1. Allow students to explore the following Web sites to get a brief overview of Africa:
http://www.pbs.org/africa
http://www.afro.com/children/discover/discover.html

2. Read aloud, ³Interesting Facts about Africa's Geography² on Kids-Zone countries in Africa
http://www.afro.com/children/discover/discover.html

3. Divide the class into small research groups and have them go to the Yahooligans Web site at www.yahooligans.com to conduct an Internet search on Africa. Ask each group of students to collect five interesting facts about Africa.

4. Create a class chart entitled ³Amazing Africa² using these facts. Update the list as students learn new information about Africa throughout the course of the African Art & Music lesson.

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Visit the following Web sites to look at pictures of some of the diverse images that make up Africa:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa

http://library.thinkquest.org/16645/gallery/sievers_gallery.h tml

http://library.thinkquest.org/16645/safari/index.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/16645/the_people/arts_and_craft s.shtml

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1. Share picture books about Africa with your class. The following are some suggestions to begin with:
The Adventures of Spider : West African Folktales by Joyce Cooper Arkhurst, Jerry Pinkney(Illustrator)

Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions Margaret Musgrove Leo Dillon (Editor) Diane Dillon (Illustrator)

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain: A Nandi Tale Verna Aardema Beatriz Vidal (Illustrator)

The following Web site contains an extensive list of books on African literature:
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/mulafrican.htm

2. Have the students create their own "Africa Picture Books." They can draw images, use magazine pictures, make copies of pictures in books, or use the Internet as a resource. Encourage them to use pictures that focus on the art, music and culture of Africa.

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