1. Name of Children’s Book:

Aardema, Verna., & Vidal, Beatriz. Bringing the rain to Kapiti Plain: A Nandi tale. New York: Dial Press for Young Readers. 1981. Print.

2. Summary of Children’s Book

Brining The Rain To Kapiti Plain is an African Folktale about a man named Ki-pat who watches over the Kapiti Plain and the beautiful creatures that call this land home. One year they have a huge dark storm cloud cover up the plain. This cloud causes a terrible drought, which leads the animals to migrate and the land to become dry. Ki-pat still watches over the plain and thinks about how he can bring water to his cows that moo for the rain.

One day an eagle flies by and drops a feather next to Ki-pat. He constructs a bow and makes an arrow out of this eagles feather. Ki-pat uses that bow to shoot his homemade arrow into the dark cloud that hangs over the Kapiti Plain. The arrow pierces the cloud and rainfalls down from the sky in between loud cracks of thunder and lighting. The rain turns the grass back to its lush green color and allows the cows to grow fat. Ki-pat has a son who now watches over the Kapiti Plain and shoots down rain when storm clouds loom over the land.

3. Questions Pre-reading Where do you think this story is going to take place and why do you know? How do you think Kenya is compares to Iowa? Is it close to us? Is it far away? Lets look

at our class map and see! What stands out to you on the cover of this book? Who do you think the man on the cover is in this story?During Reading (On page 4) Look at these animals in the story, what are some other animals that migrate

or travel from one place to another? Why do you think animals migrate? (pages5/6) Have you ever seen a cloud like this all heavy with rain? What do you think

the cloud is going to do? (Page 13) Talk to your partner about different ways the eagle feather could help the

weather change. (Page 17) What is Ki-pat going to do with a bow and arrow? How is this going to help

with the weather change?Post Reading Was your prediction about who the man on the cover of the story correct? Thumbs up or

down. Why was water so important to Ki-pat and the Kapiti Plain? What types of animals, plants, or land did you see in the Kapiti Plain? What kinds of

plants, animals, and land do we see in Iowa? How do they compare? What would you have done to make it rain if you were Ki-pat?

ACTIVITY ONE

Content Discipline: Creative writing

NCSS StrandIndividual Development and Identity is the NCSS strand for this activity is addressing.

Through this activity students will explore how their personal identity is shaped by their culture or groups (family) influences.

Goal or Objective:After reading, Bringing the rain to Kapiti Plain students will use one of the prompts

provided to write a minimum of two journal entries from little Ki-pat.’s perspective.

Activity Description:Materials Needed:-Bringing the rain to Kapiti Plain-Paper student journals -Writing Utensils-Colors (crayons, colored pencils, markers, etc.)-Journal Prompts

As a class we will review what happened in the story Bringing the rain to Kapiti Plain. I will bring the student’s attention to the last few pages of the story where we meet Ki-

pats family. We will have a large class discussion about what they think it means to be a parent. The

students will have time to talk with their shoulder partner. We will then share out ideas and write them down on the board. Students will talk with their shoulder partner about what it means to be a son or a

daughter. We will hear a response from every group and write them down on the board. The class will discuss how what our parents or guardians do affect who we are and what

we believe in and who we are as individuals. Next explain to students that they will be writing journal entries from the point of view of

little Ki-pat. The must complete one journal entry for each of the following prompts. Students should express how they are feeing, what they are thinking, and how what their father has taught them can effect their actions. If the students are finished writing quickly have them go back and proof read their entry. Students may also add an illustration if time allows.

o Your father has taken you out to the Kapiti plain everyday and you have studied his every move. Today is the first day your father has trusted you to watch over the plain and all of the cattle.

o It has rained everyday on the Kapiti Plain since father let you take over. The ground is becoming soft and water has stopped sinking to the ground. The cattle are having trouble moving around the plain. Big Ka-pit used his problem solving skills to figure out a way make it rain.

Give the students the rubric and go through the rubric with the students. Once the journal entries are written allow time for the students to share out their journal

entries with the people at their tables.

Differentiation:

Gifted learnerso Will come up with a third prompt and generate a journal entry based on that

prompt.o Students can write from the perspective of one of the cattle touching on how

they feel, how the drought/weather has affected their daily life, etc. Struggling Learners

o Students will be given graphic organizers to organize their thoughtso Students will have sentence starters that they can use to start their journal

entries

Activity Assessment: Students will be graded on the following criteria.

4 3 2 1

Creativity

The journal entry contains many creative details and images that help the reader see things from

little Ki-pats point of view.

The journal entry contains some

detail and imagery that help

the reader see things from little Ki-pats point of

view.

The journal entry contains minimal

details and imagery and they

may distract from the reader’s understanding.

The journal entry contains little to no details and

imagery and they may distract

from the reader’s understanding.

Content/Book Support

Author includes specific and

important details from the book in

their journal entries.

Author includes some specific and important

details from the book in their

journal entries.

Author includes minimal specific

and important details from the

book in their journal entries.

Author includes no specific and

important details from the book in

their journal entries.

Capitalization & Punctuation

Author makes no errors in

capitalization or punctuation.

Author makes 1-2 mistakes in

capitalization or punctuation, but journal is still easy to read.

Author makes several mistakes in capitalization or punctuation that make the

journal difficult to read.

Author makes many errors in

capitalization or punctuation that make the journal difficult to read.

Completion

Minimum of two journal entries are completed

and turned in on time.

One journal entry is completed and

turned in on time.

One journal entry is semi-

completed and turned in on

time.

One journal entry is semi-completed and turned in late.

ACTIVITY TWO

Content Discipline: Geography

NCSS Strand:

NCSS for this activity is People, Places, and Environments because students will be looking at a land that is different from theirs and identifying different landforms that are native to that land.

Goal or Objective:After reading, Bringing the rain to Kapiti Plain, fifth grade students will be able to use a

map of Kenya and label at least three different landforms with no errors.

Activity Description

Materials Needed:-Topical map of Kenya (1 per student)-Writing Utensil -Colors (crayons, colored pencils, markers, etc.)-Computers to complete research-Class map-Topical map of Kenya -Bringing the rain to Kapiti Plain-Access to the library and numerous books-Chart paper-Printer access

As a class we will talk about the type of land that Ki-pat looked over in the book. We will look back over the pages of the book and create a list as a class on the white board of what we think categorizes this land as a plain.

We will then pull down our classroom map and have a students, who feels comfortable doing so, come up and point out where Kenya is on the world map.

Next I will ask the students what they can tell about the land in Kenya from looking at this map. We will discuss openly and I will ask questions that will hopefully lead them to the conclusion that this map does not tell us much bout the land. I will next introduce a topical map of Kenya.

I will describe to the students that a topical map shows you all different kinds of landforms. You can use a key to help you determine what kind of landforms are in that country.

Students will break up into groups of 3-4 depending on the class size that day and groups will be predetermined. Students will each get a country that has plains as a landform, just like Kenya.

Students will look at what cities or regions the plains cover and research what the plains look like, what types of animals live there, what weather is like, how big of an area the plain covers, what the animals need to survive off of the plain, and any other interesting facts they can find.

o Students may study countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Germany, etc.

o No two groups can study the same country. If the plain expands over numerous countries they can look at the same plain, but not in the same area.

o Go over the rubric with the students before they start the assignment. Make sure to answer any questions they have or clarify.

Once students have compiled information and research from credible sources on the Internet, world maps, world atlas, books about certain countries, etc they will share this information with the class. Each group with create a poster on chart paper with the facts the have collected. Students

should draw a sketch of the country they have researched and shade where the plain is located. They can use their map as a reference.

We will hang the posters up around the room and students will complete a gallery walk. They will have a few minutes to look at each poster. Students should jot down notes (on compare and contrast sheet they will be receiving from me) about things that are similar to the plain they have researched and things that are different.

We will have a large group discussion where the students will share out what they noticed when walking around the class.

Maps:I will provide students with a map of Kenya so I can demonstrate the activity we will be doing and they will be able to see what types of features we will be talking about. When students pick their country and plain they will be providing a map with their poster.

Differentiation: Gifted Students

o Can compare two different landforms in the same countryo Can look further into how people and animals survive on these plains o Can look at plains in more than one country

Struggling Learnerso Will have all materials printed out so they can take notes in the margins as the

read of make markings to help them process the informationo Students can print off a picture of their country and just shade in where the plain

is locatedo Students can get a fill in the blank sheet to help them take notes. The sheet will

have all of the details as headings and space for them the write down what they find under each heading.

Activity Assessment: Students will be assessed on the following criteria for this assignment.

ACTIVITY THREE

Content Discipline: Music and Expressive Arts

NCSS Strand:

The NCSS standard we will be using is Culture because students will study how different cultures communicate their ideas and beliefs through dance.

Goal or Objective: In groups, fifth grade students will be able to research cultural dances and share with the

class one cultural dance that is at least thirty seconds in length through an artistic manner.

Activity Description: Materials Needed: -Computers-Access to the Internet -Open space (gym, cafeteria, etc.)-Notebook or paper-Writing utensils -Video clips from Ghana

Students will be shown video clips of cultural dances that I experienced first hand in Ghana. I will ask students what they think these performs are communicating through their dance.

Students will have time to talk with the people around them. We will share out student’s responses.

I will explain to the students that some cultures express their ideas or beliefs through the art of dancing. There are dances for all sorts of things.

We will refer back to Bringing the rain to Kapiti Plain and the students will talk about how Ka-pit problem solved to bring rain to the Kapiti Plain. I will ask the students if they know any other ways to make it rain. We will discuss these ideas as a class.

I will ask students if they have ever heard of a rain dance and they will respond to the question with a thumb up if they have heard of a rain dance or a thumb down if they have not heard of a rain dance.

I will explain to the students that a rain dance is something that is done in certain cultures in the hopes that it will create or cause rain to fall from the sky.

Students will then be put into predetermined groups of 5 or 6 depending on how many students are in class that day. Each class will be assigned a culture that conducts rain dances.

The students will have to locate that culture on a map and research how a traditional rain dance looks in that culture.

The groups of students will learn at least 30 seconds of the rain dance. This means the will study to movements of their cultures rain dance and they will perform this dance for their classmates. Show the students the rubric they will be assessed on.

Students will have time to research and practice their rain dance. Students will then perform their rain dance for the rest of the class. Students in the

performing group will tell us what culture they studied and where their country is located on a map.

Differentiation: Gifted Learners

o Will be encouraged to research where the idea of a rain dance was first incorporated into culture

o Research what is typically worn during a rain dance and bring in visuals OR dress in traditional (as close as possible) attire

o Students will be encouraged to learn more than one rain dance o Students will be encouraged to create their own rain dance based off of the research

they have completed Struggling Learners

o Can receive a culture to research instead of picking one randomlyo Can receive a written list of steps or moves that are in their rain danceo Can perform a series of 5 steps or moves in a rain dance opposed to performing the

whole ritual

Activity Assessment: The students will be assessed for this assignment on the following criteria.

4 3 2 1Audience Behavior

Student always demonstrates appropriate audience participation for the context/style of music (e.g., clapping, standing, singing along)

Student usually demonstrates appropriate audience participation for the context/style of music (e.g., clapping, standing, singing along)

Student sometimes demonstrates appropriate audience participation for the context/style of music (e.g., clapping, standing, singing along)

Student rarely demonstrates appropriate audience participation for the context/style of music (e.g., clapping, standing, singing along)

Participation Student listens to instructions and participates willingly and successfully in dances from another time/culture.

Student listens to instructions and participates willingly in dances from another time/culture.

Student listens to some instructions and participates in dances from another time/culture.

Student listens to few instructions and barely participates in dances from another time/culture.

Content When asked to speak about the culture, the students present 5 accurate facts, with no inaccurate or questionable facts.

When asked to speak about the culture, the students present 3 accurate facts, with no inaccurate or questionable facts.

When asked to speak about the culture, the students present 2 accurate facts, with no inaccurate or questionable facts.

When asked to speak about the culture, the students present 1, but also include 1 or more inaccurate or questionable facts.

*Modified from Rubistar.com References:

Map of Kenya:

https://www.google.com/search?q=map+of+Kenya+for+kids&es_sm=91&biw=1333&bih=784&tbm=isch&imgil=zTSXS97Kcu_3WM%253A%253BzvvCytRF5yw-WM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.atozkidsstuff.com%25252Fkenya.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=zTSXS97Kcu_3WM%253A%252CzvvCytRF5yw-WM%252C_&usg=__rzaNbiSKMmH5Q07YLaWPTNiU0fM%3D&dpr=0.9&ved=0CCkQyjc&ei=j0QWVMOGBYmdygTfooKQCg#tbm=isch&q=topical+map+of+Kenya+for+kids&facrc=_&imgdii=0xoJIhT1gG5PoM%3A%3B-FJ1r-e00l-5FM%3B0xoJIhT1gG5PoM%3A&imgrc=0xoJIhT1gG5PoM%253A%3BDSXOBJJjSIcYxM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.glpinc.org%252FGraphics%252FProject_Sites%252FAfrica%252FKenya%252FKenya-admin.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.glpinc.org%252FGraphics%252FProject_Sites%252FAfrica%252FKenya%252FKenya-overview.htm%3B340%3B384

Rubric for Activity #2:http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?ts=1410755832

Aardema, Verna., & Vidal, Beatriz. Bringing the rain to Kapiti Plain: A Nandi tale. New York: Dial Press for Young Readers. 1981. Print.

Book Image:https://www.google.com/search?q=bringing+rain+to+the+kapiti+plain&es_sm=91&tbm=isch&imgil=MEC3hpED_PDrNM%253A%253BqtkNI8vB-IeVvM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fkellykorenek.wordpress.com%25252F2012%25252F01%25252F27%25252Fbringing-the-rain-to-kapiti-plain%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=MEC3hpED_PDrNM%253A%252CqtkNI8vB-IeVvM%252C_&usg=__G70ibUo8wJDWXHMIZL-y_MZukog%3D&biw=1333&bih=735&dpr=0.9&ved=0CE0Qyjc&ei=-jwXVOHpDIGdyASx0IDYBw#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=MEC3hpED_PDrNM%253A%3BqtkNI8vB-IeVvM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fkellykorenek.files.wordpress.com%252F2012%252F01%252F317862.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fkellykorenek.wordpress.com%252F2012%252F01%252F27%252Fbringing-the-rain-to-kapiti-plain%252F%3B596%3B475