or EXTENSIONS OF LESSON 1Rather than having students work in small groups, each reading a secondstory, read the second story as a whole class; students then work ingroups to identify and record the literary element information.

Students complete a Venn diagram, comparing and contrasting two ofthe folktales.

Students determine the four most important events in one of the folktales.They illustrate these in a four-panel series.

The story of Bagged Wolf appears in other cultures (see resource page).Students read alternate versions of the story, and compare and contrastthese.

Students read the entire volume of Sweet & Sour, and classify thefolktales as to type: trickster, origin, lesson.


4

A proverbA condensed pithy saying,accepted as true by manypeople, that conveysimportant advice or warning.The proverb is often rooted infolklore.

A metaphorA figure of speech in whichan expression refer s tosomething that it does notliterally denote in order tosuggest a similarity

Proverbs common to theAmerican culture

• Birds of a feather flocktogether.

• A stitch in time savesnine.

• Don’t count yourchickens before theyhatch.

• Don’t put all your eggs inone basket.

• An apple-a-day keeps thedoctor away.

• The early bird gets theworm.

• Make hay while the sunshines.

• You can’t teach an olddog new tricks.

• Absence makes the heartgrow fonder.

• A penny saved is a pennyearned.

• Practice makes perfect.• Money is the root of all

evil.

LESSON 2Procedure

1. Introduce the concept of a proverb – the short saying that canstand alone as a means of imparting advice or wisdom.

2. Make a list of proverbs that the students know and perhaps use intheir families.

3. Discuss the meaning of the different proverbs, and how themeaning is not always overtly apparent when stating the proverb– and yet within our culture, we often still know its meaning.The meaning is one that is derived metaphorically.

4. Also, briefly discuss the structure of the proverbs – how theyoften make use of rhyme or poetry techniques such as rhyme,alliteration, or assonance.

5. Talk about the stories that might be behind some of theseproverbs.

6. Share the list of Chinese proverbs with the students. Ask if thestudents are familiar with any of these proverbs, and if so, whattheir meaning might be.

7. Discuss the ways in which these proverbs are different fromthose used within the families of the students. Review theconnotation of each of the proverbs, and in doing that, the storiesthat might be behind the proverbs. What animal characters wouldbe in the stories? What common folk? What problems might thecharacters have been facing and what solution was reached?

8. Assist the students in a survey of the online Chinese Proverb site.Ask each student to find a proverb to share with the class. Thestudents should read the proverb, give its meaning, and propose astory that might be behind the proverb.

ADAPTATIONS and/or EXTENSIONS OF LESSON 2Students create an illustration for their selected Chinese proverbs.

Students write folktales conveying the selected proverbs as morals.Cultural elements of China could be included in these tales, if the studenthas enough knowledge of the setting and time period, or students couldset the stories within a familiar context (even downtown Boston, 2006).


5

A Glimpse atSweet & Sour

The Clever Wife

The Living Kuan-yin

Serpent Slayer

From Bad to Good toBad to Good

Bagged Wolf

The Betrothal

The Noodle

The Noodle

Time Setting Culture Problem Moral

Han MountainOcean

CoupletScrollsMagistrateBalance scaleWide sleevesPigs

A bragginghusband is askedto prove himselfby doing theimpossible.

“The hardestproblems arethose with thesimplestanswers.”

OralTradition

ProvinceSouth SeaRiversCliffGarden

Family namesCompassionTemplesBanditsSelf-denial

The goddess,Kuan-yin, allowsonly 3 questions,and Po-wan has4, including 1 ofhis own.

“A promiseshould neverbe made if itcannot bekept.”

Chin KingdomsMountainsCaves

DowrySwordLotus wrappedrice balls

To appease theserpent, a youngmaiden must besacrificedannually.

Rebellionagainstinjustice canbe justified

Han Northernfrontier

Barbarians A farmer’sfavorite mareruns away, andlater, he falls andbreaks hishipbone.

“Who knowswhat blessingmight comefrom this badfortune”

Ming Mountain Lord ChouSelf-denialApricotsRiceSilk/brocade

A disciple, TungKuo, is asked togive up his ownlife to satisfy awolf’s hunger.

A wolf in abag can’t betrusted.

[Don’t sparethose who preyon humanity.]

Han Mulberry Silk-wormmaiden

A lonely maidenpromises tomarry the stallionif he brings herfather home fromthe wars.

Promises mustbe kept

OralTradition

CoupletsMarriagecontract

A foolish man issent out into theworld to sharpenhis wits enoughto win a bride.

A fool and hismoney aresoon parted


6

Chinese ProverbsCollected by

HAIWANG YUANAssociate ProfessorWestern Kentucky

Universityhttp://www.wku.edu/~yuanh/China/proverb.html

An ambitious horse will never return to its old stable.

Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Hao3 ma3 bu4 chi1 hui2 tou2 cao3.)

An ant may well destroy an entire dam.Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Qian1 li3 zhi1 di1, kui4 yu2 yi3xue2.

Burn a forest to farm and drain a pond to fish.Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Fen2 lin2 er3 tian2, jie2 ze2 er3 yu2

Dripping water can eat through a stone.Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Di1 shui3 chuan1 shi2

A flying moth throws itself into a fire.Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Fei1 e2 tou2 huo3

Hit a stone with an egg.Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Yi3 luan3 tou2 shi2

A long march starts from the very first step.Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Qian1li3 zhi1 xing2 shi3 yu2 zu2 xia4

A mantis stalking a cicada is unaware of an oriole behind.Chinese original: Chinese Pinyin: Tang2lang2 bu3 chan2, huang2que4 zai4 hou4

Perseverance can reduce an iron rod to a sewing needle.Chinese original: 铁杵磨成针Chinese Pinyin: Tie3 chu3 mo2 cheng2 zhen1

A single tree makes no forest; one string makes no music.Chinese Pinyin: Du2 mu4 bu4 cheng2 lin2, dan1 xian3 bu4 cheng2yin1

Without rice, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook.Chinese Pinyin: Qiao3fu4 nan2 wei2 wu2 mi3 zhi1 chui1


7

Bibliography of ChineseFolktales in the Primary

Source Libraryhttp://www.primarysource.org/library/bibliographies/biblio_

folktale.htm

Book Resources shared during the Summer Institute

Chrisman, Arthur Bowie. Shen of the Sea: Chinese Stories for Children. NewYork: Dutton, 1968.

Fang, Linda. The Chi-lin Purse: A Collection of Ancient Chinese Stories.NY: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1995.

Han, Carolyn. Why Snails Have Shells: Minority and Han Folktales ofChina. Haiwaii: U. of Hawaii Press, 1993.

Kendall, Carol & Li-Yao-wen. Sweet and Sour: Tales from China wen Li,New York: Houghton Miflin, 1978.

Pittman, Helena. A Grain of Rice. New York: Bantam, 1986.

Yip, Mingmei. Chinese Children’s Favorite Stories. Vermont: TuttlePublishing, 2004.

Young, Ed. Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China. New York:Scholastic, 1989.

Young, Ed. The Lost Horse: A Chinese Folktale. Orlando: Harcount, 1998.

Young, Ed. The Sons of the Dragon King, A Chinese Legend. New York:Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2004.

Online sources of Chinese Proverbs and Folktales

Ancient Chinese Folktales for K-12 teachers & students. Mr. Donn.Org. <http://k12east.mrdonn.org/Chinesefolktales.html>

Ashliman, D. L. Folktales from China. March 18, 2002. U. Pittsburg<http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/china.html>

China: Dim Sum: A Connection to Chinese-American Culture - 6Chinese Folk and Fairy Tales. February 2000. Angier School, Newton, MA.<http://www.newton.mec.edu/Angier/DimSum.html >

Federation of Chinese Canadians. October 20, 2000. Chinese Folktales.<http://www.interlog.com/~fccs/culture.htm>

Selected Chinese Myths and Fantasies. 1998. China Vista.<http://www.chinavista.com/experience/story/story.html>

Winne, Sarah. Mythological Origins of Rice: The Legend of the SkyFlood. 2004. Conners Emerson School. <http://silver.emerson.u98.k12.me.us/staffwebpages/GT/rice%20web%20site/origins/myth.html>

Yuan, Haiwang. Chinese Proverbs. May 3, 2006. Western KentuckyUniversity. June 10, 2006. <http://www.wku.edu/~yuanh/China/proverb.html>

lesson plan examining a culture through its folktales...

Documents