Introduction: Children can vicariously visit West Africa in Lloyd Alexander's The Fortune Teller. The story is about a carpenter who is unhappy with his life so he seeks the advice of a fortune teller. Colorful illustrations accompany the text demonstrating geographic features and the spirit of Cameroon. This lesson encourages students to make a connection between geography and literature.

Grade Level: 2-12

Connection to National geography Standards: The geographically informed person knows and understands:

#1 How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective

#2 How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context

#4 The physical and human characteristics of places

#8 The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth̀s surface

#10 The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth̀s cultural mosaics

Objectives: Students will be able to:

• locate Cameroon on a map
• identify physical and human characteristics of Cameroon.
• describe the environment of the Savanna
• compare the physical and human characteristics of Cameroon with other African countries.

Materials:

• Political map of Africa
• Physical map of Africa
• The Fortune Teller by Lloyd Alexander

Introducing the Lesson: In groups have students list things that they can learn about a place from a story. Ask them to include specific examples of physical aspects as well as cultural elements.

Procedure:

• Divide the class into groups of four students each.
• Have students find Cameroon on a political map of Africa and on a physical map of Africa.
• Tell students that they should work together in their teams and record any information about Cameroon that they can gather from the maps.
• Tell students that they you are going to read them the story, The Fortune Teller by Lloyd Alexander.
• Inform them the story takes place in Cameroon and the illustrator, Trina Schart Hyman, drew the pictures from her memory of a village that she visited.
• Read the book, The Fortune Teller.
  

• After completing the story, students should work in their groups adding information about Cameroon. They should include physical as well as cultural elements of the country.
• After they have organized their information, students should write specific relationships that they see between the story, The Fortune Teller and geography.
• Students should debrief as a whole class and compare their findings.
• Have students compare what they learned about Cameroon (west Africa) with other countries in Africa they have learned about.

Assessments: Students should include a variety of cultural and physical geographic features in their findings that illustrates their understanding of Cameroon.