Folk Tale Fun

I have found that the time between early November and Christmas break is ideal for exploring folktales. The traditional stories provide the perfect opportunity to learn about characters, setting, and story structure. Multiple versions of the same story invite students to compare and contrast literature as well.

After spending much of November getting acquainted with the folktale genre, my class spent an afternoon before our Thanksgiving break participating in some folk tale fun.

In our school science room, the students worked in groups to make bread-in-a-bag, just like the Little Red Hen (minus the bag). Each student was able to take his/her own loaf home to share with their family over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Afterward, the students worked together to design and construct three different houses: A house made of straw (drinking straws), a house made of sticks (craft sticks) and a house made of bricks (dominoes). 

Once the teams had constructed their houses, the "Big Bad Wolf" (hair dryer) came knocking. Eventually, he succeeded in knocking their houses down. The students thought this was hilarious!  Especially when pieces from the houses went flying across the science room!

We are now reading different variations of The Gingerbread Man, and will be enjoying some gingerbread fun as we get closer to the Christmas break. I will share more about that in a future post.