Comparing proverbs

The lesson will feature comparisons of American and African proverbs.

A lesson plan for grade 3 English Language Arts and Social Studies

By Pat Chancer

Learn more

• Kanga writings This website has different examples of Swahili writing, including those found on Kanga, a traditional east African form of dress.
• African Proverbs From Washington State University, this site provides examples of different African proverbs.

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Related topics

• Learn more about Africa, community, compare and contrast, language arts, proverbs, and social studies.

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Learning outcomes

The students will gather African and American proverbs from family and school sources. They will compare and contrast the proverbs and interpret the lessons they are trying to teach.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

3-5 Days

Materials/resources

• drawing paper
• crayons/markers
• notecards
• chart paper

Technology resources

Computers with internet access

Pre-activities

Students will have been exposed to mottos and proverbs of famous people. They will have discussed the real meaning of the proverbs.

Activities

1. Children will interview family or friends to gather lists of proverbs.
2. Children will use classroom reference sites to gather African proverbs.
3. Each child will select one family-generated proverb and one African proverb.
4. Each child will draw pictures and write notecards with both the proverbs and what the proverbs really mean.
5. Each table group will put their pictures and notecards in a large plastic bag and exchange them with another table group. Each group will then try to match up the pictures with the two correct proverb cards.
6. Each table group will create a Venn diagram showing similarities and differences of their proverbs and present it to the class.

Assessment

See attached assessment rubric.

As each goal is met, the child will receive a check upon completion. Children will be given feedback and advice for correction if a goal was not met.

Supplemental information

Gold Nuggets, Readings of Experiential Education edited by Jim Schoel and Mike Stratton, 1990 by Project Adventure ISBN 0-934387-09-5.

Comments

This lesson was conducted for about one week during language arts class. The children spent time on the Internet and in the library researching proverbs and discussing and acting out their meanings. Children also interviewed family members and compiled a list of proverbs that families used frequently. This was very successful as the children were invested in the ones they got from their families. The only difficulty we ran into was the interpretations of some of the more obscure proverbs.