Myths, Legends, and Fairy Tales

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
― Albert Einstein

This month our theme is Myths, Legends and Fairytales. This is one of my all time favorite units - it just brings out the kid in me! This study, in particular, lends itself to a lot of creativity, allows them to explore their own culture, as well as those of their classmates, and to learn about cultures from all over the globe!

Each week our class will read different versions of the same story, each from a different part of the world. Throughout the unit, students will work on their graphic organizer to create character studies, describe the major events of the stories and how the characters responded, and what they learn about the different countries. We will compare and contrast these stories using Venn diagrams, vote on which version is the favorite and graph the results, and research the countries of origin so that we can create PowerPoint presentations to show what we have learned about each country, including the habitat, indigenous animals, food, music and traditions of the people in each country.

One of the key elements of this unit is problem solving. Students will examine what obstacle the characters face, and how they overcame them.  The final project will require a little creativity (of course!) and some critical thinking. Students will create their very own legend or fairy tale, complete with illustrations. Each student will then create a PowerPoint with their story, and we will all visit our Pre-School friends to share our stories with them. This is something the Pre-School teachers and I look forward to every year. The stories are always so fun and creative, and I'm sure this year will be no different!