Anansi the Spider is part of our Starts With a Story Collection, which includes more than 550 picture book companions based on high quality children’s literature that support you in delivering highly-engaging interactive read alouds with follow up activities. Learn more about this children’s book below! - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
"Anansi the Spider" by Gerald McDermott is a captivating retelling of traditional African folklore. The book follows the mischievous and cunning character Anansi the Spider as he embarks on a quest to gather all the wisdom of the world. Through his cleverness and trickery, Anansi manages to outsmart powerful beings and obtain valuable knowledge. However, his greed and arrogance lead to unforeseen consequences. With vibrant illustrations and engaging storytelling, "Anansi the Spider" explores themes of wisdom, humility, and the consequences of one's actions. The book not only entertains readers with Anansi's adventurous journey but also imparts important moral lessons about the dangers of greed and the importance of humility and respect.
 USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Our read aloud lesson plans for this picture book come with reading comprehension questions (with sample student responses), 30 writing prompts, teaching ideas for grammar skills, social emotional learning discussion ideas, and more. Check out our list below to get a sneak peek at some of the skills this resource teaches.
- Practice making predictions throughout the book. Encourage students to check and see if their predictions were correct.
- Encourage students to use their summarizing and retelling strategies.
- Analyze the setting of this book. Discuss where and when it takes place.
- Identify different examples of common nouns in the book.
- Introduce students to proper nouns using examples from the story.
- Explore how characters in the book resolved their conflict.
- Discuss the importance of teamwork and what a good teammate looks like.
NO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30Â writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
This book is a must have for your school or classroom library. Your students are going to love completing these activities for the book and you will be impressed with how much they learn. You will want to read this book to your class every year.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will love the similar books listed below, which can all be found in our free picture book list.
- Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin
- I'm Trying to Love Spiders by Bethany Barton
- The Spider and The Fly by Mary Howitt and Tony Diterlizzi
- The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
It's hard to explain how amazing the Starts with a Story book companions are because there is just so much goodness included in each one. It's best if you experience using one for yourself. Sign up below & we'll send you an entire book companion to try out for FREE!
