Katelyn: February 2010

This unit was a refreshing start to the semester. I haven't really looked at fairy tales in quite some time. I had never really gotten a chance to look at fairy tales in the context of the stories that we read in class. I have a hard time finding myself being okay with teaching and reading some of these stories in the classroom full of young elementary aged students. But the stories twists and different contexts is what made it so interesting for myself to dive in and read the stories, reading the same stories I've grown up hearing over and over again to have a new sometimes disturbing twist to it made it more interesting a new seeming to read. Tatar was a great book to look at all the different ways that the same story can be written. With all of the different cultures that are present in our world it is interesting to see their spin and take on the story, and how they wish the portray it. I really enjoyed Kissing the Witch. It was also a book in which I have not read and to see the different turns that Emma Donoghue had throughout the novel. There are great links that I am excited to take away with me to use and apply to my classroom one day when it come to a time for fairy tales.

Fairy tales have so many different elements to them such as:

Morals
Magical
Usually very fictitious
Good v. Evil
Good prevails
Similar characters- helpless girl, a charming prince, a wicked stepmother or evil stepsisters
Villain is hideous
Victim is beautiful
Girl always gets the guy
Usually has to do with royalty- a princess or prince
Adventurous

Fairy tale links:

Grimm's Fairy Tales

http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/

Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen

http://www.pacificnet.net/~johnr/aesop/aesophca.html

Folk and Fairy Tales From Around the World

http://www.darsie.net/talesofwonder/

Fairy Tales

http://www.lib.umd.edu/ETC/ReadingRoom/Fiction/FairyTales/

(From: http://www.readwritethink.org)

Fairy tale cartoons:

http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/f/fairy_tale.asp