Ok - This question got imbedded in another thread from a few months ago, so I thought I'd try again with it's own title... I am planning a summer school unit on Cinderella versions from around the world. I have plenty of books and versions to pick from. What I need is some ideas for after reading activities. I am already planning a large mural-sized comparison chart and having the kids write their own cinderella version at the end. Any other creative ideas for this unit? Thanks!
Why not have small groups or the whole class act out a version of the play or make puppets for a puppet show?
I did this with my grade threes! We had a blast doing it. Some of my favourite versions of the tale are The Rough Faced Girl and The Way Meat Loves Salt: A Cinderella Tale From The Jewish Tradition. I ended the entire unit by having each child choose a different Cinderella tale to write a book report on. I had a big castle outline on 11x17 paper and they each got a castle to put their report on, Title on the turret, characters down the towers, review on the castle door, etc. Then they coloured the castle and the flag was a certain colour depending on whether they liked the book or not. It was great fun. Here are some resource sites: http://www.salem.k12.va.us/south/cinderella/play.htm http://www.bsdvt.org/webquest/rthomas/cinderella.htm#Tasks http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/king/fairytales/ <--- This is a webquest for first grade. http://wneo.org/WebQuests/TeacherWebQuests/Cinderella/The_Cinderella_Project.htm <--- This is a webquest for sixth grade. There are lots of resources online
sn't Ella Enchanted also a Cinderella variation? It's a chapter book and a movie, but thought I'd throw that one in, too.
Thanks, Lowrie! - I love the idea of the castle reports. I have about 20 versions of the story... and I know we won't read them all together so that will leave several for them to do on their own with the book report. I haven't heard of the Jewish version you mentioned. I'll have to check on that one.
Yes, Ella Enchanted is a Cinderella story. I was thrilled at the amount of internet resources for Cinderella, since it was pure fluke that I chose it to feature - I did an entire unit on fairy tales last winter.
Cinderella I used over 20 different versions with 3 groups of 7th language arts students. They really enjoyed it...(it was a great excuse for an otherwise "too cool" bunch of kids to read picture books). There was one favorite although I cannot think of the author or title now...about a skeleton Cinderella. The illustrations were hilarious. The students made compare and contrast maps of the characters and setting.
Yes - I have that one. It's called Cinderella Skeleton. It is great. I think the funniest one I've seen is Bigfoot Cinderella. The characters are all sasquatches (sp?). It's really unique!
There is a book by Scholastic with ideas to use for different versions of Cinderella. Try Scholastic.com
I LOVE teaching fairy tales to middle school students! We used the unabridged Brothers Grimm, and they really loved it. They compared insipid Disney re-writes to the original tales and were pretty surprised. I did a huge project on fairy tales back in college. Yes, not long after many ancient fairy tales were first written down. Sigh. Cinderella was always a favorite because of the awesome punishment of the wicked stepmother. Kids are intrinsically fair, and they love justice. And that stepmother sure did get what was coming to her. I loathe dumbing-down of anything, and the original Grimm, Anderson, etc, tales are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Little Mermaid (true version) was also a big hit. I love Disney, don't get me wrong, but as a Lit major, I find many of that studio's re-tellings appalling.
You know, Jane, I'm beginning to think (as I follow you around the posts here) that we are kindred spirits. I have a lovely volume of original Grimm tales and my sons have always delighted in them -- and I am also a Lit major, and I feel the same way you do about the Disney retellings. I also had to laugh about being in college when the original Grimms were written down Even though I'm in university to teach now, I'm old enough that I could have been a teacher before some of my classmates in the B.Ed. program were born ...c'est la vie!
I cherish my huge fat Grimm Brothers book. My sixth graders used to pore over it in wide-eyed fascination. Sure, the tales are dark and scary and violent. That's how life was back then. And when a child has been abused by an adult, there is a lot more comfort in knowing that adult is now dead and can't hurt anyone any more, than in having all the abuse seemingly forgotten and having the abuser getting off scott-free. Disney versions are charming and awesome, but they are not how the story was meant to be. The Little Mermaid DIED, kids. Rather than kill the man she loved, she DIED. My students were fascinated. Lowrie, I think I love you. Kids are a lot smarter than we think, in many ways. It's far easier to fool an adult sometimes, than to try and fool a kid. Abridgements are not the way to go, and re-tellings should be accompanied by the original version. If I get started on abridgements, though, I'll be here all night. Bah.
Fairy Tales I will be doing fairy tales with my fourth grade class this week and next. I have several activities to go along with the theme, across the curriculum, but would absolutely LOVE any ideas you have. I have a ton of books, including many fractured fairy tales and the Grimm's versions. I look forward to hearing your ideas!!
