Fairy Tale Elements - the right ingredients to brew a story! 3/10/16

I was so excited to get into the classroom this week! I wore a "Storytelling cloak" and encouraged the teachers to do the same! I brought in a bag with all of the fairy tale "ingredients" (colored scarves in various jars) and the teachers had made a little fire for the cauldron to sit on!

 I asked the students about the kinds of stories they had been learning about : Myth, Legend, Tall Tale, Fable - and let them know we were moving on to Fairy tales - and that we had to but the right elements together to make a fairy tale work - I called up the students and had them "pour" in the ingredients one at a time - each colored scarf had a corresponding element of the fairy tale inside the cauldron on a small poster with the same color as the scarf - as we added each one, I stirred it in the cauldron and pulled out the poster - we then discussed the element - talked about examples, and then moved on to the next.

Getting Witchy with Fairy Tale Story Ingredients!!

 I believe the teachers really liked this as a way of introducing story elements, as opposed to using a chart on it's own. The students bought in - which is tricky as they are getting to the end of third grade...

We then used the same storytelling idea from last week of gathering around the "hearth" to tell the stories - This was so much fun, and very much solidified the idea of creating a special space for reading aloud that added that extra touch of theatricality that made reading the fairy tales aloud that much more special. Each teacher also wore a story telling cape - this was a thought I had about continuing the idea of simple costuming to make things more fun - not just for the student, but for the teacher. Mrs. Mayer brought in a lovely blanket that her great-grandmother had made for her, and that she used to snuggle in while hearing family stories. She told the students about the blanket - the kids loved it and really connected to the special "ness" of the blanket.

Each of the third grade teachers have done such an amazing job with each new thing we try - we each told a story around the fire - and I was so impressed with their outgoing, energetic and extremely effective story telling. Inflection, animation and a "storytellers voice" had the kids enthralled.

It was also AWESOME to see how easily they picked out the elements of the stories that we had read - they were going deeper than just the obvious and pointed out many elements that I had not thought to bring up!

I believe this was a very effective way to introduce elements of a story - we also thought about how the cauldron with the scarves could also be a really cool way to talk to kids about color theory as well!

Planning for Fairy Tales!

We came up with some great ideas this week for the Fairy Tale unit, involving costumes with the teachers, as well as theatrical ways to introduce and break down the elements that make up those stories.

We (the teachers and I) are going to be storytellers with a cauldron that we fill with the different elements of fairy tales. they will each be color coded - the elements will be colored scarves - and as each scarf is dropped in, cards of the same color can be drawn out to talk about examples of that element of the story - I will also read a classic fairy tale to the class and we will see if they can pick out the "ingredients" of the story that make it a fairy tale.
We will then have a work sheet for the kids - after they have identified the ingredients - can they change them to make the story a "Fractured Fairy Tale"?

We also have a plan for me to come in as a "Fairy God Mother"  and read a version of Cinderella - Then I will pick three items in the classroom that I could use to transform into a Carriage, 4 horses, a driver and  "glass" Slipper

Then the students will become fairy godmothers, and they must also find objects in the room that they could transform into those same things.

We also spoke about creating a "Hearth" for stories to be told at in the classroom. For so long stories were told around a fire - we thought it would be great to make a spot in the classroom that re-created that feeling.

I really think this weeks planning session was a great example of how inspiration can grow out of discussing the curriculum with the teachers - what their goals are, and what they really want the students to walk away with. I am excited to meet again next week and put the details in place for these next two lessons,as well as plan for when the students are writing their own fairy tales.