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.
* * * * *
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.
* * * * *
Which Cinderella folk tale was your favorite and why?
Compare and contrast the folktales.
We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
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