More Trickster Tales by Author/Illustrator Gerald McDermott

 Kindergartners were introduced to children's author, Gerald McDermott.  He was selected for his retelling of lively trickster tales and amazing and colorful illustrations.  Mr. McDermott, now a resident of California, hails from Detroit, MI and is also an alumnus of my Alma mater, Cass Technical High School (more good reasons for being selected.)  He stated that his passion for art blossomed when he was enrolled in an art class at the Detroit Institute of Arts.  ( I hope we can take a trip there someday as a class.)  In the meantime, we will enjoy his series of books about tricksters from all over the world,  examine some of his  graphic arts techniques and geographical influences which bring these characters to life.

 Zomo the Rabbit:  A Trickster Tale from West Africa

We read about Gerald Mc Dermott's background in the inside cover of his book.

We discussed  Mr. McDermott's career as both author and  illustrator of the book.

We talked about Detroit being 40 miles away from Ann Arbor, how some of us live in Ann Arbor, that the story setting was in West Africa (not South America:) and that Ann Arbor is in Michigan which is in North America.  

We reviewed the use of "symmetry" while making tan grams at the beginning of the school year then  explored "asymmetry."   This led us right into  making observations on the subject during our  Math lesson.   While viewing pictures of African tapestries, wood carvings (including masks and door panels) and  fabric textiles, we discussed whether the design was indeed "symmetrical".   We had to refold some paper designs to create needed balance.  Some designs were "tricky" and required more careful observation.  We afterward illustrated our own symmetrical designs.

Kindergartners  talked about what it meant to be a "trickster"  and agreed on "one that plays jokes on others."     We  tried to predict how the story would end after Zomo received what he wanted.   We also learned that sometimes tricksters are the ones that get tricked!

Later in the afternoon we elaborated on the story- reviewed author/illustrator roles, identified the main and supporting characters, and discussed the setting.  (The Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions were also featured in the discussion.)   Finally, Kindergartners played a guessing game of "What's in the Bag."  The children were allowed to feel the item through the bag and make comments and predictions after everyone else had a chance to interact with the item.  Some predictions included:  a half of a water bottle (3),  a boat (1), and a mask (1).  We discovered that the item was actually an African mask from Kenya.  The children seemed to enjoy examining the wood carving and  pretending to wear the mask.

Wednesday 11/9:  Kindergartners discussed the difference
 between being clever and having wisdom.  We talked about Zomo having certain abilities (how to trick the other animals) but he lacked wisdom (should he?).

We discussed the writing technique of foreshadowing  -clues embedded in the story (or in this case illustrations) to predict what was forthcoming. The photo above from a page from Zomo predicted the 3 characters he was to encounter later in the tale.   Mr. McDermott is a master of Graphic Design.  He is skillful at cleverly interjecting African, Native American, or Asian motifs into his books to enhance each story.

 Kindergartners also explored various maps of the continents of Africa (particularly West Africa) and North America.   After reading  Anansi the Spider:  A Tale of the Ashanti, (also adapted by McDermott) and set in Ghana, West Africa,   we had the pleasure of having two children bring in artifacts from that region.  Folu shared a silk-screened shirt from Nigeria.  Its design depicted a water bearer.   Niccolo shared a Kente Cloth, a statuette, and a scepter with narratives for each.  He explained that the  wooden carving's image warned that if you did not have anything good to say-cover your mouth.  (Out of the mouths of babes.)   We also learned that kente cloth was weaved from one single woven piece  of thread and was originally reserved for royalty.  We even had a demonstration of its proper usage.  The scepter was presented when one desired audience with the ruler.

Anansi the Spider: A Tale of the Ashanti   by Gerald McDermott invoked a lot of discussion regarding its design work.  The children noticed in particular the patterning of the web and were partial to the character "Cushion."  They made predictions as to which of Anansi's sons was most worthy of  a special gift.  They also noticed that some symbols in the illustrations were very familiar and similar to contemporary signage i.e. "road builder."

 

 

On Wednesday 11/9, Kindergartners created "African" masks using "glittery" and earth toned  papers.  We recalled our use of symmetry while practicing our fine motor and cutting skills.

 

We also read and made a comparison of Who's In Rabbit's House by Verna Aardema with Zomo The Rabbit: A Trickster Tale from West Africa stories.  We noted similarities- both had rabbits as the main character, both trickster tales; and differences- Who's In Rabbit's House  is a Masai tale (East African-(Kenya and Tanzania) vs. Zomo's West African (Ghana) story.   Who's in Rabbit's House is also written as if it was a play.



Friday 11/11 was "Pajama and Lovie Day" in Kindergarten.  Children brought their favorite stuffed animal and came adorned in their nighties.  Ks practiced their public speaking skills while they introduced their visitors to the class and addressed questions about them.  Afterward, we cozied up to yet another McDermott tale,  Papagayo: The Mischief Maker.  This story was appropriate for the day because  this tale was about a daytime  encounter with a noisy parrot and several fatigued animals of the jungle.  We discussed what it meant to be nocturnal and also had a mini lesson on the phases of the moon.  We later enjoyed a theme-based snack of popcorn and a dance party.   We also had an indoor snowball battle with paper wades from the recycling bin!!!

We also practiced our folding skills making triangles.  We then strategically cut  and opened them to discover that we had made beautiful snowflakes.  We hung them on our "Apartment House Tree" in celebration of our 1st  snowfall of the year on Thursday 11/10. 
  

(Excerpt from "Pajamas" In Harmony:A Sesame Street Record, Children's Television Workshop, 1980.)
I've got my pajamas on
Before I go to bed I'm gonna run around 
I'm standing on my head
the world is upside- down.


Me and Wilson, my teddy bear
We're gonna do a lot of wigglin' before we go upstairs
What out you lions, you tigers,  you bears!
I've got my pajamas on.


I love being little,
I love being grown!
I've got my pajamas, got my pajamas, I've got my pajamas on! 
                                                  - Livingston and Maggie Taylor

   

11/14 Our fourth McDermott story was entitled Coyote:  A Trickster Tale of the American Southwest.  Our Geography lesson with maps revealed that Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah were included in this region.  We later investigated Mason's question, "Can coyotes really swim?"   We supplemented this story with another tale, Coyote Places the Stars by Harriet Peck Taylor and  talked about how some tales weren't necessarily "trickster" tales and may also include a lesson or explanation of how something came to be.  Our Math lesson included addition and subtraction problems using Native American symbols as pictorials. 

 Afterward, we designed our own headbands similar to those worn by the ravens in the  Coyote: A Trickster Tale from the Southwest story.  We used colorful feathers as our writing/drawing  instruments and  made sure to include one symbol in particular-"thunderclouds and rain" like the "Old Man Crow" character wore.  Ironically it began to thunderstorm outside of our classroom during this activity!  

 

Speaking of snowfalls, on Thursday, K-1,2 Buddies enjoyed a wonderful Reading Rainbow DVD about Patricia Polacco and various street artists then ventured out to the playground to design our own chalk drawings like one of the artists in the video.   It began to snow as we created.

 

 

Happy 5th Birthday, Mason!!!!!!!!!  We celebrated with yummy mini cupcakes! 

We followed up our chalk drawings on Tuesday with chalk face paintings at morning recess!

                                                     

 We reenacted  the "Vacuum Packed" experiment during Tuesday's Science class with Dr. George.    The children paired up and are writing their own "How To" manual on varying topics in Science class.  Safety features,  procedures, and materials needed were included in the discussion. 

 

 

Even teachers became "sucked in" to this attractive activity. 

Andy's (Warhol) Cans Food Drive Count: 23! 11/16/11




Arrow to the Sun "Kiva" (challenge chambers) sketches

 After reading Arrow to the Sun: A Pueblo Tale by Gerald McDermott.   The Kindergartners reviewed the sequence of the story by designing the four "kiva"  chamber challenges that the boy had to master in order to prove who he was.  The children had the opportunity to also create and design their own kiva challenge.

While observing the illustrations of Arrow, we noticed one icon repeated throughout the story, the corn.  Mr. McDermott used a cross section of a cob of corn as the symbol of "life"  throughout the story.  McDermott noted that historically, the Pueblo people cultivated corn and lived in houses embedded in the sides of cliffs.   Later, we used slices of a corn cob to stamp paint.   Other  cobs of corn were sliced and added with other chopped vegetables to create Cactus Soup.


















 We read the story Cactus Soup by Eric Kimmel during Circle Time and discussed its setting, Mexico.  We noted that it was another Southwest trickster tale and was similar to Stone Soup.  Mexican soldiers tap into a village's  kindness and hidden food storage in order to create a meal fit for a fiesta.  Kindergartners chopped potatoes, carrots, and celery and even added a cactus thorn graciously donated by Teacher Elaine.  We later added onions, garlic, broccoli, red and orange peppers, and shallots.  We even added some of the corn on the cob used in our art activity.   The scent of soup permeated throughout the building all afternoon.   A special thank you to Mrs. Carpenter for the use of her crock pot.   We served up delicious "Cactus Soup" and crusty bread for P.M. snack.

On Thursday "K Buddies" began with yet another trickster tale,  Monkey:  A Trickster Tale from India retold by Gerald McDermott.   Some giggled as monkey outsmarted a very hungry crocodile over and over.   Afterward, the children  paired up to create trickster tales of their own.   First and Second graders worked with the Kindergartners to compose their own trickster stories and draw joint illustrations.  Pairs then "read" or acted out their tales to the group.  It was exciting to listen to the creativity and watch the tricky teamwork in action.