Reading the World with Folktales

LET'S GO TO CHINA
The Journey of Meng by Doreen Rappaport. Dial 1991.
Meng tries to help her scholar husband who is sent to work on the building of the Great Wall.
ACTIVITY: Learn about the Great Wall of China. In a small group, guess the answers to these questions: How old is the wall? In what part of China is it located? How tall? How wide in feet? How long in miles? Check your answers by reading about the wall in the encyclopedia.

Action Pattern
If I were in charge of _____There would be _______
You wouldn't have _____I'd cancel ___________
But the most important thing I would do is_________
LET'S GO TO SOUTH AFRICA
ABIYOYO by Pete Seeger. Macmillan, 1988.
A boy and his trickster father are banished from the village until they outwit the giant, Abiyoyo. Before reading: describe an African giant. During reading elaborate on the text.

LET'S GO TO RUSSIA
The Wolfhound by Kristine Franklin. Lothrop, 1997.
In Tsarist Russia, for a commoner to own a wolfhound was to risk prison or worse. Paval rescues a wolfhound in a snowstorm and cannot abandon her. What should Paval do?

Ideas	Fast	Safe	Low Cost	Effective	Total
_________	______	______	______	______	______
_________	______	______	______	______	______
_________	______	______	______	______	______

1=no 2=maybe 3=yes

LET'S GO TO DENMARK
The Little Old Woman and the Hungry Cat by Nancy Polette. Greenwillow, 1989.
A greedy cat eats everything in sight.
PATTERN FOR "Are You Sleeping?"
__________ __________ __________
adjective         adjective        noun
__________ __________ __________
adjective         adjective        noun
____________________________________
prepositional phrase
____________________________________
prepositional phrase
___________ and _____________
"ing word"               "ing word"
___________ and _____________
"ing word"               "ing word"
Read this book! Read this book!
PERU:
CHANCAY AND THE SECRET OF FIRE by Donald Charles. Putnam's, 1992.
Chancay must face fierce panthers, erupting volcanoes and lightning bolts to win the secret of fire for his people. Use the information in the llama data bank to write a song to the tune of London Bridge.
Lives Eats Has
Peru shrubs thick hair
mountains grasses four legs

Does Looks Like
carries loads five feet tall
spits brown, buff & gray
travels 20 miles daily white or black
A Modern Folktale:
THE BIRD HOUSE by Cynthia Rylaant. Scholastic, 1998.
A young girl alone in the forest comes upon a magical house. Listen for the "holes" in the story. What do we learn about the natural world?
Was Goldilocks guilty of trespassing and destruction of property? See this and other trial plays in Walk In Their Shoes by Nancy Polette. Pieces of Learning, 1999.
See also: Fairy Tales From Another Point of View by Nancy Polette. Pieces of Learning 2001
LET'S GO TO EGYPT.
THE EGYPTIAN CINDERELLA by Shirley Climo. Harper, 1989.
In the Land of Egypt , lives a maiden called Rhodopes. Because she is Greek and a slave, she is
scorned by the other house servants. When a falcon swoops down and snatches her red slipper away, Rhodopes is heartbroken. She cannot guess that the Pharaoh will search all of Egypt to find the owner of the tiny shoe and ask her to be his queen.

DEBATE: The Pharaoh was considered not only a ruler but a god and could have many wives . If a wife displeased him he could have her killed. Debate: Should Rhodopes marry the Pharaoh? Before debating read about the Pharaoh and his wives in: The Awesome Egyptians by Terry Deary and Peter Hepplewhite. Scholastic, 1997
Let's Visit the Appalachian Mountains with ASHPET, AN APPALACHIAN TALE by Joanne Compton. Holiday House, 1994.

Before reading this Cinderella variant, answer these questions.
Where would she live?
What jobs will she do?
Who would all the girls want to marry?
What would be the big event all want to attend?
Who will help Ashpet?
What will her new dress look like?

Try creating your own Cinderella tale set in another time or place.

In a (1) just around the corner from (2) there lived a young girl named (3). Night and day she worked in the (4) a virtual slave to her wicked stepmother (5) and her two greedy and selfish stepsisters (6) and (7). "Oh, dear," she cried, "I shall never, ever finish all this work that Stepmother had given me to do. I have to (8) and then prepare the (name foods 9) for the widow to take to the (10)." "What is that I hear?" asked one ugly sister. It must be (11) approaching. Quick, let's adorn ourselves in (12) and go to greet (13)." The widow and her daughters took the food and climbed into/on the (14). Off they went to enjoy the (15), leaving (16) in tears with all the work to do. Then she heard a (17) at the door. It was (18) who took one look at the mess and waved his/her/its (19). In a (20) the work was all done and a beautiful (clothing 21) and (footwear 22) appeared. The magic, however, would only last until (23) so (24) must be home by then. At the (25) the (26) male character) asked (27) to (28). The time went so quickly that she realized she must leave at once. She tossed her (29) into the (30) and ran home. Tell how the male character finds the heroine and how they are finally reunited. Tell what happens to the widow and her daughters.
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe. Scholastic, 1987.

Caring Nyasha and selfish Manyara journey separately to meet the king in hopes of becoming his wife. How they treat people along the way determines the outcome. Describe the African Market Place in a five senses poem.; The African market place is the color of ________; It sounds like ________; It tastes like __________; It smells like _________; It looks like __________; It makes me feel like ______________________
11. Tattercoats. Illus by Margot Tomes. Putnam's, 1989.: Rejected by her grandfather, Tattercoats is given rags to wear and kitchen scraps to eat . Only the gooseherd could cheer her up. When the king announces a ball to find a bride for the prince, the gooseherd proposes that they travel together to see the palace. The trip provides unexpected surprises as the gooseherd's pipes work their magic.; A. Create a Fact and Fiction Book about the British Isles.; B. Take a poll: Which sight would classmates most like to see in Great Britain? The changing of the guard? The Royal jewels? The statue of Peter Pan?
12. Yeh-Shen, A Cinderella Story from China by Ai-Ling Louie, Philomel, 1982.: Yeh-Shen's stepmother killed and ate her only friend, a small fish. Yeh-Shen buries the fish bones and wishes on them to receive beautiful clothes to attend the festival. But s she loses a slipper and when she returns home the bones are silent. Little does she know that the Emperor is seeking the owner of the slipper. What would the character do? Answer for both Yeh-Shen and the Stepmother.; 1. If she were all alone in a strange city?; 2. If she found a hungry puppy on the road?; 3. If she were granted one wish?
13. The Rough Face Girl by Rafe Martin. Putnam's, 1992.: Her sisters dressed beautifully but could not answer strange questions put to them by the sister of the Invisible Being, thus, neither cruel sister could become his wife. The Rough-Face Girl, dressed in tree bark and cracked moccasins has better luck! Describe an Indian Village in a Riddle Poem.; Let's go tp long ago places and see the Earth's changing faces. (List 6-8 sights); But that's not all. List 6-8 more sights. Where am I?
14. Eight Cinderellas by Nancy Polette. Pieces of Learning 1998.: www.piecesoflearning.com; Expanded ready-to-use activities for eight Cinderella variants.

About Your Speaker
Nancy is Professor at Lindenwood University and author of over 150 professional books including Picture Book Strategies, Reading the World with Folktales, Walk In Their Shoes (Character Education) & Eight Cinderellas. For a free catalog of Nancy's books call Pieces of Learning at 1-800-729-5137.
For more information or to schedule a one or two day workshop with Nancy see Nancy's web site at www.nancypolette.com or give Nancy a call at (636)272-4242.