Hi,

Below is the story my class wrote. Each part was written in groups so they do not know what the other groups have written. Some changes can be made. I am sure once the students read the entire story they will pick up on it.

Your suggestions are welcome!

Sona

Anansi’s Journey to Help West Africa

Beginning

Long ago in a small village in the country of Guinea lived a small but courageous spider named Anansi. He spends his days trying to solve all the problems happening around him. Anansi wanted everyone to treat each other with respect. Everyone felt that Anansi was getting involved in things that did not concern him. They didn’t see a reason to be kind to each other all of the time. The villagers went to see their leader, a power python named Dulayha. They told him that Anansi was filling their heads with too many new ideas. Dulayha was furious and he banished Anansi from Guinea. Anansi was devastated. “Why is everyone against me?” Silently he leaves the country all by himself.


Middle

Anansi arrives in Sierra Leone. He is feeling depressed as he travels along the sides of the roads. He hears a voice calling from a dark alley, “Anansi, come here!” Anansi approaches the strange voice and is offered a magic potion. The stranger tells him it is a growing potion. Anansi wants to become big so that people will accept him so he takes the potion. He continues on his journey and stumbles upon a young student who is sad. The student explains that their Alchemy School has lost a very important growing potion. They hear the school bell ring and the student runs off toward the school. Anansi follows the students and finds the head wizard. The wizard explains to Anansi the importance of the potion. It is used by the farmers to grow their crops which are used to feed the people of Sierra Leone. Anansi decides to give up his potion to help them. The wizard is suspicious of Anansi and calls the farmers for advice. They conclude that Anansi would be the perfect suspect for stealing their potion because he is small. The wizard accuses Anansi for being small and sneaky. He rejects Anansi’s help and cast a banishing spell on him.



End

After much disappointment Anansi arrives in Ghana. In search for water he notices the Niger and an army of people standing in front of it. With fear he gets closer to find out what is happening by crawling up a tree. He hears the king of the army tell the traders they can only cross the Niger River with gold dust and must leave their golden nuggets with them. The king and the traders argue because the traders do not agree with the king and his army. Anansi starts to think of a solution. Suddenly a bright idea comes to mind. If there was a bridge that the traders could use to cross the river they would not have to deal with the king and his army. Anansi calls upon all the animals and insects in the area. He tells them his ideas and they all agree to help. They build the bridge on the other side of the river so the army does not notice them. Once the bridge is built, Anansi walks over to the traders and tells them they no longer have to deal with the army because he has built a bridge with the help of the forest animals. No one believes him and they all put him down by saying mean things to him. One of the traders suggests that there is no harm in going to see if Anansi was telling the truth. To their surprise, they are shocked to see a bridge guarded by the forest animals. They start thanking Anansi of his wonderful idea and apologizing for not believing him. The king and his army get scared by all the forest animals and leave for their kingdom. The news about Anansi’s great idea traveled throughout West Africa and from that day on everyone learned an important lesson: Never judge others or put them down because they look different than you. Always give everyone a chance.

There is a celebration all across West Africa!