Stories from Other Cultures

Objectives

To compare different retellings of the same story.

Resources

Blank or lined paper

Today's Lesson

Spelling

Use the Practice/Test on Spelling Frame to review this week's words.

PRACTISE - Spelling Frame

Main Activity

Explain that we are going to continue looking at traditional tales with another story from Nigeria called ‘Why the Bat Flies at Night.’

A bush rat called Oyot was a great friend of Emiong, the bat; they always fed together, but the bat was jealous of the bush rat. When the bat cooked the food it was always very good, and the bush rat said, "How is it that when you make the soup it is so tasty?"

The bat replied, "I always boil myself in the water, and my flesh is so sweet, that the soup is good."

He then told the bush rat that he would show him how it was done; so he got a pot of warm water, which he told the bush rat was boiling water, and jumped into it, and very shortly afterwards came out again. When the soup was brought it was as strong and good as usual, as the bat had prepared it beforehand.

The bush rat then went home and told his wife that he was going to make good soup like the bat's. He therefore told her to boil some water, which she did. Then, when his wife was not looking, he jumped into the pot, and was very soon dead.

When his wife looked into the pot and saw the dead body of her husband boiling she was very angry, and reported the matter to the king, who gave orders that the bat should be made a prisoner. Everyone turned out to catch the bat, but as he expected trouble he flew away into the bush and hid himself. All day long the people tried to catch him, so he had to change his habits, and only came out to feed when it was dark, and that is why you never see a bat in the daytime.

Ask your student – are you familiar with the tale? Have you heard it before?

Next, watch the oral re-telling of ‘Why the Bat Flies at Night’.

WATCH - Why the Bat Flies at Night (YouTube)

WATCH – Why the Bat Flies at Night (YouTube) [Alternate version]

Ask your student - what did you like about it? How has the storyteller added her own twist? For example, language, speech between the characters, etc. What did she do to keep audience’s interest? Explain that this story is a traditional tale that has also been written down.

Citations

[1] www.youtube.com [2] www.youtube.com [3] spellingframe.co.uk