Beauty and the Beast - Tanya Beers

Tanya Beers

IST571: Children's Literature Lit Kit

Book: Beauty and the Beast by Mahlon F. Craft, Illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft

Lesson Plan:

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LcdDck_65MjgXLqFd_KWDlo64Bl2RMxMmgOzJoQ8MTU/edit

Tanya Beers

IST571: Fairy Tales Storytelling

Title: Beauty and the Beast

Author:  Mahlon F. Craft, Illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft

Lexile Level: 840L

Grade Level: 2nd – 7th grade

Age Level: 5 to 8 years

This book is a retelling of the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast by Mahlon F. Craft. The original 

author is Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, a French author who published the original version of 

Beauty and the Beast in 1756. Beauty’s merchant father gets lost in the woods on his way home, comes 

upon a castle, and takes one rose from a rose garden on the grounds. The owner of the castle is a 

frightening-looking Beast who is so enraged by the father taking one of his roses that he condemns the 

father to death unless one of the man’s daughters is willing to take his place and stay with the Beast 

forever. The man’s daughter, Beauty agrees to take her father’s place at the castle and live with the 

Beast forever but will she ever grow to love him or be happy in the life she has chosen?

Lesson for 3rd graders :

Part 1: Students will listen to a reading of Beauty and the Beast. Afterwards, they will write a journal 

entry answering the following questions:

1. Think about someone you love and/or care about. What is it about that person that you love or 

admire?

2. What character traits do you have that you think others love or admire? What aspects of your 

character are you proud of and like?

3. Have you ever had an opportunity in your life to sacrifice something of yourself for someone else? 

Describe that opportunity and what action you took.

Part 2: Activity: Students will each take out a piece of notebook paper and write their names on them. 

They will then put the papers in a hat and I will mix them up. The students will each draw a classmate’s 

name out of the hat and they will write down on that paper, under their classmate’s name, what it is about 

that person that they like or admire. At the end of the activity, students will give those papers to the 

corresponding classmate. This activity is designed to highlight the fact that we don’t always know how 

we impact others in a positive way. We may be surprised to know what it is about ourselves that others 

think is great. This activity will also encourage students to find something to like about others that they 

may not have thought of otherwise.

Learning Standards:

Common Core ELA Writing Standards K-5 (3rd grade).

3.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.

a. Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure 

that lists reasons.

b. Provide reasons that support the opinion.

c. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., because, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons.

d. Provide a concluding statement or section.

3.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

a. Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding 

comprehension.

b. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.

c. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of 

information.

d. Provide a concluding statement or section.

3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive 

details, and clear event sequences.

a. Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds 

naturally.

b. Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show 

the response of characters to situations.

c. Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.

d. Provide a sense of closure.

Learning Goal:

Students will discuss and think about human character through writing a journal entry about themselves 

and how they impact others. Students will discover through the learning activity how they positively 

impact their classmates.

Learning Objectives:

1. Students will examine human character and how their own character impacts others through writing 

a journal entry.  (Cognitive and Psychomotor)

2.  Through the learning activity, students will describe to other classmates what character traits they 

have that they like and admire, demonstrating to each other how they have a positive impact on those 

around them.  (Affective and Cognitive)

Learning Outcome:

Students will discover how they positively impact those around them and be able to describe how 

others positively impact them. This lesson is a demonstration about character and its impact on us 

and others.

Works Cited:

Craft, Mahlon F. Beauty and the Beast. HarperCollins, 2016.

New York State Department of Education. (2011). New York State P-12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. Retrieved from https://www.engageny.org/resource/new-york-state-p-12-common-core-learning-standards-for-english-language-arts-and-literacy.