Lesson Plan

Book: The Night Has Ears, Ashley Bryan, 1999

Grade Level: Prekindergarten-Third grade

Multicultural Theme: African heritage and cultural differences.

Materials: The book The Night Has Ears, by Ashley Bryan, water paint, paint brush, canvas,
construction paper, pencil, colored pencils or crayons and notebook paper.

Standard: CCSS.ELA- Literacy. RL. 2.7 - Use information gained from the illustrations and
words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

Objective: Students will be able to get a better idea of what African culture is truly like, while
being able to create their own version of an African proverb with 90% accuracy.

Procedure

Introduce: Show the book The Night Has Ears, Ashley Bryan and say, “Today we are
going to learn about African proverbs. Has anyone ever heard of a proverb in general?” Brief
discussion of proverbs, with examples of some more common proverbs to try and create a
connection. Ask students to write down what they initially think a proverb is. Ask students to
write down what they think the differences between proverbs are depending on the culture.

Read: Teacher reads the book aloud to their class.

Discuss:
 Question 1: After reading The Night Has Ears by Ashley Bryan,
how do you think proverbs have affected the African culture?
 Question 2: In your own words, what is a Proverb?
 Question 3: Do you think that we use Proverbs in our own culture?
If so how?
 Question 4: Do you think the illustrations in the book correspond
with the proverb itself?
 Question 5: Did the illustrations help with you understanding the
proverb itself?
Activities:
 Students get into small groups and will work on creating their own
illustration of an African proverb. They may use the canvas, and
water paint, with their paint brushes to create their illustration.
(Must have a completed rough draft before moving on to the final
canvas illustration)
 Students will then grab a piece of construction paper and write
their very own African proverb with 90% accuracy. After they
have written their proverb, and painted their illustration they will
present it to the class and discuss why they chose to pair their
proverb with their illustration.

Evaluation: Teacher checks students' work on the African proverb’s for accuracy, and
creativity.