One of my favorite things to do in my classroom is to incorporate different cultures into our lessons. Whether it be through Christmas around the world activities, various Social Studies lessons or a novel that transports us to a different culture, I am always looking for ways to show my students how big and diverse the world is.
When I saw these CapstoneⓇ Multicultural Fairy Tale Readers - Set of 4 books, I instantly knew they would make the perfect literacy center to add in a little diversity. This set includes four different Fairy Tales: Snow White, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella. Each book shares the fairy tale from three to four different cultural perspectives. I had to have these books because I knew that they would make practicing comparing and contrasting so much more engaging and fun.
To set the stage for the lesson, I pulled out these amazing 8-Color Crayola® Multicultural Markers and we talked about which shade represents us. Every classroom needs to have these markers as well as 8-Color Crayola® Multicultural Colors Colored Pencils because that token peach or tan crayon doesn't represent the diversity we have in our classrooms. Then I said, "Class, once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who...to be continued!" They looked confused and then I unveiled the CapstoneⓇ Multicultural Fairy Tale Readers - Set of 4 books. They were immediately drawn in by the illustrations. I then told them that their task was to read at least two different versions of the same fairy tale and then compare and contrast them in an essay.
Before they started writing, they read the books and mapped out their findings on these Small Dry Erase Reading & Writing Graphic Organization Charts using our favorite 12-Color Expo® Low Odor Dry Erase Markers.
This literacy center was so easy to differentiate between the various learners in my class. For my advanced learners, they compared all three or four versions of the story. For my groups who needed more support I let them work in pairs to partner read and discuss the similarities and differences of their fairy tales. For my intensive group we all read the same stories together and did it in a more whole group style. After they read and mapped their findings on the Small Dry Erase Reading & Writing Graphic Organization Charts, the writing began. They conferenced with each other and myself in the days following and soon were ready to type their final drafts.
On the last day, they presented their essays to the class in small groups. Everyone was so engaged, and they loved seeing the differences and similarities that each fairy tale had as they moved from culture to culture. These Capstone Book Sets honestly made planning a breeze and I can't wait to use them again in future literacy centers.
