Lorato and Her Wire Car

Learning intention: 

I am learning to identify the morals of stories so that I can compare stories from different cultures. 

 

Success criteria: 

• I can identify the morals in stories. 
• I can explain how stories teach us to live appropriately. 
• I can compare the morals of stories from different cultures. 

 

Essential Knowledge:

Find out more about wire cars on Making Wire Cars. 

A short bio of Lauri Kubuitsile can be found on her page at Penguin Random House ZA. 

 

Prior to reading Lorato and Her Wire Car, visit the Library of Congress’s page on The Hare and the Tortoise and read it as a class. Be careful not to scroll all the way down to give away the moral. After reading the story, explain that this is called a fable, which is a short story typically containing animals and has a moral. Tell students that a moral is a lesson teaching us how to live appropriately and can be applied to our everyday life. Ask students what they think the moral is of The Hare and the Tortoise. While a typical answer is slow and steady wins the race, students may come up with other morals, such as don’t tease others or don’t be a show off. After a class discussion, read the fable The Goose and the Golden Egg, being careful not to scroll down too far to show the moral. This time, students can discuss their thoughts of the moral in pairs or small groups. Invite students to share their answers with the class. 

 

For context for Lorato and Her Wire Car, visit the website about Making Wire Cars and the bio of Lauri Kubuitsile on her page at Penguin Random House ZA. Emphasise the fact that Kubiutsile lives in Botswana in Africa. Ask students if they think the types of morals in a Botswanan story will be different to the fables. 

 

Read Lorato and her Wire Car, telling students to think about the moral while they’re listening. After reading, ask students what the characters learnt in the story and have them write down what they think the moral is in their workbooks. Invite students to share their answers.  

 

Sample answers: 

Sharing makes things better. 

Be kind to everyone. 

Each person has something special to give. 

Happiness is found by sharing with others. 

Don’t be quick to give up. 

 

Assessment as/of learning:  

In pairs or small groups, ask student to collaborate and record their thinking on a Venn Diagram either in Canva for Education or via Graphic Organisers on the digital learning selector to identify the similarities and differences between their own culture and the culture explored in the text.  

Beneath their Venn diagram ask students to record a summative statement that discusses how stories can come from different cultures but can still teach us the difference between right and wrong, with commonalities between morals.