Last week, Ms Baker’s class came in to the library to work on their unit on ‘Cinderella’ stories from around the world. They are developing their critical thinking skills by comparing different versions of the story.
Our goal in the library was to learn about why the setting is important to understanding a story. We watched a short video about setting, we had a class discussion about how setting works in one of the stories we are reading, and then students used the loose parts materials to create settings for their ‘Cinderella’ stories.
We used the story of The Turkey Girl as an example of why setting is important to a story. The Turkey Girl is set in a Zuni pueblo in New Mexico. The Zuni people have lived there for hundreds of years, and they have many stories and customs that they pass on to their children. The Turkey Girl is one of those stories.
We looked at slides showing the old pueblo villages of the Zuni people, and the desert that surrounds them to this very day.
We talked about how the story was first told a long time ago, before European explorers came to New Mexico and changed the lifeways of the Zuni people.
Zuni Village | Frank Reed Whiteside | 1905-1910
We also talked about the importance of turkeys to the Zuni people, the ceremonial dances they performed, and the traditional costumes they wore. This discussion was interesting because many students mentioned connections they made with their own cultural backgrounds and traditions.
And then students created settings for their own ‘Cinderella’ stories, using the illustrations in their books for inspiration and the materials from the loose parts cart to realize them.
Ms Baker and I filmed the students explaining their creations, in terms of both the story and their use of materials. For the students, being able to explain their ideas out loud is an important first step in writing them down. For me, listening to them give their interpretations was the best part.
Image from The Rough Face Girl by Rafe Martin, 1998. Illustrated by David Shannon
Ms Baker posted the presentation information on the Division 8 Team site so students could have access to it as they worked on their projects at home. For Ms Baker and me this was a true collaboration–we each brought our ideas, resources, and skills to the lesson; we co-planned it and we co-taught it. It was a very satisfying experience all the way around.
