Fairy Tales

I like to do a focus on fairy tales for three weeks early in the year and then continue to read more tales all year. The students learn about story structure and mapping and have the opportunity to retell and act out the stories. These stories are great for discussing character, setting, problem & solution (plot). Of all the books I read to the kindergarten students every year, these are always the ones that capture their attention the most. 

Books have language all their own,  often much different than the way we speak in real life. Children need to learn to read and understand words like " Once upon a time" ,  "Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin" and " They all lived happily ever after."  The discussions that go along with reading the fairy tales are very important to build comprehension for both these books and books that will be read in the future. 

We make little fairy tale theatres with a setting and characters to bring home for story retelling homework. This gives the students a chance to use the book language and do a bit of creative storytelling of their own. This is also an opportunity for a modeled writing and drawing lesson.