Rationale

Most students have some interesting stories to tell, either fiction or nonfiction.  Certainly in our fast paced world today, time is the major factor in the writing equation.  How do we get students to settle in and focus on their thoughts so they can put them on paper?  How do we get students to value their thoughts and issues of concern?  I suggest we unify.  We find time throughout the school day to come together, continuously in whole and small group, so we feel comfortable enough to share our personal feelings and tales.  We must be able to laugh together and share those items that are joyous and carefree without inhibitions.  Students must feel safe and secure with one another to share their journey.  Judgment and critiquing of others must be taboo otherwise real creativity will become stifled and’ students’ interest may be abandoned.  I believe the key to getting children to really share their stories to too share your stories and get them to know we are all humans an one big extended family that share a common goal; which is to be happy and have someone who cares and loves us for who we are.  Teachers we must have fun in the classroom so children enjoy coming to school with wonderment and excitement to learn new and valuable skills and strategies that can assist them to succeed in life.

Currently the School District of Philadelphia, which of course is supported by the Department of Education, literally dictates that students are presented with a category of required materials to read, how to write with correct English grammar, as well as standard guidelines for thought and analysis during the majority of the school day. Subsequently a problem, which arises, is mechanical repetition in the place of substantive understanding and creative ability.  It is possible that where a multitude of students are not able to make concrete connections with the compulsory text, reading and sustaining a concentrated focus for retention of information becomes a challenge.  This is particularly the case for those with limited background knowledge or for those lacking foundational language skills.  I must also not forget those coming from external school districts, foreign countries and the huge percentage of students with modest exposure to the foundations of literary composition.  Hence, a huge percentage of students in my third grade class, whose minds are at an important developmental platform, are limited with structured quality time, which is necessary to be creative thinkers as well as writers that can visualize from beginning to end their own stories, stories that, in my opinion, need to be composed not just in their minds but also published as memoirs.  These stories become memories of the past, present, and the developing years of their rapidly changing future.  Surely, their own stories should be told, or otherwise do we truly hear them? And in order to know them, in order to remember who they actually grow to become, we should give them all the opportunities available to share a part of themselves, their story.

Content Objectives

John H. Taggart is the school I work for which has approximately five hundred students.  This is the fourth year I have taught third grade within this Philadelphia public school.  As I reflect on those years I’ve notice a consistent pattern of weakness in the following PA. Literary standards: Common Core.1.3.3.A “Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text”.  Also CC.1.3.3.C:“Describe characters in a story [e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events”.  This school consists of a large percentage of multicultural students from many different parts of the world.   Also a plethora of languages are spoken and fortunately for our school everyone gets to share students’ experiences in one way or another.  Fortunately for the staff, various ethnic groups of families with whom we all can learn from have settled in this community, seeking a top quality education for their children, while forging a new way of life.  The learning experiences for our staff have unlimited possibilities.  We can allow ourselves to be made aware of the historical stories inside the depth of a cultural world we know little about, or not.  So, in all likelihood this unit will seek to assist in training third grade students to practice utilizing the Common Core Language Standards, Speaking and Listening Standards, as well as the Narrative Writing modality in its entirety.  This unit is composed of selected objectives to develop the ability for students to utilize the listed standards by writing their own narrative stories.

Ultimately this unit can be used as a tool that will support students in the composition of developing competent ways to compile and deliver their own stories.  In support of this students will learn a useful skill known as a frame story-which is a literary technique also known as frame tale or frame narrative. For teachers, in my opinion, it is essential to read a number of historical texts that are excellent examples of the frame story techniques.  Interestingly, writers in earlier centuries composed narratives in that manner.  Take the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, which is one of India’s oldest frame narratives and tells the story of two sets of paternal first cousins.  As the story unravels, the descriptive tales of separate yet critical events experienced by the characters takes the reader on a journey through episodes of events occurring at different times and moving through various types of mood, feelings, challenges, and details of calamities that the major characters encounter separately and collectively. The story continuously transports the reader from past to present, while validating how the characters’ lives intertwine, unfold and wrap around the principal message imparted by the characters for the readers.

The Frame Story technique is one useful resource and relevant tool to keep the students’ narrative focused on a full circle completion of the story as a ”a story within a story” and giving a deeper meaning to the characters with details that bind the story while also encapsulating it with intrigue and literary longevity.  Another great and well-known composition of a frame narrative is The Arabian Nights.  This frame story begins with an overview of one major character “Shah Zaman” with a narrator that tells his story before bridging to the lives of additional major characters necessary to drive the message, giving the tale a sense of mystery and keeping the reader engaged and questioning the reality of the tale.  This type of tool allows the narrator to begin introducing literary elements and as the story unfolds the narrator can possibly become one of the characters of the story.  The Frame Narrative technique allows the narrator to visit both the past and the present to offer different perspectives and points of view within the various details of the stories. The Frame technique is an effective way of telling us how a story begins and ends and thus serves as an excellent tool for producing great fiction genre.

As for the students, in many cases I’ve realized that when telling a story, several students haphazardly incorporate several components or details of stories within the main story unaware of how they join it all together as one story, making it a challenge to express what they want to and how to bringing closure to the focal point of the tale.  Many of these students ramble on a tangent about components of a story before bringing the tale to closure, or they come full circle with the story from their perspective.  If the listener is not focused, they also get pulled into the various avenues of the story feeling somewhat uneasy but attentive.  But the one who listens intently asks the narrator about the original story, the point of the story, and the narrator, at that point, possibly has the ability to express their original reason for sharing the tale.  In my classroom of third graders, I notice this happens quite often.  Subsequently, once the objective turns to transcribing the verbal into the written text, and then becomes a difficult task for both students and teacher.  At that point, using a tape recorder or video recording can be helpful for those students who might have difficulty remembering their tale.  Furthermore the Frame Story technique, I believe, allows students to transcribe the literary components and then to bring those parts together into a unified whole under the chosen storyline.  The lessons created throughout this unit are conducive to the frame technique.  That is to say, I am sharing plans of how to build the perimeter of a tale to restrain the narrative around the chosen context.

It’s the students who must be willingly taught how to bring their historical cultural experiences to life on paper, while connecting their narratives to the standards and objectives.

Perhaps this unit can assist the teacher with creative ways to open discussions on morality, common goals, civic events, or school issues to allow students to learn and to share their moral views on life through their narrative.  Students should be given the opportunity to decide how much information will be shared in their storytelling, and how it will be delivered for presentation.  Granted throughout this unit presentations are a requirement on students’ it will take the form of oral and comic text.

In summation I strongly believe students crave to be nourished with the ability to speak-out, explore ways to find their voice, and possibly with boldness share their stories. Even if they are not as fictitiously enchanting as those in the required reading texts, we as educational leaders have an obligation to help students feel comfortable with their voice.  This voice may possibly be a grammatically oppositional voice, a less than perfect one in terms of Language Standards achievement, but it will be one that has developed through social skills, thus attributing to it a level of normalcy.  As teachers, we must believe their stories should to be given birth in order for the whole person to rise and shine, even if it’s only a fleeting star.

Namely a few tried and true teaching strategies that will be utilized in this unit, such as “Think-Pair-Share,” Event Sequencing, Story Mapping along with a host of other graphic organizer in most lessons.  One technique useful for narrative writing will be the Frame Story.  Sarah E. Worth in her article, “Story-Telling and Narrative Knowing: An Examination of the Epistemic Benefits of Well-Told Stories” states, “Narratively is the principal way that human beings order their experiences in time”.

Many teachers at some point in teaching use storytelling of some sort, be it book reading, current news events or a quick fable to gain the attention of the listener.  The task of retelling a story and keeping students highly excited, engaged, remaining focused on every detail is a goal teachers try to accomplish to gain high levels of productivity.

When the narrator is monotone, stumbles on details, lacks expression or limits information it’s a given students lose interest.  They become engaged with distracting, possibly disruptive behaviors or sidebar conversations bringing all listeners into their story.  We all had those days, of course.  So how a story is delivered can be the key to understanding and learning from a well-told story.  Sarah Worth also states, “There are epistemological benefits to telling well-constructed narratives.  When one becomes skilled in Narrative Reasoning they will have a better comprehension of the human experiences.”  This tells me that if one understands the narrator’s reason for telling a narrative, then one has a better outlook at how human behavior works.  Hence, when telling or writing a narrative the narrator must take into consideration human characteristics and behaviors.  So a great narrator must know when to elicit laughter, excitement, or other emotions to keep the listener engaged.

If you are selecting to use these resources they are meant to rigorously drive the student to work within a series of perimeters in order to conceptualize and focus on the goal of achieving a moral or central message.  Apart from that the goal of this unit is when writing a narrative students will be able to integrate the standards and produce the purpose of the narrative.

The Pennsylvania Common Core Reading Literacy Standard 1.3.3.A “Key Ideas and Details: Theme” states: students should master the ability to determine the central message, lesson, or moral in literary text; in order to explain how it is conveyed in the text. The National Common Core Standard Correlation RL.3.2 for reading literacy states that students should be able to recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral in order to explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.  So the goal is through reading and writing students achieve and master these standards at a level of success.

Other resources included are adaptable teacher made graphic organizers that focus on character traits, along with cultural folklore Read Aloud texts as a support tool.  Always as teachers we must inject time for students to analyze character traits, which is a very difficult analytical element to grasp.  Through understanding what motivates a character helps students sustain motivation in the story from beginning to end along with challenging events that happen in text, so put in place time to “Think, Pair, Share” continuously and analyze using the graphic aids.  Also as students listen to how folktales are compiled this may also give them insight on how to develop their writings.  The Common Core Standard 1.3.3.C., listed under “Key Ideas and Details: Literary Elements” states, students should be able to describe characters in a story and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events; also The National Correlation is RL.3.3.  In my opinion using cultural folklore gives both the teacher and students opportunity to hear various texts that explore the similarities and differences in character traits while possibly making “text to self connections” in order to build the background knowledge that can enhance the development of their own story.

In addition to the literary standards, this unit will give teachers opportunities to satisfy the Writing Standards for Narratives CC.W.3 which states: students will be able to write narratives in order to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective techniques, descriptive details, and clear event sequence.

Moreover this unit will examine the PA. Craft and Structure Standard  C.C. 1.3.2.E of literacy which states: students should be able to describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action, as well as the National Standard RL.2.5 which states the same.

Clearly, as a third grade Philadelphia School District teacher the standards listed above are what I adhered to with the intention that students within the classroom achieve this in both reading and as a resourceful tool in narrative writings.

The design of this unit is to share with student’s historical culture stories that clearly exhibit evidence of the standards so students can scaffold from the point of listener to that of the narrator of their own original stories.  This unit will highlight extracted fragments of the stories from the Arabic storytelling, The’ Arabian Nights”, the Sanskrit “Pancatantra or “The Five Strategies”, and the Persian “Conference of the Birds” highlighted in my Middle East and Asia Storytelling seminar as resources in order to analyze structure of narrative composition.  In any case I implore teachers interested in working this unit to please take the time to read those well-known stories recommended, especially since they were essential in developing this unit.

The advantageous ability of the Frame Story tool gives students an opportunity to work backwards, or from different perspectives, while bringing in alternate characters then building that story around other story details within the story, accomplishing the end results which is the central message/story moral, while giving the reader circumstances that surround the story yet always allowing the reader to maintain a focal point. This technique also gives the listener or reader an opportunity to venture off into other areas of the narrative not taking focus off the main character or the original narrator yet examining the interior workings along with the broader details that are elements which keep the story cohesive.

Undoubtedly when students’ create their personal narrative the connection is inevitable.  We all know for a fact, when the story has a meaningful relationship with a students’ historical culture it’s possibly the number one best incentive for oral participation (Speaking and Listening Standard) and the sharing of students’ stories.  Surely the message this unit delivers is that teachers have the ability to learn from their students, teach them to share their history, allow for student story telling time, and most certainly teach them the importance of telling their story. The Common Core Standard 1.3.1.A. states: students can retell stories, including key details, in order to demonstrate understanding of the central message or lesson.  Chances are when students write their own stories than likewise developing an interest for other authors’ writing styles and techniques becomes an adventure or useful tool.  Furthermore the teacher as well has the opportunity to introduce an assortment of authors.  In effect students can study and question the author as well as self-critique themselves.

The Craft and Structure standard CC.1.2.3.D where students must explain the point of view of the author in order to analyze their point of view is also a powerful learning requirement useful for determining style in a narrative composition.  From my viewpoint by starting with the end in mind, describing the results are the first challenge, then it becomes how does the writer gradually try to achieve an unknowingness after knowing.  In many ways for younger students this may cause the writing to be shortchanged, have limited details, or hastily written leaving out important details. For the reasons listed the Frame Narrative is a great tool.

Then the second challenge becomes developing ways that help the student maintain a plan of action on how to move forward and develop the characters’ with an innocence of awareness of the central message/moral.

So after introducing and sharing various folklores the plan is to start with the following whole group discussion:

What lesson, or central message do you want to share with others in a narrative writing?

As the instructor you want to have students “Think, Pair, Share” their thoughts in small group and make sure they write them on post-its to reflect and revisit. Hang the post-its in the room or on a chart that is visual and visible.   Get the students to move about the room and see what their peers are thinking by doing a museum walk regularly, then allowing the time to assessing and discuss others’ thoughts in whole or small group.  Upon returning to their seats give them time to revisit possibly revise their drafts or selected moral.

This is proper preparation for the Writing Standards for Narratives CC.W.3 which states: students will be able to write narratives in order to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequence.

Plan for a whole group discussion of character traits.  Many students fall into the misconception that emotions are traits.  Address that early on so students know it is normal to confuse the two.  As a class create a list of character traits versus character emotions.

As you move forward with the PA. Craft and Structure Standard  C.C.1.3.2.E of literacy which states: students should be able to describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action, share a “Read Aloud” each day to survey the students’ understanding.  I like to use the “Anansi” folktales or “Fables” from Arnold Lobel, which has many fables that can be used as “Read-Alouds” for approximately two weeks (or however convenient).  They are short and in small groups have students discuss and determine some character traits they took notes on while listening to the reading (C.C.1.3.1.A).  At that point misconceptions should be addressed and discussed.  I recommend you allow time for those Interpersonal and Intrapersonal students to “Think, Pair, Share” their thoughts then post them on a chart giving time as well as recognition for those Visual-Spatial, Logical, and Kinesthetic students’ by conducting a “Museum Walk”.  Surely, when using these types of multi-intelligent behaviors as a skill various facets of cognitive abilities arise along with engaged differentiation on going.  Have those tactile students share-out their thoughts by assessing listed traits and deciding how or where it fits into their storyline.  Once C.C.1.3.2.E is clearly determined then have students write a list of 3 to 5 animals as characters for the writing.  After that is accomplished have students list three character traits for each animal.   These are only some of the challenges that may arise.

Activity One: Comic Text

Duration:  Approximately 2 wks.

40mins. / Day

Let me begin this lesson by asking who likes an intriguing, plot oriented comic strip with superhero characters, everyone! So teachers please read “Panchatantra, Crows and Owls and other Stories”, by Amar, Chitra, Katha: The Glorious Heritage of India. The original text of this text was probably written about 200 B.C. by a great Hindu scholar, Pandit Vishnu Sharma.  Some of the texts of the Panchatantra (“The Five Strategems”) date back as far as 500 B.C.  Teachers, we can all picture this when students enter the library the search for anime comic books begin.  In Panchatantra, these stories traveled through Persia, Arabia, Greece, and even reached Europe.  The Pachatantra has been translated into 50 plus languages.   This text is also known as “Nitishastra,” a branch of science, which means “A book of wise conduct.”  It teaches many lessons of life with solutions to contemplate.   Take the funny tale of “The Bird and the Monkeys” with a logical moral.  A real eye-opening moral comes with the reading of “The Camel Who was Beguiled by his Companions.”   Teachers, as you skim though the text, observe the text structure and clearly make that an objective and use as a visual for the students.

Beyond that, inquire with those students who hustle around the library to grab anime books, those students who take a seat somewhere quiet then go from cover to cover repeatedly gazing in amazement at the text features.  Most students are unaware of text structure yet know it attracts them to examine the plot action by action.  In effect this unit lesson is about each student discovering within themselves their superhero.  Moreover, this writing activity provides students an opportunity to envision themselves as a superhero, with super powers, then framing a story with whatever disastrous behaviors necessary too overpower or annihilate the villain in order to teach a lesson.   All this while using the text structure features of graphic aids, print, organization and informational (C.C.1.3.2.E.) in addition to the literary elements (C.C.1.3.3.C).

Ultimately, this unit is about motivating students to discover their strengths, what interest them, and how to be the best they can be while sharing it with others.  This comic stripe writing is about asking students how do they challenge themselves when life experiences become difficult?  In essence this unit lesson allocates that students go interpersonal and question themselves, seeking to discover what kind of superhero they may chose to be in the comic strip.  Which quality will they chose to help and why?  Will they have superpowers to fly or a bird?  Will they walk through walls to seek out the villain?  The choice is theirs!  The discussion can be eye opening and informal.

The following activity will delight teachers and students thereby creating narratives that achieve the narrative writing standard.

Activity One: Comic Text “Super Hero”

1. Common Core Standards

National C.C. Standards Correlation                                       Objectives

Activity One: Comic Text (suggested) Lesson Steps

Activity Two:  “The Fable”

Duration:  Approximately 2 wks.

40mins. / Day

Writing a fable can be tons of fun, lots of trials, and genuine periods of laughter.  Foremost students get the opportunity to let animals narrate and act out in dialogue a story synonymous to real life tales. Remember teachers, the strategy “Think, Pair, Share” must be utilized to build peer relationships, which will alleviate fear, or bashfulness, a cause of difficulty for some students when presenting.  Also the students learn to share ideas, collaborate and discuss the traditional well-known character traits specific to certain animals (see the appendix for a list of legendary animal character traits) and learn how to build a tale around a moral.

WikiHow.com states: “The moral is the center of a fable” that which deserves a huge amount of class time”.  Be clear that as the teacher, moral opens the door for a slue of teaching areas that branch from the literacy content into many other tributaries.  Class time can be spent on small group discussions of social, cultural, educational, or many other areas to select from.  Just remember, ask the students and yourself what is a culturally pertinent issue that will endure the pasting of time?  Too me that means something historical or possibly in the making.  So the question then becomes how do third graders turn a real world memorable issue into a fable…condense it into the moral then expand outwards with the production!  One way of achieving this is by following up with which animal characters exhibit opposing traits and possibly are enemies in the real world of nature.  Then how will the characters’ rising actions exhibit and produce the problem?  Remember the tale must be interesting enough to get the reader pass the problem to the climax of the story.  Yet it also must sustain suspense in order to pass the falling action and come to an equitable resolution.  Another prelude teachers is to select opportunities that pertain to yearly class events, students’ behaviors, incidents that happen during the school year, or basic lessons to be learned as those topics for selected narratives. Remember, students will always enjoy listening to different fables as the ‘Read Aloud” over a span of time; namely I suggest, “Panchatantra” and “Fables” by Arnold Lobel.   Furthermore teachers take some time to explore and examine what makes fables different from other fictional genres.   In conjunction with that the whole class or in small group centers students get opportunities to compare ways to design the characters’ dialogue and intertwine the events.

In this activity the technique I chose for writing will be the Frame Narrative.  Below are some suggested standards with objectives, lesson activities and teacher-crafted resources.

Teachers, I strongly recommend you read excerpts of the following cultural tales taken from various time periods to obtain a sense of awareness on how the “frame story” frame works, as well as taking the opportunity to read really great original fables:

“The Conference of the Birds” by Farid Ud-Din Attar.  This text of poetry uses all types of birds to address a real-world human problem with a subjective moral.

“Aesop’s Fables” literally translated from the Greek by George Fyler Townsend, Illustrations by Harrison Weir.  You may also find many of Aesop’s Fables on YouTube.

“Fables” by Arnold Lobel – this resource has many fables in one small book.

Activity Two: Fables

1. Common Core Standards

National C.C. Standards Correlation                         Objectives

Activity Two: Fable (suggested) Lesson Steps

See Appendix:                                                                                                                                                  Aesop’s 300 Fables                                                                                                                        Frame Story Graphic Organizer                                                                                                 Animal Character Trait List

Activity Three: Narrative Writing “Fantasy”

Duration:  Approximately 2 wks.

40mins. / Day

As a third grade teacher of an elementary school there are times I find myself having difficulty drawing the line between the various fiction genres of fables, folktales, fantasies, and myths.  So, Wikipedia writes, “Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary plot element, theme, or setting”.   Great examples of adult cultural fantasy readings for background knowledge are not limited to the following: Somadeva, Tales from The Kathasaritsagara, translated from the Sanskrit with an introduction by Arshia Sattar tells of tales from India.  In the introduction Ms. Sitar is given credit for using the metaphor of the Moebius strip to explain the convolutions of the frame story, which in my opinion, portrays the perfect description.  The Somadeva text has narrating characters that narrate stories within the story, which is the epitome of a frame narrative.  Also “The Story of the Stone” a Chinese novel by Cao Xueqin, translated by David Hawkes, where a block of stone is the main character given magic powers. This tale also uses the frame narrative to elicit tale after tale around that block of stone.   Teachers reminder, the main focus of a fantasy you need to get across to the students is MAGIC must be prevalent and direct or drive the plot.  Also include a power structure, which governs how the characters world stays safe and orderly.  This area of the fantasy helps the writer to decide who or what the characters go to for help, fairness in time of leadership and ruler ship?  All other areas of literary elements are very descriptive and distinctly necessary to make the narrative a believable fantasy.  Writer’s Edit list and describes the five essential elements of every fantasy novel clearly so I suggest you visit that site online if you need more explanation or background knowledge.  I also use various graphic organizers from drawing the illustrations of the fantasy in sequential order to drafting details in sequence for differentiation with students at various writing levels.  Some of the organizers I have taken from textbooks for teachers and others I designed while teaching in small group. You will find these graphic organizers in the appendix.

Activity Three: Fantasy

1. Common Core Standards

National C.C. Standards Correlation                         Objective

See Appendix for list of Magical Elements

Activity Three: Fantasy (suggested) Lesson Steps

Activity Four: Folktale                                                                                                                         Duration:  Approximately 2 wks.                                                                                40mins. / Day

I strongly feel in this lesson students should communicate with maternal/paternal family members in order to inquire about a favorite folktale that has been passed on to their parents or grandparents.  From my viewpoint this is a great lesson for students to learn more of their cultural heritage.  To make sure students obtain a folktale please assign it as homework where the students must write down the story told to them and bring it to class the following day.  The day majority of students bring the folktale to class their next task will be to rewrite the tale from their perspective.  This is how the writing of a folktale narrative will start.                                                                                                                                            What is a Folktale?  The Britannica Educational Publishing series “What is a Folktale” by Geoff Barker states, “folktales are stories that tell about different parts of life.  They can be scary, funny, or exciting.  They may entertain, teach a lesson, or try to explain things about the world that people do not understand.  Folktales are told all around the world.”  Let us simply analyze the compound word “folktale”.  Hence the word “folk” means people or a group of people.  The word “tale” means a story told.  In short the two words together, give the meaning, a story told by people.  In all likelihood, when stories are told by one person or many people, minuscule details change with each telling, especially if the tales are not scribed.  So eventually someone decided the tales needed to be written down, happily for that reason we have folktales that date back hundreds of years giving cultural substance to present generations.   Indeed people tell folktales for a multitude of reasons such as to teach children about their culture and history, or how to live your life, what dangers exit and how to avoid conflict or humiliation.  Some folktales also teach a moral.  For those reasons along with many other powerful reasons these tales withstand the test of time.  Ask yourself, if folktales are remembered today by cultures around the world, then what keeps them circulating?  Let’s analyze the normal people, similar too ourselves, used as those fictitious characters experiencing situations faced in real-world incidents.  They have the same trepidation, the same hurtles, and anxieties as normal everyday people.  Frankly, in my opinion that is probably why we enjoy listening to and telling these tales.  Usually, everyone has a connection to them, or we can apply something read in order to learn from a folktale.

The following activity is also a narrative writing therefore the Common Core Standards are similar in detail.  The objective is to have students evaluate how folktales are written, adapted as well as applicable to present life situations.

Activity Four: Folktale

1. Common Core Standards

National C.C. Standards Correlation                         Objective

Activity Four: Folktale (suggested) Lesson Steps

Bibliography

Wikipedia, Arab culture

Wikipedia, Frame Story

Wikipedia, Dream of the Red Chamber

Yunis, Alia,.The Arabian Super heroine

Introduction Storytelling in India,  Lustful Maidens and Ascetic Kings : Buddhist and Hindu Stories of Life, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1981. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/upenn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=430372. Created from upenn-ebooks on 2019-01-08 18:18:38.

Copyright © 1981. Oxford University Press, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Lyon, Malcolm C. Lyon,Ursula, Irwin, Robert,. The Arabian Nights, Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 1 Nights 1 to 294

Storytelling and Narrative Knowing: An Examination of the Epistemic Benefits of WellTold Stories Author(s): Sarah E. Worth Source: The Journal of Aesthetic Education, Vol. 42, No. 3 (Fall, 2008), pp. 42-56 Published by: University of Illinois Press Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25160289 Accessed: 15-01-2019 02:51 UTC

Olivelle, Patrick, The World’s Classics, Pancatantra, The Book of India’s Folk Wisdom, Translated from the original Sanskrit, Oxford University Press 1997

The Teacher and the Taught: Structures and Meaning in the

Arabian Nights and the Panchatantra

Sadhana Naithani

Marvels & Tales, Volume 18, Number 2, 2004, pp. 272-285 (Article)

Published by Wayne State University Press

DOI:

For additional information about this article

Access provided by University Of  Pennsylvania Libraries (28 Jan 2019 02:19 GMT)

https://doi.org/10.1353/mat.2004.0047

Arkhurst, Joyce Cooper,  Scholastic Inc. by arrangement with Little, Brown and Company, “The Adventures of Spider”, Text copyright 1964 by Joyce Cooper Arkhurst.  Illustrations copyright 1964 by Barker/Black Studio Inc.

Connell, Genia, “Teaching Character Traits in Reader’s Workshop”, November 8, 2012

www.scholastic.com -Character Traits Posters

https://literarydevices.net/frame-story

https://www.youtube.com “What is Frame Story?

Seminar connections:

The Arabian Nights, Panchatantra, surely these stories were not written for children, yet they were used by elders to explain life experiences to children, these stories also are resources that enhance teacher awareness of how great stories are composed for longevity.

Additional Resources:

“The Adventures of Spider” by Joyce Cooper Arkhurst, Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney These stories are West African Folk Takes retold by Joyce C. Arkhurst

This book of West African folktales is student friendly.  It has six tales about a spider that can be used as a Read Aloud to show comparison and a relationship to the behavior of normal people.

Scholastic.com/teachers (list of character traits 3rd grade)

https://www.wikihow.com/Describe-the-Setting-in-a-Story co-authored by wikiHow Staff

https://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Fable, co-authored by Danielle McManus,PhD

Three hundred Aesop’s fables / Literally translated from the Greek,
by George Fyler Townsend, M.A ; with one hundred and fourteen illustrations, designed by Harrison Weir and engraved by J. Greenaway. London George Routledge and Sons, 1867.

http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiuo.ark:/13960/t7rn87b7w

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/folktale_allfolktale.htm

http://www.read.gov/aesop/001.html

http://www.cowetaschools.org/ees/images/Content/EIP/Fantasygr3.pdf

Resources for Students:

List of Children’s Folktale Books

I See Summer by Charles Ghigna

The Flute Player by Lacapa Michael

Tua and the Elephant by R.P.Harris

The Empty Pot by Demi

The Sourdough Man: An Alaska Folktale by Cherie Stihler

Why Mosquitoes Buss in People’s Ears by Verna Aardema

The Mitten by Jan Brett

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale by Carmen Agra Deedy

Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti by Gerald McDermott

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale

Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young

The Legend of the Bluebonnet by Tomie dePaola

Stone Soup by Jon J. Muth

The Princess and the Warrior: A Tale of Two Volcanoes

Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel

The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

The Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain;  A Nandi Tale by Verna Aardema

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka

The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

Fable & Fantasy Suggestions

A List of the Fables                                                    A List of Fantasies

Resources for the Classroom:

Common Animals and Their Characteristics

The Lion: Strength, Pride

The Wolf: dishonesty, greedy, predatory

The Donkey: ignorance

The Fly: wisdom

The Fox: cleverness, trickiness, cunning

The Hawk: bossiness, supreme

The Hen: conceitedness

The Lamb: innocence, shyness

Character Traits

It’s who a character is on the inside-their personality.  Character traits show through what a character says or does.

Assessment Rubric for Comic Strip

Rubric for Folktale, Fable, & Fantasy Writings        3rd Grade

Frame Story Graphic Organizer

Useful ideas-

The Major characters/narrator begins the story with descriptive details of the setting, followed by events that lead into a story involving minor characters while moving the sequence of events forward showing how characters share a relationship with other characters and the ensuing problem(s).  Additional details or different problems with events continue to move the story along all the while continuing to make a full circle connection of all characters/events.  Then a solution/connection or relationship is made with the characters or through the narrator, tying the story together. Clear details should tell how the problem was solved.  The ending is a conclusion that finishes the tales by tying up any lose ends within the story.

Appendix

Writing Narratives

C.C.1.4.3.M-R: (W.3) Write narratives in order to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear events sequence.

Presentation of Narrative Writings

C.C. 1.5.3.A: ( SL.3.1) Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions on grade level topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Comic Writing

C.C.1.3.2.E: (RL2.5) Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.

Reading Objectives

CC.1.3.3.A: (RL.3.2) Determine the central message, lesson, or moral in literary text; explain how it is conveyed in text.

C.C.1.3.3.C: (RL.3.3) Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events