Objective: Develop the idea of the narrator as both shaper and commentator on the stories they tell. Share critical readings of conventional fairytales.
Materials: "Briar Rose" (Debra Cash)
" Conversations with the Stepmother" (Jeannine Hall Gailey)
1.Independent Reading
2. Time to check/share sticky notes from yesterday.
3. Look at two examples of fairy tale poetry on overhead or SmartBoard, revealing line by line (without title) then identify which story it is from.
Identify the type of narrative voice used in the two poems (first, second, or third person)--why? How are fairy tales usually told? What are the advantages and disadvantages of firsthand narration?
Contrast the point-of-view offered by the poems with the "accepted" view of the fairy tale princess or stepmother.Does this poem make you rethink your opinion? What techniques does the author try to use to elicit empathy for the character?
4. Hand out two different index cards--students who get a green card should try to imagine the "sticky note" questions asked by the author of the first poem ("Briar Rose"), and students who get a purple index card should identify possible questions asked about the second poem ("Conversations with the Stepmother". The idea is to connect the critical questions to the interpretation of the story through poetry.
5. Ask students with the same colour of card to exchange, and choose one question to write on the board. Compare these questions to those asked earlier with the student-selected fairy tales.
