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Curriculum Connections

Connecting Your Safari to the Curriculum: Traditional African Stories

The following Safari! poems contain traditional African stories:

Kifaru
Duma (two stories)
Nyani
Mbu

Traditional story versions of most of these poems can be found in the book, When Hippo Was Hairy: And Other Tales from Africa told by Nick Greaves (Barron's). Get the book and read some of the stories that match the poems. A comparison can make the point that literary techniques and devices are not necessarily limited by genre. Because each poem tells a story, it has a plot, characters, tension and a resolution, just like the story versions. Ask students: How are the two versions similar/different? What details are lost in the poem? What is gained via poetry? What literary techniques used in poetry are not often found in fiction? Discuss the tradition of epic poetry and compare it to storytelling/fiction. How do ballads compare?

Creative Writing Ideas: Before reading the story versions, have students rewrite the poems in prose form, adding details and conversation between the animals. Then read the stores from the book and see how your students stories compare.

Read more stories that explain why animals are the way they are in the book, When Hippo Was Hairy. In small groups, have students convert the stories into poetry. (You may want to do this after completing the activities described in Poetry Awareness Scavenger Hunt so your students are familiar with various poetry writing strategies.) Encourage students to maintain the most important details of the plot. Have students illustrate the poems, then put them together to make a book, or post them on the wall.

Have students research a variety of animals and write original why/how stories or poems about them using the stories in the book, When Hippo Was Hairy, as models.

In Duma, after explaining how it got its speed, claws and facial tear stripes, the cheetah challenges the readers to make up a story explaining how it got its spots. Brainstorm for plot and character details and write a class story/poem - or have students create their own individual versions. Illustrate and display.

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