Four Fabulous Folk Tales!

In Language Arts, we have been comparing and contrasting.
Cinderella folk tales
from around the world.


First, we read each story. Next, in groups of five, we organized information about the main characters, the setting, and the plot on chart paper.

We brainstormed high-level adjectives and verbs to describe the characters and setting.

Finally, each group wrote a short summary of each folk tale. Notice the high-level vocabulary used in each retell.

The book Cinderella, by Marcia Brown, is about a young lady who falls in love with a respectful prince. She has two crafty step-sisters who are jealous of her. In addition, she has a cruel step-mother who gives her exhausting chores. When her magical godmother arrives, she transforms a pumpkin into a mind boggling carriage and tiny mice into large horses. In a wink, Cinderella was at the fancy ball. There she met a benevolent prince. After that, she sprinted home because her courteous godmother told her to be home before midnight. While she was running, she lost one of her glass slippers, and the handsome prince found it. He had his finest men search the kingdom for the lovely lady who lost the shoe. Cinderella tried on the sparkling clear slipper, and it fit like a glove. They married and lived happily ever after.


Yeh-shen, by Ai-Ling Louie, tells the story of a beautiful young girl known as Yeh-shen. She lived with a crafty step-mother and vain step-sister in a cave village in China. Yeh-shen had a magical fish and when her step-mother found out, she stabbed the fish with a sleek dagger. The fish bones became magical and Yeh-shen could made wishes with them. Knowing that, she wished for a wonderful azure dress to wear to the traditional festival and a pair of golden slippers. At the fun-filled festival, Yeh-shen lost her golden slipper when she fled the special event. A royal king found the tiny gold slipper and went looking for the glamorous woman who owned it. When he found out that the stunning slipper belong to Yeh-shen, he asked for her hand in marriage. The cruel step-mother and the bossy step-sister were not allowed to enter the castle and died in their cave in a shower of flying rocks. Yeh-shen is one of our favorite Cinderella stories because of the vocabulary and the superior characters.

Candace, a young courageous heroine, was the main character in the story Moss Gown, by William H. Hooks. When Candace's wealthy father was dividing his land and money, he asked his daughters how much they loved him. When the two cruel sisters answered, they said, "I love you more than rubies, diamonds, and gold." Candace remarked, "I love you more than meat loves salt." The father gave the land and money to the two self-centered sisters and they kicked kind Candace out. She was crestfallen. Candace ran into the swampy woods and met a mysterious cat-eyed witch. The woman told her about a magic chant. The next morning, Candace knocked on a door of a plantation and met the bossy first cook. Then came the dazzling ball that the Young Master held, and poor Candace could not attend. The witch had given her a gown made of moss and when she chanted, she transformed into an elegant lady. When the respectful Young Master asked her to dance, Candace responded yes. At the end of the book, the elegant gown turned back into moss, but the Young Master didn't care. At the wedding party, Candace's father ate meat without salt, and understood what Candace meant. The wonderful prince loved Candace because she was intelligent and kind. They got married and lived happily ever after.


Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters, by John Steptoe, took place in a marvelous jungle in Zimbabwe, Africa. This story was about two attractive sisters named Nyasha and Manyara who tried to become the exquisite queen. The king was a very magical shape-shifter. When he shape-shifted, he changed into living things like a starving child or a garden snake. The king was shape-shifting because he needed to find out who would make a better queen. He learned that Nyasha was benevolent, and that Manyara was malevolent. Finally, the king chose the congenial Nyasha and they lived happily ever after.

In general, fairy tales have good and evil characters and some sort of magic. Usually the good character gets rewarded and the evil character gets taught a lesson. The moral of each story seems to be that you get what you deserve in life.

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We have also been learning about how to be a contributor to a group.

Here are some ways to be a positive member of a project.

Taylor G.: If a person is talking, do not interrupt.

Jonah: Try to stay on topic. Even if there is something you really want to tell your friends in the group, try to concentrate on the group until recess.

Taylor S. : When you are in a group and someone is doing something wrong, instead of saying, "You did this..." Use an "I" statement. For example, let's say a group was off topic. Say, "I feel that the group should get back on track."

Clementine: Being too bossy or talkative is as bad as not doing anything or goofing off.

Chloe: When you receive an "I" statement, you should listen. Sometimes people don't know they are not helping the group.

Behyan: When you are in a group, you need to listen and participate.

Amanda: If you have an idea and another person has an idea, look for a compromise.

Lexi: If someone is not participating, ask them a question or ask for improvements to try and get them involved.

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Which Cinderella folk tale was your favorite and why?

Compare and contrast the folktales.

We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!