Beginning of the Year Book Study for Upper Elementary: Cinderella Fairy Tales

One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of the year with my fourth graders is a book study on Cinderella. I have collected numerous read aloud books that follow the plot line of and were inspired by Cinderella. The students love this unit in my classroom and I use it to work on a vast array of skills. The best effect from doing this unit is to get students talking to set the tone for student-led discussion at the beginning of the year.

The skills that I like to highlight in this unit are:
-compare and contrast- this skill is obviously the primary skill in exposing students to such similar stories. I have done this two ways with venn diagrams: comparing the first two books read or having students compare and contrast their two favorite books. I think you'll find, though, that comparing and contrasting is a skill you can sprinkle throughout your interactive read aloud and it will drive student-led discussions.

-predictions- once students understand the Cinderella plot line, they can start making some great predictions and justifying their predictions with evidence from another text!

-plot- Repeating the same plot over and over again helps students internalize the standard plot structure.

-context clues- I love that a lot of the books I have found take place in different settings all around the world. A lot of the books I chose give the students a little taste of a different culture with some language or dialect from that region or country. Students can use their context clues to figure out what some of these new words mean!

-character traits- Since the characters are similar, give or take, in each story, I make a point to also put an emphasis on character traits. It's a great opportunity, again, to make sure that students are justifying their claims with evidence during discussions. I love using this Character Trait chart from Workshop Classroom's tpt shop. I actually have the blank one printed out as a poster that I constantly reference throughout the year. For start of the year purposes, I show the students the filled in chart.

When students are more comfortable with a story, I've found that the discussions are quite impressive. So that is why I always start my year with this unit.

I read one book a day. I am lucky to have a generous 30 minute block that can be used to incorporate an interactive read aloud at the start of each day. If you don't have that luxury, you could use these folk tales in an extended unit.

Use this list as a guideline! There are so many other Cinderella-inspired stories out there that I'm sure are wonderful. If you have any that I haven't mentioned, please let me know about them!

The book I always start with is a classic Cinderella story. The book I use for this is,,,

 "Cinderella" by Sarah L. Thomson.

This is the story heavily inspired by Charles Perrault, who many of us think of as the classic Cinderella story with the glass slippers. I am always surprised at how few of my students have seen the Disney movie so this is an essential starting point. 

After I read the classic story, there is no necessary order that I read the following books in.

Yeh-Shen by Ai-Ling Louie

The Chinese version of Cinderella is actually the original story. This tale is a reproduction of the Chinese manuscript that dates back to the 5th century, one thousand years before the story first surfaced in Europe. Starting with this story instead of the Charles Perrault version is a great option!

Irish Cinderlad by Shirley Climo

I am especially drawn to this book because it breaks down typical gender roles of a Cinderella story. The main character is a young male!

Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin

This tale is based on Algonquin folklore, so it lends itself well to tying in or briefly introducing any Native American content you teach. As a Virginia teacher, this book is especially remarkable since we specifically teach about the Algonquin tribe.

Smoky Mountain Rose by Alan Schroeder

I think this is the most fun book to read and at the end of the year my students often ask for me to read it a few more times! I like to read this story with a bit of a twang as that is how the book is written- in the regional dialect. As a Virginia teacher, the fact that this story takes place in the Appalachian Mountains is a bonus that leads to a geography tie-in! So any Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky or West Virginia teachers... take note!

Cinder-Elly by Frances Minters

Cinder-Elly is a student favorite because it's written in a rap! This hip-hop Cinderella story that takes place in a modern urban setting. My students are able to identify with the main character in this story best because her story takes place in the current times. I find that character traits integrate well with this book.

The Persian Cinderella by Shirley Climo

My family is Persian so I love incorporating this story into my Cinderella unit. I also have trouble finding stories that depict middle eastern characters (or just non-Caucasian characters in general) so this book is relevant and influential. Shirley Climo is also a favorite author of mine in the folklore genre as you can tell since her books are on this list multiple times.

Adelita by Tomie dePoala

As teachers, we all know that Tomie dePaola's books make great read alouds and Adelita is no exception. This is a Mexican Cinderella story. My students are heavily hispanic so it's fun to have them explain what some of the words in this book mean as dePaola incorporates a ton of spanish words (don't worry, there is a glossary in the back and all meanings are easily decipherable). If your students don't speak spanish, this book is great to incorporate those context clues!

Here are some other titles that would work for this unit, but I have yet to have any experience with! If anyone has recommendations for these, please let me know! I love adding to my collection for this unit and keeping a few Cinderella-insired stories in my classroom library for interested students to read throughout the year. As you can see, there are so many different options from a variety of cultures for you to choose from.

  

    

Favorite Fourth Grade Read Aloud Book!

I ordered "The Day the Crayons Quit" from Scholastic Book Order after hearing so many teachers and parents rave about it. I was unsure about how it would go over with the upper elementary crowd but decided it would be a fun read aloud on our first day back to school after winter break.

Oh man, I have never had so many laughs at a read loud. My fourth graders LOVED it. They wanted to see it afterwards to read it over and over again!

It's a story about a little boy's box of crayons who write letters to him one day expressing their outrage toward him in some way or  another. Some crayons are upset that he uses them too much, some crayons are upset that he uses them too little. The author, Drew Daywalt, is incredibly humorous.

This book is a perfect model for letter-writing or personification! After we finished the read aloud, I asked my students to pick a school supply in their desks and write a letter to themselves from the perspective of that school supply. They had a blast with this activity because it really let their imaginations soar!

If you'd like to purchase the book for your classroom or your own children, I can't recommend that you do so enough! I even read it aloud to my coworkers because it was so funny! Find it on amazon here: 

Book Talk Thursday- Baloney!

How stinkin' cute is this book?

I've seen it before at book stores and such, and it's such an eye-catching book. But what made me fall in love was the book's description.

This book is PERFECT for my ELL kids. The majority of my students are in our ELL program (English Language Learners) or have been in the past. So I think they could really connect to this book. But like the description says, everyone can relate to learning how to read! We've all done it.

So, obviously, I immediately checked out this book and added it to my Amazon wishlist because borrowing this book from the library isn't going to cut it. And I couldn't help but write a blog about it for Andrea's Book Talk Thursday!!!

I found this great activity on TPT by Smart Chick Teaching Resources.

The activity she created to go along with this book focuses on context clues. Context clues are useful to all students, we know this. But context clues are invaluable to ELL students. 

Sometimes my students get stuck on a word during a test and freeze up! One time during a test, one of my students had never heard the word "jug" before and she decided she could NOT answer the question because of this. It was a math measurement problem and if she had gathered context clues, she would have been able to easily solve the problem. So every year, context clues is a main focus in my classroom.

With this activity from Smart Chick Teaching Resources, the students fill in a chart during their quest to find the meaning of the strange, outlandish words in "Baloney" by Jon Scieszka. They have to identify the clues that helped them determine their hypothetical meaning of the word.

For example, here is a page from the book-

The students would have to guess what they thought "Torakku" meant and identify the clues in the text and illustrations that helped them arrive to that conclusion.

So glad I found this book and Smart Chick Teaching Resources today!

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I'm linking up with Juice Boxes and Crayolas for this week's What I'm Reading Wednesday!

When You Reach Me Summary:

"Twelve-year-old Miranda has enough to worry about: her best friend, who suddenly refuses to hang out together; a boy she might kind of like; the homeless guy on the corner near her New York City apartment; and her single mom, an aspiring game show contestant. But now Miranda is getting creepy hidden notes that tell her to write down the story of what happens to her -- but not inform anyone. It will take a tragedy to show Miranda that neither the notes nor her friendships are quite what she imagined."

My Thoughts- I just started this book today but did a little researching beforehand. I was recommended this book by a professor when I was in college. It is definitely for the older kids. I think that it's perfect for sixth graders, but could be appreciated by some mature fourth and fifth graders. What attracted me to the book was the setting and the fact that Rebecca Stead, the author, touches on racism. I teach about the Civil Rights Movement and the racism, discrimination and segregation that occurred during that time. It sparks a lot of brilliant conversations between my students and I. Because of that, I think that this book would be interesting to my students since race is such a discussed topic in my classroom during that unit. I'll have to keep you updated on how this book turns out to be!

I am also reading the "Divergent" Series by Veronica Roth. I'm currently on the second book, "Insurgent" and loving it. I'm not reading this from teacher's perspective. I'm reading it for pure enjoyment, but I think that this book would be very enjoyable to a older middle schooler, especially since they're making a movie out of the book!

I am so excited to see the movie! The book reminds me a lot of the Hunger Games, which is one of my favorite series. However, it is different enough from the Hunger Games. I would definitely suggest this as a read for adults, but definitely not for our elementary school kiddos because there's some iffy language and even scenes with drinking involved.

Divergent Summary (in the Author's words):

"In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris, and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together, they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes-fascinating, sometimes-exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret: one she’s kept hidden from everyone, because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly-perfect society, she also learns that her secret might be what helps her save those she loves . . . or it might be what destroys her."

Choose Your Own Adventure!

I was going through my old chapter books that I had when I was in about fourth grade and I had all these memories coming back to me. It was then that I realized that is what I hope to help my students experience- the love of reading and being immersed into a plot of a great book.

How many of you recognize these from your childhood?!

Oh my gosh I used to love the "Choose Your Own Adventure" Series. I have a few books at home and my local library has a ton.

Now, they don't look all that appealing anymore. I don't know about your kiddos, but mine are obsessed with anything that looks like Diary of a Wimpy Kid lately (Dork Diaries, My Life as a Book, etc.) and these covers look like they're straight out of the 80s (which they are!) But lucky for you, this means that your local library probably has some books that aren't typically being checked out lately.

For those of you who may have forgotten, the "Choose Your Own Adventure" series is a book that allows the reader to determine the plot by making choices and flipping to designated pages to read on in that chosen plot line. For example, in the "Space and Beyond" book, the first decision you get to make is on page two where you have these two options- "If you choose Kenda as your birth planet, turn to page 3." or "If, on the other hand, Croyd attracts you, throw your luck to page 4." Ridiculous, but super entertaining and (I hope) engaging for my class.

So I was determined to use this in my classroom but I couldn't think of any ideas how.

My best idea I've had so far is to use the book to in my persuasive writing unit. This is what I'm thinking-

1. I'll introduce the book and explain how the book is interactive. 

2. Then I'll let the students vote with a hand raise for the option we should take. 

3. We'll read the book for a good chunk of time (whatever is appropriate that day- I'm thinking 10 or 15 minutes with the way my ELA block is set up). 

4. At about that time, I'll wait for a choice where the class is torn almost 50/50 and I'll tell them that it's just too close to call and that they'll have to write me a persuasive paragraph convincing me that their choice is the best decision.

5. Then I'll give them the rubric of requirements for a persuasive paragraph. And then they're off!

I used Heather Matthews' free rubric to create a rubric that best met my needs for this assignment. It was super easy to create and you can create yours too by going to her TPT store HERE.