Grade: 4 Subject/Topic/Activity: interactive read aloud CCSS:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.9 Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.

Objective: Students will discuss similarities found in the folktales read during class Students will identify and classify the different archetypes found in folktales (including princesses, princes, heroes, and villains)

Materials: Procedure: Introduction: Good morning boys and girls! Last time I read an Italian folktale that was kind of like the Frog Prince in that the girl fell in love with an animal and saved his life. However, she did not have to kiss him to bring him back to human form she just outwitted the ghula or witch. The time before that we read Strongest of All a Korean folktale, where the father mole went around to the different suitors that he thought were stronger like the sun and the wind. Today I will be reading Mr. Semolina-Semolinus which is a Greek folktale. This story has some similarities to the other folktales that we have read and once I am finished let me know if you noticed any. Body: Read the story o After she wanted none of them because she liked none of them hmmm that sounds like another character I know o After the introduction of semolina as an ingredient: semolina is a kind of flour that can be used to make pasta o After encountering the sun: do you think he would have seen Mr. SemolinaSemolinus? What in the text made you think that? Mr. Semolina-Semolinus by Anthony L. Manna and Christodoula Mitakidon

After encountering the stars: do you think they would have seen Mr. SemolinaSemolinus? What in the text made you think that? o After she finds Mr. Semolina-Semolinus with the queen: how do you think she will get him away from the queen? What in the text made you think that? After reading: turn and talk with a partner about what you noticed that was similar about this story when compared with the others (possible answers follow) o There is a princess like in the Crab Prince o There is an evil person getting in the way of them being together like in the Crab Prince o She didnt like any of the suitors just like in the Crab Prince o The book personified the Moon, Sun, and the stars, just like in the Strongest of All o All three books have a same theme of love and marriage o o There are scenes that basically repeat themselves like in the Strongest of All Who would like to share what their pair thought of? Once they mention similarities between the types of characters: that is an excellent observation. In many folktales there are archetypes or similar types of characters that we see over and over again. So we see princesses (or whatever archetype was mentioned) what special characteristics do they have in these stories? What other characters do we see in the stories? What special attributes do they have? One common archetype is the hero, which of the characters in the book we read today do you think is the hero? What in the book makes you think that?

Closure: these are great observations of the different archetypes found in folktales. Once you know an aspect of a type of book, like the archetypes expected, then that makes it really easy to read. As you read folktales or even different kinds of books see if you can find these different archetypes that we discussed today. Assessment: participation in the turn and talk situations and/or by contributing to the discussion on archetypes and similarities between folktales. Reflection: The students were able to make some similarities between the folktales that I read throughout the semester. I think that it was helpful for them to have partners to talk to about the concepts, as I was walking around and listening in I heard some good conversations about what they remembered from the other stories and the similarities they found between all three of the folktales. They were also able to identify some archetypes found in folktales, but I do not think that I taught that concept very well. I think that if I were to teach that lesson again I would have to make it more clear by discussing archetypes beforehand by defining the term and using examples from previous folktales, then after reading the folktale they could identify the archetypes found in the story.

I think that I was able to read the story aloud with more confidence than the previous stories I had read throughout the unit. I was also able to engage the students in close reading by asking them "what in the text makes you think that?" and they were able to use text clues to support their predictions. If I had discussed what is common across folktales I could have asked questions along the lines of "what do you expect to find knowing ____ about folktales" but unfortunately I did not include that in my unit plan. Next time I teach such a unit I will be sure to use chart paper and involve more discussions on commonalities found in folktales so that students can reference that while making their predictions.

An area that did not succeed was the portion of archetypes. I really should have explained them better, and discussed them throughout the lesson instead of just at the ending.

Students demonstrated that they were engaged by answering the prediction questions throughout. Also, by incorporating turn and talk into the lesson everyone was participating in conversations about what similarities they noticed between the different folktales from different cultures.