My Story
I kind of fell into "reading" as my specialty. I have an alternative certification and my plan was to teach Kindergarten. Well, the only job available was "the" Middle School Reading Teacher in a small town. I had no one to collaborate with and the best part no one to tell me what to do.
I was GREEN. That year I cut my teeth using just the TEKS to direct my teaching. My basal and an unlimited supply of magazines in the school library were what I used to teach. I had never heard the word/s "data", "best practices" or "data wall". Still, to this day I am unsure how 80+% of my students passed the TAKS test!
The school I'm at now teaches strictly from the Texas Treasures Reading Series. We're lucky because Treasures does have an excellent program - as far as basals go. Last year in my Reading classroom, I would bring in supplemental resources. But, my students still thought it was a treat when I would do a quick read aloud. When I taught 2nd Grade a few years ago, I fell in love with fractured fairy tales. Of course, the first one I ever read was The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith.
I was GREEN. That year I cut my teeth using just the TEKS to direct my teaching. My basal and an unlimited supply of magazines in the school library were what I used to teach. I had never heard the word/s "data", "best practices" or "data wall". Still, to this day I am unsure how 80+% of my students passed the TAKS test!
The school I'm at now teaches strictly from the Texas Treasures Reading Series. We're lucky because Treasures does have an excellent program - as far as basals go. Last year in my Reading classroom, I would bring in supplemental resources. But, my students still thought it was a treat when I would do a quick read aloud. When I taught 2nd Grade a few years ago, I fell in love with fractured fairy tales. Of course, the first one I ever read was The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith.
I bought the book from Scholastic and within a month it was taped up and falling apart because the kids couldn't get enough of it! What? A book kids love. AWESOME. So, the next time I ordered from Scholastic, I bought Believe Me, Goldilocks Rocks! (by Trisha Speed Shaskam) it was flat out hilarious and oh so engaging!
Fractured fairy tales are great resources to teach Point of View. It makes point of view pretty easy for young kids to see and hear. The introductions also lend themselves to teaching "introductory hooks" for writing.
Now, if the girls in your class enjoy fractured fairy tales, then I GAR-RON-TEE they will like Whatever After, a new series by Sarah Mlynowski. It is based on the popular Disney Princess Movies they watched as young girls. Last year I couldn't keep these books in my class library! My girls would BEG to borrow them. What reading teacher would deny a child a book??
Want to watch Fractured Fairy Tales? Check this out!
This Little Piggy just loves the Princess covers - what do you think?
5 comments :
I want so badly to give you feedback on this adorable set. I too LOVE fractured fairytales. James Marshall's books are great to introduce them and Colin McNaughton's books are great for comparison. I haven't attempted having my students write their own, but before the end of school, it's on my list. Thanks so much, Deniece!
oh my goodness,,,what a fabulous unit...you are so kind to share...I absolutely love the idea of a fractured fairytale especially since I;m not a girlie girl & I don;t like the happily ever after content...I love things a bit askew & it's great to have the kids see that literature can turn your ideas upside down...btw my first grade class loved The True Story of the Three Little Pigs...and now with your unit I'll introduce it to my fourth graders...thanks for the inspiration!
I absolutely LOVE the fractured fairy tale books, but hadn't heard of the new series. These will be purchased and put into my library because my children are ALWAYS looking for something new and fun to read. Thank you for your fantastic unit, as that's one of our books we'll be reading here soon with our "fairytale" unit! :)
Sara
Miss V's Busy Bees
ventrellasara@gmail.com
I love fractured fairy tales! :) I have been dying to get my hands on this new series, and your unit may be just the excuse I need. Thank you so much! :)
Jenny
Luckeyfrog's Lilypad
I am so excited to look through this unit. I also love fractured fairy tales. They are always so much fun. I think I will have to look into the "Whatever After" for my girls. Thank you!
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