As children get older, they learn predict events that will occur in stories.
Utilizing lesson plans about the story "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears" can prevent your students from falling behind in their understanding of literature. "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears" is an African folk tale, which makes use of some easy-to-understand linguistic concepts such as onomatopoeia. The story contains themes about misunderstandings and taking responsibility for one's own actions which can be used to create a lesson plan. Other possible lesson plans focus on the cultural background of the story and the medium, students' ability to predict events in the story and summarizing information in the story.
Themes
Pick a theme in the story for your students to discuss. For example, you may choose the theme of misunderstandings and how they can develop into much larger problems. Talk through the events of the story with the students and discuss with them how the misunderstandings within it caused problems. You can play a game of Chinese whispers to understand how easy it is for information to be misunderstood or distorted through several re-tellings. You could also focus on the characters' penchant for blaming other people and not taking responsibility for their actions.
Cultural Background and Medium
Looking at the cultural background of the author of the book, Verna Aardema, and how it may have influenced the story's content is one idea for a lesson on the book. Encourage children to think about how aspects of the story were influenced by the author's background. This can also be used as a time to teach children about Africa. Teach children about the folk tale medium, and particularly how it was traditionally used by parents to illustrate important morals to children. This gives the student a deeper understanding of the cultural background and medium of the story.
Summarizing
Ask your students to summarize the story in their own words. Give them time to work on their summary of the events and have them write out the basic plot in their own words. This lesson plan allows children an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the events in the story and promotes understanding of the plot and events. You can get them to draw pictures of key events and summarize what's happening in a single sentence.
Predicting Events
Making predictions about future events in stories is a valuable literary skill for students to develop. Read the story to students but stop at key moments to ask pertinent questions. Use "I wonder" questions to generate responses from students. Explain that the future events of the story can be worked out based on what happens earlier on. Get the students to predict what happens in the story, and then see if their predictions are right. Ask students what led them to make each prediction.
Tags: events story, Mosquitoes Buzz, your students, Buzz People, Buzz People Ears, children about