FAIRY TALES!

The other day in class, we talked about fairy tales. The lesson that Raquel planned was focused on Cinderella and it was surprising to find that we all could tell the whole story by telling our personal versions. I think that most of us told the Disney version, which by the way, was one of my favorite. We saw that there is a large variety of versions but we focused on those by Charles Perrault, and by Brothers Grimm. I personally, found very interesting those little changes that we could find between one version and the other, but I think the story is brilliant anyway! I can’t even count how many times I have seen it, not only the Disney movie but also that one called Ever After which pretends to refresh this classic fairy tales. This one tells the classic story but there are some others like Elle: A Modern Cinderella which tells the same story but in an actual times. The thing is that I am not here typing to tell you about movies but to tell you that we can adapt a fairy tale to actual times to teach children its main value or message, in order to make it easier to understand, and to make them see that these kind of thing not only happens in fairy tales. Did you enjoy this lesson as much as I did?

That day I found fascinating how such different versions can talk about the same story, which is as I have said before it is a story that I love, therefore I have done some research to learn about another classic fairy tale which I can also find pleasure in watching it. Do you want to know which one is it?

SLEEPING BEAUTY

As a curiosity, you may like to know that the first version was written again, by Charles Perrault in 1697. It was separated into two parts, that is why some folklorists were driven to believe that they were two separate tales in its origin, and then, they became in the Brothers Grimms’ version. Later on, they were joined together by Basile and then, by Perrault. Another curiosity is the unstable name of the princess, since different names like Sun, Moon or Talia have been given to her. Moreover, Perrault named her daughter “L’Aurore”. The Brothers Grimm called her “Briar Rose” and John Stejean gave her the name of “Rosebud”.

In general, I think fairy tales are a qualified way of teaching rather moral or values. Furthermore, these kind of stories, with a familiar structure, can create an ideal context for learning about the writing process. Also, it helps to build student’s background knowledge and to scaffold their creation of original stories. In addition, they are also great to teach about story structure by identifying beginnings, middles and endings in familiar stories, since it is very probable that if not all, almost all children in a class have watch, read or even heard them. Do you agree with me? What do you think?

Telling Tales!

The other day in class... we saw some videos! I know, we have seen many videos in class but I am talking about those that showed us how to tell stories. I love that story called Chocolate Cake. Well, more than the story, I love the way Michael Rosen performs the story. If you do not remember it very well, here you can watch the video again:

When I got home that day... I watched more videos from him! I found this one very funny which is called No Breathing in Class. It talks about a very strict teacher and how students felt about her. I found it funny because apart from his performance, I felt that way many times in class. I am very sure that most of us have felt this way before too! Have you?

Now that you are back in time and you remember which day I am talking about, probably you can also remember that... Raquel showed us the story called The Princess and the Dragon. It remained me of my childhood. When I was at school, my teacher used to tell us many stories but I think that if she would done it in this way, I would had enjoyed more. This is why, I got motivated to create a story using this methodology with my group:

First, we started thinking of topics to create our story. I have to say that it was very difficult to find a topic in which three characters with those characteristics could appear. The characteristics that I am talking about are: the good one (brave knight) the bad one (dragon) and the poor one (the princess). In our story, which was about recycling, our characters were replaced in this way:

Brave knight: The Three Recycling Bins

Dragon: Mr. Rubbish

Princess: The Big and Strong Tree

We thought of many topics before, such as instruments, planets or four seasons but we found some problems to fit them in the structure we had to follow. Suddenly, a light shinned and The Tree and Mr. Rubbish story came up to our minds. After writing it, we could see that it worked well so we started to perform it with the gestures that we saw in class. I know that you have already seen the result many times, since you all had to learn the story… but just in case you want to see it again or to use it in a future, here you have the video:

I think that... this story could be used to motivate children to recycle. Furthermore, it could be used as an introduction to the topic. They learn about the environment and how to take care of it since the first course of Primary. If you want to know when or how in more detail, you can find it in the first block of the curriculum, which is called the environment and its conservation.

I hope you liked our story and that you find it useful for children. I am up to your thoughts and opinions! I would like to know how you would use it in the future, or even how you think the story would work best!

Ring O'Roses

About two weeks ago we saw different nursery rhymes. Particulary, I find very interesting the political meaning that they have hidden. Even if we saw their meanings a little bit in class, I was very curious about one in concret. If you see the picture above, then you should know about which one I am talking about. The thing is that I have been doing a little research and this is what I have found:

• 1881The first version of Ring a Ring of Roses was recorded. When it appeared in Kate Greenway's edition of Mother Goose. It however, refferred to twenty six years before that in Ann S Stephen's novel The Old Homestead, which describes children playing this game in NY.

Ring-a-ring-a-roses, 

A pocket full of posies; 

Hush! hush! hush! hush!

We're all tumbled down.

• 1833William Newel reported two versions in America, and one version claimed to be current in New Bedford, Massachussetts in 1790.

Ring a ring a Rosie, 

A bottle full of posie, 

All the girls in our town 

Ring for little Josie.

• 1883All the versions were recorded in England which included the now familiar sneezing motif, for example:

A ring, a ring o' roses, 

A pocket full o'posies- 

Atch chew! atch chew!

• 1892 Twelve version were listed by Alice Gomme. In that list there was included one like the version that currently is sung in Britain:

Ring a-ring o' roses, 

A pocketful of posies. 

a-tishoo!, a-tishoo!. 

We all fall down.

WHAT does it refer to?

The rhyme is referred to the black death. 

• Ring a ring of roses:  buboes that were red as a rose and very big.
• A pocket full a poses: people used to keep a poses herb in their pocket since it was believed that it would keep the plaque away.
• A tissue a tissue: the symptoms they had.
• We all fall down: the dying part of their lives.

Here, you can see a video  in which this song is beeing sung and  danced by four more classmates (Andrea Sáez, Rocío Martínez, Isabel Prior and Cristina Moneva) and me. We had to change the rhyme and also add some choral speaking. You can see in the video, how we mix the different types of choral speaking, such as antiphon, comulative or solo lines!

I think we can learn a lot from these kind of activities. Children love singing and dancing, and the thing is that they are learning a lot of things such as phonics or vocabulary while they are having a great time! Didn't we have a great time doing it? I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed the activity!