Sundiata, Lion King: read-along
Sundiata, Lion King as a read-along for the projector: 14 pages, 2170 words, level 17, beyond grade 8.
Page 1 of 14
Draw near and open your ears, for I am a griot, and the entire memory of the Mandinka people has been entrusted to my keeping. My father preserved it before me, and his father before him, and through all those generations not a single syllable has been lost, although several goats have been. I charge a small fee for interruptions. I shall tell you of Sundiata, whom posterity named the Lion King of Mali. Long ago, in the dry country beside the great river Niger, there reigned a king named Naré Maghan, a man admired for his wisdom and his impartial justice. A hunter had once prophesied that a woman of extraordinary ugliness would bear the king a son whose reputation would eventually surpass that of every sovereign in the region, so the king married Sogolon, the hunter's sister, despite the objections of his courtiers, and she gave birth to a son whom the people called Mari Djata, a name that time shortened to Sundiata.
Keys: ← → or Page Up and Page Down turn the page, Space starts and pauses the voice, Home and End jump, F fills the screen. Tapping the right side of a page goes on; the left side goes back.
How to use it
- Press Full screen (F) to put the book on the projector.
- Press Read to me (Space), or read it yourself and turn pages with the arrow keys or a tap. Pick the Pace that suits the class.
- After the last page, three questions come up to talk about.
About this book
- Level 17, beyond grade 8
- 14 pages, 2170 words, about 16 minutes aloud
- A classic tale, a little spooky
Related
About Sundiata, Lion King
A prince of old Mali cannot walk until the day he bends an iron bar, pulls up a tree, and is driven into exile by a jealous queen. Years later a sorcerer with a cloak of spells and a chamber of spying owls holds his homeland, and only a white rooster's spur can stop him.
Words to preview
- griot (GREE-oh)
- West African storyteller
- exile (EG-zile)
- forced banishment
- sorcerer (SOR-ser-er)
- wizard
- mansa (MAHN-sah)
- emperor
- prophecy (PROF-uh-see)
- foretold future
- tribute (TRIB-yoot)
- forced payment
Questions that fit any book
- What happened at the beginning, in the middle and at the end?
- Which page was your favorite? Why?
- How did the main character feel at the end? What tells you?
Questions
How long does Sundiata, Lion King take to read aloud?
It has 14 pages and 2170 words, so about 16 minutes at the Steady pace and a little less at Quick. If you stop to talk on the way, plan for more.
What reading level is Sundiata, Lion King?
Level 17, beyond grade 8. The library numbers its levels from 0 to 18 and puts the level of a book on its cover; levels above 13 are beyond grade 8 and have no grade. A level is a guide for choosing, so look at the pages yourself.
Whose voice is it?
Your browser's own. Read to me uses a speaking voice already on the computer, so it sounds like that computer and works without a sign-in. Voices differ: some light each word as it is spoken, and some do not, in which case the highlight follows a steady pace instead. Some browsers use an online voice; if yours does, the browser, not us, sends the words of the page to its speech service. If no voice is installed, turn the pages and read it aloud yourself.
Do students need an account?
No. Nothing is asked of anyone and nothing is sent to us. Project the page, or share the link and let students open it on their own screens.
Is this the original text?
No. It is a retelling in Peabody's own words at this reading level, so it may differ from the edition you know.
Nothing you do here is sent to us. The voice is your browser's own. No sign-in, no ads.