Trickster Tales

Objectives

• Students will use the Internet to read Asian trickster tales.
• Students will learn more about props used to help tell Asian stories.
• Students will retell the Asian trickster tales they read to each other using props they created.

Description

This is a clean and attractive Web site featuring five trickster tales from Asia. Students can also access information about Asian storytellers, props, wordplay, and storytelling styles on this site.

Suggested Activities

• Students can click on Wordplay from the Asia Web page to discover how storytellers use language to enhance their storytelling. Ask students to think about forms of storytelling in America, from puppet shows to movies and television. Which do they enjoy the most?
• Students can also select Tellers from the Asia Web page in order to read about well• known Asian storytellers. Students can then make storyteller baseball cards to summarize the facts they learned.

Level Activities

• Have students explore http://members.cox.net/academia/coyote.html. Then have students select the story How Coyote Stole Fire and:
read the story.
summarize the story on a piece of paper, then retell the story to a friend.
make a chart comparing this Native American story to the Asian trickster tale they read. Which story did they enjoy more, and why?