Pre-Primary: Literacy and Culture…The Crocodile and the Ostrich
Every Thursday at second circle, the children participate in a literacy circle with Luda. This includes shared reading, introduction to concepts of print and beginning strategies for reading. The first time a Big Book is introduced, the children have a picture walk of the story. They talk about what they see in the picture on each page and what the story might be about. They try to figure out what will happen on the next page; some of the children even try to predict what the characters are saying.
While studying Africa, we have read folk tales from different regions. One of the folk tales from Kenya, The Crocodile and the Ostrich, brought about a great deal of speculation. The children tried to figure out why the crocodile was sad and why he bit the ostrich. One of the children cried out when the page showed the ostrich with her head in the crocodile’s mouth, “Oh no! He’s up to no good!” The other children vehemently agreed. Sure enough, the next page showed the crocodile’s mouth closed around the ostrich’s head! Fortunately, the ostrich gets away, but not before his neck gets all stretched out; in response to the last page of the book a child spoke up “Well, I guess now we know why their necks are like that.” Another child responded with “You should never trust a crocodile…”
