Lesson number 3 :Sunjata: Epic tale of the Mali empire
Teacher Candidate Brandon Atkins Date_4/21/2014
School _ Grade/Subject 7th grade Social Studies
Lesson Topic Mali Culture __ Title The Sunjata: Epic tale of the Mali empire
Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to gain an understanding of Mali/ West African culture by reading the Sunjata and discussing the cultural aspects and importance of this work
Background: This lesson will serve as a look into the history and culture of the Mali Empire
INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES/ STUDENT OUTCOMES
I. By the end of the lesson students will be able to ascertain culturally important traits from epic literature
II. Students will know the story of the Sunjata and but able to discuss the story.
III. Students will be able to explain how epic folk lore contributes to the history and culture of a society
BIG IDEAS: Culture, epic folk lore, the Mali Empire, cultural traits shown by storytelling.
Guiding Question
What can we learn about a culture from their stories, fables, and epics?
How did the Mali culture come to be? What do we know about their origins?
How accurate can the traditional stories of a people be? Can we take historical evidence away from them?
Who is Sunjata?
WV CSOs
Objectives must be supported with WV Content Standards (WVCSOs).
CSOs are very broad objectives and may be designed to cover many lessons. Your CSOs must support your lesson objectives and should not be greater in number than your lesson objectives.
SS.7.G.3
SS.7.G.6 analyze the impact of cultural diffusion on a variety of regions. compare and contrast the geographic factors that contributed to the rise of early civilizations and native cultures (e.g., Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome).
SS.7.H.CL1.2 identify the contributions and influences of ancient civilizations and categorize the factors that led to their fall (e.g., philosophy, architecture, civics, literature, the arts, science
•
•
•
• and mathematics).
•
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Greece
Rome
India

•
•
China
Ancient civilizations of North and South America.
SS.6-8.L.12 write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments or technical processes.
• introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts and information into broader categories as appropriate to achieving purpose; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts and tables) and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
• develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
• use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
• use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
•
• establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone. provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.
National Standards
CULTURE- This lesson not only is rooted in folk lore/ epics of this society, but we are also studying the development of a people and their tradition. West African culture and traditions are rooted in the Mali Empire. By studying these people and their epic the Sunjata, we come to understand, and know their culture.
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT AND IDENTITY- this is a lesson on not only history, but traditions, culture, and the development of the identity of West African ethos. This epic is based in historical fact, as a mythic quality, and the performance of this storie is a large part of West
African tradition and culture. We will study how this society developed, and the folk traditions that linger to this day with this story and dance.
WV 21ST CENTURY LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Information and Communication Skills
Thinking and Reasoning Skills
Personal and Workplace Skills
FACTS/CONCEPTS
The West African epic of Sunjata, the Mande king, has been transmitted orally by professional bards called griots (or jali in the Mande languages) since at least the fourteenth century. This epic will serves as a semi historical account of how the empire formed. In addition it shows the cultural importance of folk lore in the Mali culture.
MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
Describes how time is set to accommodate the lesson. Just give time and not details. For example:
Overall Time – 45minute lesson

Time Frame – 10 min. introduction summary of the text
20 min reading of the Sunjata- alternating readers
10 min. youtube video on the Sunjata
5 min HW assignment, essay format (see attachment)
STRATEGIES – that you will use to teach
Teacher/student led discussion, guided instruction, scaffolding, Think, Pair, Square, discovery learning, group reading/ concept checks
FACTS

Sunjata is a historical person, the first king of the Mali.

We know that parts of this tale are historically accurate

The Sunjata is the Epic essential of West Africa.

There is debate about how much we can take away from Epic poetry
CONTEXTUAL TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES
AC: Academic Controversy- we will debate and discus issues surrounding the Sunjata. Who much of it is legend? How much is fact? Can we learn historical lessons from a epic tale? We know historically that Sunjata was the real first king of the Mali, but what can we take away from this story that is fact?
CIRC: We will be reading as a group, learning about the Mali people through their epic. We will take turns reading and discussing this epic and the Mali culture.
DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION/ ADAPTATIONS/ INTERVENTIONS
Any student who has difficulties reading will not be asked to read aloud, in addition these students will be aided by print offs discussing and summarizing the text we will read in class.
PROCEDURES
This section has three parts, each are an important part of the lesson.
Introduction/ Lesson Set
First we will introduct the lesson. The Mali people trace their heratiage to a single tail of folk lore, in this, we see an account of how the empire was formed.
Body & Transitions
First we will read a small portion of the text that developed the Character of Sunjata, then we will summarize the events that transpire in the story and discuses. Since the epic is done is dance/ singing/ performance ways we eill watch an example of this in a short clip on YouTube
http://youtu.be/wRAhIMIMyVQ
Closure
When the lesson is over students will have an essay based worksheet to do (see attachment)
ASSESSMENT
This section is to identify the lesson objectives Not the WVCSOs AND the National Standards.
All objectives must be assessed. MATCH your objectives to each of the three types of assessment. For example if you have 4 lesson objectives you must state how you assess each of

these objectives. You are encouraged to use parenthesis following each assessment description.
For example: Formative: Will move among students as they complete the handout on photosynthesis (objectives 1, 3).
Diagnostic:
Diagnostic will include a discussion about folklore/ epics/ and West African dance tradition, students understanding will be gaged by instructor.
Formative:
Formative assessment will be done by collecting and checking the assigned essay based worksheet (see attachment) Objective III Objective II
Summative:
Summative will involve monitoring of assigned reading by instructor, Q and A about concepts and discussion. Objective I and II
MATERIALS
Printed exert of the sunjata
Youtube
Smart board
EXTENTED ACTIVITIES
If Student Finishes Early
If the students finish their assignment early they will be instructed to read more of the epic, seeing as we will only read a small exert.
If Lesson Finishes Early
If the lessons finish early, we will watch more of the epic being performed live. In addition, we could do an additional reading.
If Technology Fails
If technology fails, we will simply read and not watch an example of this being performed.
DATA BASED DECISION MAKING
No Data will be collected during this lesson.
POST-TEACHING
I think this will do well to show the cultural impact of the Mali people, in addition, this is a semi historical tale and the concepts discussed in the epic show how the empire formed.
In class we will read excerpts of the epic, as well as summarize events of the epic
Summary of sunjata epic example from http://www.gradesaver.com/sundiata-an-epic-of-oldmali/study-guide/short-summary/
: The epic of Sundiata is told by the griot (storyteller and keeper of history) Djeli Mamadou
Kouyaté. He begins with details of Sundiata's ancestors, as the force of history is important in the tale of the man whose victory will create the Mali Empire.

Sundiata's father, Maghan Kon Fatta, was king of the city of Niani. One day, a soothsaying hunter foretells that he will produce a great ruler through the marriage of an ugly woman. Later, two hunters bring a woman to offer as his wife, and he sees this is the foretold woman, Sogolon.
The hunters earned her by defeating a monstrous buffalo that was terrorizing a land far away.
Through showing kindness to an old woman, they were taught the secret of the buffalo and then given their choice of woman by the king whose realm was being terrorized. The old woman told them to choose the ugliest maid, and they did. The king takes Sogolon for his wife, but she refuses to let him consummate the marriage until magic powers help him to rid her of a wraith
(spirit) that was making her resistant. Sundiata is conceived.
In childhood, Sundiata faces two obstacles: first, because of the prophecy, the king's first wife
Sassouma Bérété spreads vicious rumors about him and Sogolon in an effort to elevate her own son's stature; and second, he is crippled and does not walk until the age of 7. Despite his physical limitations, his father sees wisdom in his son and gifts him griot Balla Fasséké, the son of his own griot. The king dies soon afterwards and his eldest son, Dankaran Touman, is given control by the elders, who do not see much future in the crippled boy. One day, when Sogolon is embarrassed by the queen mother, Sundiata uses a rod to help himself stand on two legs and from this day onwards, his strength is unmistakable.
Frightened her own son will lose his control, the queen mother Sassouma Bérété orchestrates exile for Sundiata, Sogolon, and their immediate family. For seven years, they travel from asylum to asylum, sometimes being shown great hospitality and occasionally being mistreated by their hosts. All the while, Sundiata learns of new peoples and customs, while impressing most people he meets. He spends a particularly long time with Moussa Tounkara at Mema, who helps raise Sundiata and teaches him the ways of war so as to potentially groom the boy as his heir.
Sundiata also learns during his exile about the evil sorcerer king Soumaoro Kanté, who is slowly forcing the cities of Mali and beyond under his control through cruelty. When Niani falls to the sorcerer king, a search party is sent to Ghana to find Sundiata and ask him to claim his mantle as ruler. Though his choice to return to Mali and battle the sorcerer king upsets the Moussa
Tounkara, he is ultimately given his blessing and the first of his subservient armies.
Sundiata goes to many cities and lands that he visited during his period of exile, slowly building up his army. Finally, his armies come up against those of Soumaoro. Though Sundiata is successful in his battles, he cannot harm the sorcerer king because the latter has magical protections. Sundiata turns to magic for help, and through sacrifice is able to craft a magical arrow. In their largest battle, Sundiata nicks Soumaoro with the arrow and the sorcerer king loses his power. Soumaoro retreats and escapes.
Accompanied by Fakoli, Soumaoro's nephew who revolted after being betrayed by his uncle,
Sundiata pursues Soumaoro for several days. They finally trap him in a cave with nowhere to go; they have won. After his victory, Sundiata defeats the kings who stayed loyal to the sorcerer king. He then returns to Niani and founds the Mali Empire, splitting it up to show respect for all the rulers who promise to serve him.
The griot ends the epic by praising Sundiata and his rule of the golden age of the Mali Empire.
He tells the audience that Mali is eternal and that reminders of history are everywhere, but only the griot can know all.