Tales from Beneath the Baobab
Lesson 4: Writing Myths
LESSON OBJECTIVE: To explore the myths which surround the origin of the Baobab tree.
RESOURCES: Image of ‘The Baobab in winter’; ‘Tall tales’ worksheet; ‘Ideas tree’ worksheet.
Objectives
Whole Class Activity
Independent Work
Plenary
Project development
Reading
To draw on different
features of texts, to
obtain meaning.
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Recap on the ICT lesson about the Fab Baobab. (If choosing
not to teach this, the Fab Baobab PowerPoint is a useful
introduction to this lesson) What can the children
remember? Explain that today we’ll be looking at the myths
and stories that surround the origin of the Baobab tree [5
mins].
Invite individual students
to share their ‘tall tales’
with the rest of the class.
Do you have a group
favourite?

Ask the children if anyone knows what we mean by the term
‘myth’? If children are unsure, explain that a myth is a story
which explains how or why something came to be.
Load the image ‘Baobab in winter’ on to the interactive
whiteboard. Explain that the Baobab looks like this for most
of the year. Looking at this picture, can anyone remember
why the Baobab tree is often called the ‘upside down’ tree?
Ask the children to think of adjectives and phrases that
creatively describe the tree [10 mins].
Children write their
myths based on their
ideas. Less able
children to select one
myth from the ‘Tall
Tales’ worksheet and
build on this, adding
detail to the story.
Class anthology: invite the
children to illustrate their
individual myths. Collect
together each story and
build a class book. Bind it
together and put it on
display for others to read.
Writing
Use and adapt the
features of a form
of writing, drawing
on their reading.
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Provide the children with the worksheet ‘Tall tales’ and
invite individual students to read out each tale.
Write the starting sentence on the board: ‘This is the tale of
how the Baobab came to be, and why it’s such an UGLY
tree…’. Ask children to contribute ideas to complete the
story [15 mins].
Ask the children to work individually to come up with ideas
to write a short story to explain the origin of the Baobab
tree. They can use the ‘Ideas Tree’ to help plan out their
story and should include powerful language. [25 mins].
Depending on the
needs of the class,
create a short success
criteria to demonstrate
the language to be
used. E.g Similies/
powerful adjectives.
Divide the children into
small groups, and ask
them to develop a
short piece of drama
telling one of their
Baobab myths.
Reminding them of the
dramatic techniques
from lesson 1.
Ask children to explore
myths from around the
world. What are the
similarities/ differences?
The Big Myth: Myths
from around the world.
Encourage children to do
individual research on the
Baobab tree. Can they find
any more famous myths to
explain the origin of the
famous tree?
Tales from Beneath the Baobab