Outcomes
Social Studies 5, Outcome 1:
Students will develop an understanding of how we learn about the past with a focus on Acadians, African Nova Scotians, Gaels, Mi’Kmaq and additional cultures.
Challenge
To learn a story orally. To tell a story.
Suggested time
1.5 hours
Anticipated Outcomes
Students will:
- appreciate various ways of sharing and passing on information.
- appreciate that myth, legend and history are often intertwined when relating stories and information about events that occurred a long time ago.
Procedure
- As a class, discuss how we learn about history. Are the ways we learn about something that happened long ago different from the ways we learn about something that happened recently?
- Read "Bho Ghlùin gu Glùin | From Knee to Knee".
- As a class, decide which parts of the story and characters we think are real and historical vs those which may be mythical. Why could the presence of myth and magic be an important factor in making sure a story continues to be told throughout the generations?
- Can we think of any real historical figures or incidents that exist in myth or fiction as well? Robin Hood, Cleopatra, Santa Claus/St. Nicholas. Make sure that the class realizes that the older the stories of events are, the more likely that there will be elements of fiction as well as fact.
- Allow for some time for students to think of a story that they heard about someone in their family or even something that happened to them. Instruct them that the telling of this story should be around 5 min.
- Hand each student some paper, instruct them to fold it into several rectangles and have them storyboard events of the story.
- Pair students and have them tell their stories to each other. Make sure they are informed that stories in oral traditions are listened to many times before they are retold so they may not recall all aspects of the story.
- The children must retell the stories that they heard. The classroom can be arranged as a comfortable space for this.
Review and Reflection
- What helped us recall events and characters in the stories we told?
- How can we better tell stories so that they can be more easily recalled?
- What information is still transmitted orally today, in our lives?