The following Frame, Focus and Follow-up suggestions are best suited for elementary school students using this video in an English language arts, social studies or science lesson. Be sure to modify the questions to meet your students' instructional needs.
What is Frame, Focus and Follow-up?
Frame (ELA) What stories do you already know that explain why things are the way they are in nature? (Example: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears: A West African Tale by Verna Aardema)
Focus (ELA) As you watch the video and listen to the story, think about how this story fits the characteristics of a Pourquoi story.
Follow Up (ELA) Explain how this story fits the characteristics of a Pourquoi story. If you were to write a Pourquoi story, what would you like to explain in nature? Why? How would you explain it?
Frame (SS) What do you already know about different cultures? For example, how can stories be part of a country’s culture?
Focus (SS) Anansi is a character in African folklore. As you listen to the storyteller, listen for clues about the African culture that created this story.
Follow Up (SS) How could you retell the story of Anansi to show how the spider would live in today’s world? Think about what is different between Anansi’s culture and your culture.
Frame (SCI) What do you know about spiders, especially how they look?
Focus (SCI) Listen to how the storyteller explains in words and actions the reason why spiders have big “butts.”
Follow Up (SCI) The storyteller talks about spiders’ big butts, but in science we call this part of the spider the abdomen. Sometimes people call our abdomens "bellies." Does the scientific name for this part of the spider contradict the storyteller’s tale? How could the story be changed to make it scientifically correct?