Grade 7 indigenous languages INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE: ART- Listening and Speaking – Storytelling – Fables Notes
INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE: ART — Listening & Speaking
Subtopic: Storytelling — Fables (age 12, Kenya)
- Identify grammatical features of local fables for comprehension.
- Narrate a local fable using correct narrative grammar for enjoyment.
- Use audience-awareness language choices (grammatical forms: tone, politeness, imperatives, questions) for self-expression.
- Use the suggested vocabulary (art, drawings, creative, ornaments, paintings, ochre, mud, beads) correctly within the language's grammar.
Grammar focus (Kiswahili examples)
The notes below focus on the grammatical devices commonly used in storytelling/fables in a Kenyan indigenous language context. Examples are given in Kiswahili (accessible to many learners in Kenya) — you can adapt patterns to your local language.
Use the simple past to describe events that already happened. In Kiswahili, the past tense uses the subject prefix + li + verb stem.
- Example: "Sungura alipika chakula." — The rabbit cooked food. (a-li-pika)
- Sequence markers: "Hapo zamani za kale", "Siku moja", "Baadaye", "Mwishowe".
Direct speech keeps the speaker's exact words in quotes. Reported speech uses verbs like alisema + conjunction kwamba (that).
- Direct: Alisema, "Nitakusaidia."
- Reported: Alisema kwamba atamsaidia. (Note the change of verb tense/person)
Sequence words show order of events. Useful words: kisha, baadaye, halafu, hivyo, kwa kifupi, mwishowe.
Example: "Siku moja sungura alikosa chakula; kisha alikutana na mbuni; mwishowe walikua marafiki."
Adjectives and possessives change form to agree with the noun class of the noun they describe.
- Kitabu kikubwa (a big book) — ki- class agreement.
- Vitabu vikubwa (big books) — plural agreement changes to vi-.
- Use correct agreement when naming ornaments, beads, drawings, etc.: mchoro mzuri (a good drawing), shanga nzuri (beautiful beads).
Choose the right narrative perspective: first person (mimi, sisi) or third person (yeye, wao). Fables often use third person and anthropomorphism (animals as people). Example: "Nyani alicheka; yeye alisema..." Use pronouns consistently and adjust verb agreement.
Use imperatives to engage listeners: "Simama!", "Sikiliza!". Use polite forms and vocatives to suit the audience: "Wazee, sikilizeni hadithi hii." For younger listeners use short verbs and repetition.
Rhetorical question example: "Je, haikuwepo busara katika tendo lake?"
Grammatical features common in fables
- Frequent use of past tense (narrative past) to recount events.
- Simple sentences with clear subject-verb structure for age 12.
- Repetition for emphasis: repeated clauses or refrains (e.g., "Alisema tena, alitenda tena").
- Direct speech to show character voices, then reported speech to summarise.
- Clear sequencing (first, then, later, finally) to show plot order.
- Use of adjectives and sensory verbs to create images (adjective agreement with noun classes).
- Closing moral sentence often in present tense to generalise (e.g., "Hii inaonyesha umuhimu wa uaminifu.").
Short example fable (Kiswahili)
Hapo zamani za kale, kulikuwa na sungura na mbuni. Siku moja sungura alipoteza chakula chake; kisha mbuni alimwambia, "Nitakusaidia." Mbuni aliruka na kutafuta; baadaye walipata chakula chao. Mwisho wa hadithi, waliachana wakiwa marafiki.
Mora: Urafiki na kusaidiana ni vyema.
Using suggested vocabulary correctly (Kiswahili phrases)
Below are the suggested English words used in Kiswahili sentences that show correct grammar and agreement.
- Sanaa (art): Hadithi hii inahusiana na sanaa ya mchoro. — This story is related to drawing art.
- Mchoro / michoro (drawing(s)): Mchoro mzuri ulionyesha sungura na mbuni.
- Ubunifu (creative): Ubunifu wake ulifanya hadithi iwe ya kuvutia.
- Mapambo (ornaments): Wakazi walivaa mapambo ya rangi katika sherehe.
- Uchoraji / picha za rangi (paintings): Uchoraji huo ulikuwa na rangi ya udongo (ochre).
- Udongo (mud/soil): Watoto walitumia udongo kuchora nyenzo za hadithi.
- Shanga (beads): Shanga nzuri zilitumiwa kama mapambo ya mheshimiwa.
- Ochre (loanword/or explain as "rangi ya udongo"): Walitumia ochre (rangi ya udongo) kwa uchoraji wa jadi.
Note: Ensure noun-adjective agreement (e.g., mchoro mzuri, shanga nzuri).
Suggested learning experiences (age 12, Kenya) — grammar practice
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Listen & identify:
- Teacher reads a local fable in Kiswahili. Learners list all past-tense verbs (identify the -li- marker) and sequence words they hear.
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Convert tense:
- Give students 5 present-tense sentences from a short fable. Learners rewrite them in past tense (narrative past).
- Example: "Sungura anakula" → "Sungura alikula."
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Reported speech exercise:
- Students change direct quotes into reported speech, keeping correct tense shifts: Direct: "Nitakuja" → Reported: alisema kwamba atakuja.
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Pronoun replacement:
- From a short paragraph, replace repeated nouns with correct pronouns and adjust verb agreement (third person singular/plural).
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Use vocabulary in sentences:
- Write 4 sentences about a fable that use at least 3 suggested vocabulary words with correct noun/adjective agreement.
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Narration task (speaking):
- In pairs, student A narrates a community fable in past tense; student B listens and writes down sequence markers and any direct speech. Swap roles. Focus on clear past tense and connectors.
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Audience-awareness mini-lesson:
- Teach how to use imperatives, vocatives and questions to engage different audiences: e.g., to elders use polite forms (tafadhali sikilizeni), to peers use direct imperatives (sikiliza), to children use repetition and short verbs.
Quick practice (with answers)
- Change to past tense: "Mbuni anakimbia." — Answer: Mbuni alikimbia.
- Direct → reported: Alisema, "Nitakusaidia." — Answer: Alisema kwamba atamsaidia.
- Add a connector: "Sungura alipata chakula. Alifurahi." — Combined with connector: Sungura alipata chakula; kisha alifurahi.
- Noun-adjective agreement: "mchoro (mzuri / nzuri?)" — Answer: mchoro mzuri (singular ki/vi class pattern).
Teacher tips (grammar & listening/speaking)
- Model clear past-tense verbs and sequence markers when reading a fable.
- Highlight noun class agreement on the board when teaching descriptive phrases (use local nouns like shanga, mchoro, udongo).
- Use short repeated lines for younger or shy learners; repetition helps grammar consolidation.
- Encourage learners to mark direct speech in writing with quotes, then convert to reported speech.
- Assess by asking learners to narrate a fable (1–2 minutes) using past tense, at least two connectors, one instance of reported speech, and one suggested vocabulary word used correctly.