Demo Lesson - Fairy Tales, Elements of the Story, and Point of View

This lesson is for high beginning or low intermediate high school ESL students

I. Objectives:
Students will identify unique elements of fairy tales
Students will write from a different point of view
Students will use acquired knowledge to write personal narrative

II. Discussion - What is a fairy tale? What are some characteristics of fairy tales?

III. Read aloud -"The Paper Bag Princess" by Robert Munsch Illustration by Michael Martchenko

Chart the elements and identify point of view

IV. Matching/Grouping Activity

V. Read fairy tales online: Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and The Little Mermaid

VI. Chart elements on a graphic organizer

VII. Quickie Fairy Tale Group Write

VIII. Use an Open Mind Diagram to express the point of view of a character in the story

IX. Invitation to Write: Personal Narrative

9th Grade E/LA TEKS

1B write in a voice and style appropriate to audience and purpose

5B respond productively to peer review of his/her own work

6A expand vocabulary through wide reading, listening, and discussing

7B rely upon his/her own background to provide connection to texts

7D construct images such as graphic organizers based on text descriptions and text structures

8C read world literature, including classic and contemporary works

9B compare text events with his/her own and other readers experiences

11B analyze the relevance of setting and time frame to text's meaning

11C analyze characters and identify time and oint of view

11D analyze basic conflicts


Extensions:

Make a captioned mural of fairy tales

Write an original fairy tale

Write a fractured fairy tale

Make a hanger book of a fairy tale character ( a life-sized character made with a coat hanger and bulletin board paper) which includes a self-description and 1st person point of view telling of the story.

Fairy Tale Websites:

Sur la Lune

http://www.longwood.K12.ny.us/ridge/wq/savona

Children’s Story

http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/jcheek3/fairytales.htm


Research:

Research Guides

Research Topics

Warner, Maria .(1995) From the Beast to the Blonde. Farran, Strauss

Tatar, Maria. (2003)The Hard Facts of Grimms' Fairy Tales.Princeton, N.J.Princeton University Press

A Rhyme From My Childhood

Once upon a time
A goose drank wine
A monkey chewed tobacco
On the streetcar line
The streetcar broke
And the monkey choked
And they all went to heaven
In a little tin boat

Inside Out Chapter 2

There is a diversity and richness of inner language that flows in all of us.
When we write, we dip into that flow and pull out ideas and words to put down on the page.
There is an anxious feeling that a word or phrase will slip by before we get it on the page.
Sometimes it is difficult to draw out the students’ inner language.
Our goal in teaching writing is to teach writing in a natural way, to get out of the way of our students. It is to make writing a part of their lives just as it is a part of ours.
We tend to teach writing in steps, but writing processes are recursive and do not follow neat separate steps.
We should introduce our students to a variety of ways of beginning, drafting, revising, and completing their work.
Help students develop fluency – get students comfortable with the language.
Control – coach students, and don’t discourage them.
Precision – Students should begin looking for better words and better constructions on their own.
Give students examples of writing that give students a feel for language, voice, and syntax.
Offer constraints (structure) but give students freedom to express themselves.
Students can’t be taught, but they can be coached. Coaches don’t advise, they listen and ask questions.

Inclusive Teachers' Attitudinal Ratings of Their Students With Disabilities

Title - Inclusive Teachers' Attitudinal Ratings of Their Students With Disabilities

Author - Bryan G. Cook, David L. Cameron, Melody Tankersley

Author's Purpose for Writing - To explore the use of a new rating scale that measures teacher's attitudes toward their students, and to investigate the attitudes of inclusion teachers toward their students with disabilities using a rating scale

What are the points made in the review of the literature? Teachers have less attachment to students with disablities who exhibit negative behavior, but they have high levels of attachment to students with disabilities who communicate with them and who make an effort to achieve.

Do they support the need for the study? yes

Author's inquiry questions - Do inclusive teachers feel greater concern, indifference, and rejection, but less attachment toward their students with disabilities?

Author's Methodolgy - A rating scale

Who is being studied? 50 inclusive teachers, the 156 included students with disabilities and 199 of their students without disabilities in Ohio

Over what length of time? one semester

What data is being collected? teacher attitudes about disabled and non-disabled students

How is it being analyzed? Zero-order correlations, ANOVA, four multiple regression equations,

MANOVA

Any other interesting or pertinent data -

How the author collected information - In faculty meetings, teachers rated their attitudes toward students on a 4 point scale

What the author discovered or conclusions/implications - The learning and behavioral problems exhibited by students with disabilities engendered inclusive teacher's relatively high rejection and low attachment ratings. The participating teachers tended to develop concern for included students with disabilities who had instructional needs that the teachers could reasonably address and did not exhibit the behaviors that elicit teacher rejection. General educators' perceived lack of experience, knowledge, or responsibility regarding the instruction of students with disabilities rather than teacher disregard may explain the higher indifference toward included students with disabilities.

It's About the Kids - Transforming Teacher-Student Relationships Through Action Research

Title - It's About the Kids - Transforming Teacher-Student Relationships Through Action Research

Author - Dwight Rogers, Cheryl Mason Bolick, Amy Anderson, Evelyn Gordon, Meghan McGlinn Manfra, Jan Yow

Author's Purpose for Writing - Action research is often used in teacher education programs to improve teacher reflection and practice, but there is little indication of its impact on students.

What are the points made in the review of the literature? Action research provides a vehicle for teachers to establish more personal relationships with students, develop a better understanding
of students as learners and give students a voice in the classroom.

Do they support the need for the study? Yes.

Author's Inquiry Questions - When teachers engage in action research, do they go beyond reflection and become more mindful of the students they teach?

Author's Methodology - Teachers formulated the questions, surveyed students, distributed questionnaires and surveys, analyzed results and reflected on implications.

Who is being studied? Teachers in an M.Ed program enrolled in a research class

Over what length of time? Over the period of the course (probably a semester)

What data is being collected? Teacher's final research reports

How is it being analyzed? No formal analysis is given, only observations

Other pertinent data - Action research has tremendous potential for encouraging teachers to

uncover and implement new and different ways to communicate with their students and fully involve them in curricular and pedagogical decision making

How the author collected information - Teachers conducted their own research, then submitted it at the end of the course to the author

What the author discovered or conclusions/implications - Teachers found that through action research they got to know their students, their learning styles, and preferences for classroom activities. Teachers were able to modify their instruction, and found that instruction/learning was more effective. Careful reading of the final reports identified including the child in the curriculum as a significant outcome of the final research results.

My Gift and What I Do With It

My gift is empathy (O.K., some people might laugh). I feel that difficulties in my life have been like mean teachers, but they taught me things, and I often seem to get lessons on understanding others. My students are culturally diverse, and also come with the baggage that all adolescents carry. I have not always responded to them in the best way, but I try. I went to live in France when I was 22 under the best circumstances. It was my choice, I had a comfortable life, and I was a student on a grand adventure. In spite of having studied the culture and the language
it was all difficult for me at first. I didn't understand a lot of what people were saying because they spoke so fast. I didn't know a lot about just getting through the day. I can't imagine how frightened and bewildered my students must be to be in a country that they may not have chosen to come to, and to live with poverty and discrimination. I can't make everything right for them, but I can greet them warmly everyday and let them know that they matter. I can try to teach them what they need to know to get by in this world.

How I Will Be StellaLuna on My Campus

Although I love my job and my school, there are some major frustrations. The main frustration is the constant hysteria over test scores. We look bad on paper, and sometimes
it translates into drill and kill for the test when so much more valuable material could be taught. The other is the unavailability of technology to our ESL students. This is seriously appalling.
Next year, I want to take what I have learned here to make things different. I want my classes to be real communities of writers. I want them to be more connected to each other as writers and I want their work to be displayed so that other teachers can see what limited English students can do when they are connected to each other as writers. I will use peer response and
more peer editing so that students will know that it's not just about them and me, but about their role in this community.
+-