This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
In my classroom I have a void to fill and hopefully you can help! I have found that my students are lacking in their knowledge of fairy tales. I teach fifth grade reading in a high priority school. Most of my students are Hispanic and are limited in their experiences with storytelling. Most of their parents do not speak English. I have planned a book study that will fill that void.
At the beginning of this year I was discussing the books we would be reading and trying to get my students excited about a subject many of them have great difficulty with. I explained that one of the read aloud books would be The Sister's Grimm, The Fairy Tale Detectives. I wanted to read the first one in the series so after they fell in love with the story, as I did, they would continue to read the other books in the series. As I am sharing my excitement about the story, which contains many references to Grimm's fairy tales, I realize that my students have no idea what I am talking about. They have not had the pleasure of hearing these wonderful tales. To me this is a great problem. For a child to grow up without knowing who Prince Charming is, or what happened to the three little pigs, or dreaming of being Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, is in my opinion horrid! To be able to complete the book study they need to be familiar with Grimm's characters. What a way to entice further reading!
I want to take this opportunity to invite my students into the world of fairy tales. As a child I remember the excitement of hearing these stories over and over. My favorite was Puss N Boots. With several books on fairy tales, I can read some to the students. I will read the ones that involve characters from our book study. Then the students can put the books in their hands and enjoy more of the stories. When we begin The Sister's Grimm I would like to let each student have a copy of their own to use in order to further enhance vocabulary in the story. I have found that when I read aloud my students like to have their own copy to follow along. My school does not have enough copies for this. A copy in the hand of each child will increase vocabulary and capture Thier attention to details. I also already have five of the books in the series and need the other two that I am missing to complete the set. With a complete set my students can borrow them to read on their own and never miss out on the excitement.
The three bears, Cinderella, Puck and other characters are waiting to come alive in the imaginations of my students. Then will carry on with the Sister's Grimm. Please help our imaginations blossom!
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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