Fairest of All written by Sarah Mlynoswski

Fairest of All
Sarah Mlynoswski
490L

            This is the first book of the series Whatever After. The series takes the themes and tropes of fairy tales and turns them on their head. Within Fairest of All the story of Snow White is interrupted by Abby and Jonah after they are pulled into the fantasy world. The siblings bring their knowledge of the fairy tales with them and alter the story. The most notable aspect of Fairest of All is how the main character, Abby, is able to assert herself as she is placed within the story. She could easily fall in the role of Snow White and allow the story to proceed as normal but she doesn’t need to abide by the rules of the tale and the story becomes tailored to her wants thereafter.

Bluebonnet Book award 2013

Learning Activity:
Taking the fairy tale of Snow White, most commonly the Disney variant will be most readily known, and take on the role of Abby in the story. The student can write how they would react to a certain aspect of the story, compare it to how the original is and how Fairest of All changes it. How does the student see themselves if they were in that situation?

Standard:
CCSS.ELA-L.RL.4.2 - Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
CCSS.ELA-L.RL.4.9 - Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.

Goal:
The student will be able to identify common themes and recognize different variants of a story. (Tale Types and Motifs)

Objective:
Cognitive –
            The student will write 1 paragraph on the central theme within the text and how it is similar or different from the traditional fairy tale version.
            The student will write in another paragraph how they would react to the story as if they were Abby.

Outcome:
The student will write 2 paragraphs or longer that modifies / personalizes key details of a scene in Fairest of All.

Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine

Levine, Henry. Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad. Scholastic Press, 2007.

Lexile Level: 490

Book Selling Tool: Infographic

Summary: Henry Brown is a young boy born into slavery. He spends his life alone until he meets a woman that changes his life. They create a family together but one day he learns that they have been sold. Henry will stop at nothing to finally be free, even if that means traveling in a wooden box! This is an amazing story about a real man who traveled 350 miles in a box to freedom, traveling from Virginia to Philadelphia on the Underground Railroad.

Learning Activity: After reading the story as a class and discussing his point of view at each stage of the text, third graders will write a diary entry as if they were Henry Brown. Students may choose at which point during the story they will write the entry form, and must include three relevant details from the story within their entry. They must also include thoughts or feelings that demonstrate and understanding of his point of view.

Extension: Students can extend their critical thinking by writing about how they would escape the Underground Railroad, and possible dangers they might face along the way.

Goal: Students will demonstrate and understanding of character’s point of view.

Learning Outcome: Students will create a diary entry that includes the thoughts or feelings, and events of a day in the life of Henry Brown.

Learning Objectives:

Students will be able to compose a diary entry of one day in the life of Henry Brown including at least three relevant details from the story. (Cognitive)

Students will demonstrate empathy towards Henry Brown’s perspective by including thoughts or feelings in their diary entry. (Affective)

Standards:

NYS Social Studies Framework: 3.4 Each community or culture has a unique history, including heroic figures, traditions, and holidays.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.3.A

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

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.3.B

Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations.

Whoever You Are

 By: Mem Fox   

Grades K-1

Lexile: AD490L

Summary:

This is a story about diversity and acceptance.  We are taken on a journey around the world where we explore people of different cultures, skin colors, lands, food, and languages.  As different as we may be from one another, Mem Fox shows us that we all share smiles and laughter when we are happy, tears when we are sad, and pain when we are hurt.  No matter where we come from, we are all the same.

Possible Learning Activity:

Celebrating diversity and helping students to make connections among their peers is important.  The students will choose a partner to work with in the class.  Each pair of students will be given paper and paint with 3 primary colors (red, blue, and yellow).  Each of the students will dip their hands in one color and then press their handprint on the paper.  The students will then mix their handprint with their partner’s to create a new color and a new handprint on the paper.  The students will then find one thing they have in common and write it out at the bottom of the page.  Students can share their work with the class.
(Retrieved from: http://thesimplicityoflearning2013.blogspot.com/2014/02/friendship-color-mixing.html)

Standards:

KW4: Create a response to a text, author, or personal experience (e.g., dramatization, art work, or poem).

Goal:

Students will listen to Whoever You Are and complete a partner activity to understand diversity and acceptance.

	Objective: Students will understand diversity and acceptance of all people Students will find similarities between themselves and a classmate
	Outcome: Students will have the ability to find similarities between themselves and their classmates . Bibliography: Fox, Mem.  Whoever You Are. Florida: Voyager Books, 1997. Selling Tool