Anansi Folktale Supplements Common Core Standards

Story Cove LLC is pleased to announce that the popular African folktale Anansi and Turtle Go to Dinner (August House Inc), as told by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk, is now available on the Story Cove website. Story Cove continues to expand the availability of supplemental reading tools aligned with the Common Core Standards for reading and now provides access to twenty-two stories. This online release of Anansi and Turtle Go to Dinner includes access to a wealth of multimedia supplemental reading resources including: lesson plans, correlated to the Common Core Standards for Reading, as well as animated, read-to- me, and read-a-long versions of this whimsical retelling of the folktale.

Story Cove classroom resources are aligned with the Common Core Standards for Reading and have been recognized for helping students in Kindergarten through 2nd grade strengthen their critical reading skills to achieve higher reading scores. The stories along with the supplemental resources can help teachers deliver more differentiated instruction to decrease reading gaps by actively engaging students with the characters and plotlines. Story Cove has received recognition from the BESSIE Awards sponsored by ComputerEd Gazette, the Mom’s Choice Awards and a Storytelling World Honor Award. Children's Bookwatch of the Midwest Book Review wrote that “Story Cove is a series of very highly recommended stories and folk tales from around the world for beginning readers that combines charming and colorful artwork with simple, easy-reader texts ideal for children...”

Additionally, Anansi and Turtle Go to Dinner, like all of the stories on the Story Cove website, has been leveled using the Fountas & Pinnell and Lexile systems so that teachers can be more prescriptive when they assign stories to a child or to reading groups in their classrooms. Anansi and Turtle Go to

Dinner has a Lexile Level of 580L, is written at a Guided Reading Level for Kindergarten, and is written with an Interest Level for 4-8 year-olds. Since all of these stories come from the oral tradition and were passed down through generations, they have been honed for sharing out loud to develop stronger comprehension and phonics skills. As a result, stories like Anansi and Turtle Go to Dinner are easier for children to decode, internalize, comprehend and remember.

In addition to providing reading assessment preparation, Story Cove’s supplemental reading resources offer teachers ways to build other classroom skills. As a folktale, Anansi and Turtle Go to Dinner models universal values, such as kindness, generosity, and hospitality, as well as providing resources to help teach African cultural traditions. The multicultural origin of Story Cove’s classic folktales, such as Anansi and Turtle Go to Dinner, teaches children valuable connections to other cultures. With these stories, children not only experience other traditions and learn about other ways that people live, they can also gain insights about their own family’s heritage and cultural traditions.

Steve Floyd, President of Story Cove LLC, explained, “With Story Cove, teachers and librarians can incorporate these classic, timeless stories into their lessons and supplemental reading activities while meeting the requirements defined by the Common Core Standards. These carefully selected folktales not only entertain young children, they also provide valuable life lessons and reinforce cultural traditions.”