Week 4 Reflection (Traditional)

REOL 536

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears

Aardema, V. (2004). Why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears. New York, NY: Dial Books for Young

Readers.

Summary:  This West African tale explains the chain of events that happened one day in the jungle.  This chain of events, which began with a mosquito lying to an iguana, caused a baby owl to die.  After the owl died, the mother owl would not hoot for the sun to come up, so King Lion had to call the council together to figure out who was at fault.  The story eventually explains why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears. 

Reflection:  This is a great story to use when teaching myths because this is a classic myth in the way that it explains how something (mosquitoes buzzing in people’s ears) came about.  There are many onomatopoeias used throughout the story, such as, “badamin, badamin,” used on page 4 to communicate the sound of the iguana.  The illustrations are brightly colored and the media appears to be cut paper that has been pieced together; I especially like the way the owls look on page 7.  This reminds me of a book that I read with my students called Happy Birthday, Mr. Kang. 

·         Classroom Connection:  This would be a good story for students to recount since the story has a chronological text structure.  Students could draw the events from the story on cards, switch the cards around, and their partner could recount the story by putting the cards in order.  I would also love to see what students will conclude is the central message to this myth.  The third grade common core standard that these activities will meet is:

•  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.2 Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.

·         Big Questions: Do you think this is the real reason why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears?  If not, why do you think they do that?