2nd grade students at Blue Sage Elementary have been getting lost in good stories recently as their Reading lessons focused on fairy tales and tall tales!
This unit was a whirlwind of imagination and learning as students listened to enchanting stories, from the classic “Once upon a time…” tales like Beauty and the Beast to the adventures of American folk heroes like Paul Bunyan. They became story detectives, answering questions about key details and using comparing and contrasting to figure out what made each story special. Students had a great time identifying tell-tale signs of each genre and can now spot a fairy tale by its royal characters and magic events or a tall tale when they come across hilarious exaggerations, often in frontier settings!
As a closure activity, second graders transformed into their favorite characters, and classrooms were overtaken by a mix of fancy princesses, brave knights, and even a few lumberjacks! The classrooms were buzzing with excitement as the students gathered to watch the movie “Beauty and the Beast” and had the opportunity to compare and contrast, discovering the similarities and differences between the written work and its video counterpart. It was a fantastic way to connect what students read to what they saw on the screen.
It’s been wonderful to watch students not only learn how to compare and contrast different stories and use key details to describe characters, but also truly enjoy and engage with these timeless stories. Greer Johnson, a student who loved the unit, shared, “I thought it was so fun to experience all of the fairytales and tall tales that we read. My favorite tall tale was Pecos Bill, and my favorite fairy tale was the Emperor’s New Clothes.”
The magic of storytelling is alive and well in Blue Sage classrooms, and we can’t wait to see what adventures we embark on next!
