As an activator/hook introduce the following concept and question to students:
- We all belong to various groups-our family, our friends, our sports teams, our churches or even our favorite clubs. We also all belong to various, sometimes overlapping, cultural groups, including race, ethnicity, and nationality. How we speak, the roles we take and even how we interact within each group is often unspoken yet well known.
- How did you or did you know what to do? Examples may include:
- Watching how others act or participate
- Reading or being told the rules
- Learning from our mistakes and those of others
- Parents, guardians, mentors, coaches or friends
Introduce to students that in Mali there has been a tradition established thousands of years ago where specific people were tasked with telling the history, traditions and rules of the people. Explain that this role goes by many names (bard, djeli/jeli or griots) and utilizes both the oral storytelling tradition and also the use of song. Tell students they will learn about a very important song/story that has been transmitted from generation to generation for close to 800 years. Explain that many groups and nation have a founding story and that they will be learning the epic story of the founding king of Mali, Sundiata. Engage students in discussion about an epic.
- Can you think of any stories that have been called epics? Examples may include:
- The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, The Lord of the Rings
If students are unable you can provide the following overview of an epic before, during or after their responses.
- The epic follows common epic traditions of the young leader who must prove themselves worthy, passing through moral, physical and/or political challenges.
Provide students with a copy of the Student Context and read together adding additional basic context to the story as well as making historical connections related to your classes previous or upcoming studies (to Mansa Musa, the Magna Carta or related epic tales-See Teacher Context and Teacher Tips).