First Grade Newsletter
September 29, 2014 * TWE
This week we will learn about...
Reading-
Beginning, middle, end of a story
Writing-
Writing small moments
Language-
-ut/ -un
Math-
Order and compare numbers
Place value
Number line
-1 -2
Science-
States of matter
Social Studies-
4 cardinal directions
Upcoming Events:
09.22.2014 - 10.24.2014
Junior Achievement (First Grade)
10.03.2014
Early Dismissal
10.06.2014
Author Visit- Steve Swinburne
10.07.2014
Lunch and Learn- What is S.T.E.A.M.? (11:00-12:30)
10.07.2014
McDonald’s Spirit Night (5:00-8:00)
Discovering Fairy Tales
A fairy tale, or wonder tale, is a kind of folktale or fable. In these
stories we meet witches and queens, giants and elves, princes, dragons,
talking animals, ogres, princesses, and sometimes even fairies. Marvelous
and magical things happen to characters in fairy tales. A boy may become
a bird. A princess may sleep for a hundred years. A seal may become
a girl. Objects too can be enchanted — mirrors talk, pumpkins become
carriages, and a lamp may be home to a genie. The oldest fairy tales were told and retold for generations before they were written down. French fairy tales were the first to be collected and written down, but now wecan read fairy tales from almost any culture. When these stories were studied together, something amazing was discovered. From countries as distant and different as Egypt and Iceland similar fairy tales are told. Both Egypt and Iceland have "Cinderella" stories, as do China, England, Korea, Siberia, France, and Vietnam; and the list doesn't stop there. There may be a thousand versions of the Cinderella story, each with a unique telling which carries cultural information about the time and place the story was told. One thing is for sure; people everywhere like stories in which truth prevails over deception, generosity is ultimately rewarded, hard work overcomes obstacles, and love, mercy and kindness are the greatest powers of all.
Today, some authors still like to retell and invent new fairy tales. The Cinderella story was recently re-imagined by Diane Goode in her book Cinderella: The Dog and Her Little Glass Slipper. Jon Scieszka's fractured fairy tales in The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales are another example of a retelling but with humor. So jump in and find out what makes these fairy tales so enduring, or try your hand at creating your own!