Connecting folktales and culture in North Carolina and beyond

Students will explore connections to North Carolina culture as they engage in reading and analyzing three folktales of North Carolina Literary Festival author, William Hooks. After comparing these stories to other versions of the traditional tales, students will become authors and storytellers themselves as they rewrite a tale from a new cultural point of view. Opportunities are also included to extend this study to world cultures and folktales.

A lesson plan for grades 3–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies

By Jeanne Munoz

Learn more

• Aaron Shepard's Folktales Aaron Shepard has retold many old folktales that have been handed down from generation to generation. This collection also includes fairy tales, tall tales, myths, and legends from all over the world.
• Myths, Folktales and Fairy Tales Internet Project Part of Scholastic’s on-line activities, The Myths, Folktales and Fairy Tales Internet Project has online activities for grades 1 through 8. Students may write their own tales, read and listen to interviews with authors, and explore cultural responses to themes that are found universally around the world.
• Folktales and fairy tales We all had favorite folktales we learned when we were growing up. LEARN NC has compiled a selection of instructional resources to teach students of all ages about folktales and fairy tales.

Related pages

• North Carolina American Indian stories: In this lesson students will select and read stories from some of the North Carolina American Indian tribes. They will compare and contrast two stories of their choice and complete a Venn diagram. Students will use the information on the Venn diagram to write three paragraphs. After reading several American Indian tales or legends, students will then create their own legend using the narrative writing process.
• Quilts: This lesson plan in designed to be one part of a fourth grade social studies unit on the Appalachian Mountains. It is based on the mountain custom of quilt making. This plan uses the book The Quiltmakers Gift by Jeff Brumbeau. It also uses the book internet site and other related sites. Enrichments of this lesson would be to display quilts, have a real quilt maker visit, have the class create their own paper quilt, etc.
• Along the Trail of Tears: A part of history is often forgotten when teaching younger students. This is the relocation of the Cherokee Indians when the white settlers wanted their property. The US Government moved whole groups of Indians under harsh conditions. This trip became known as the Trail of Tears. Using this as a background students will explore and experiment with persuasive writing as they try to express the position of Cherokee leaders.

Related topics

• Learn more about North Carolina, culture, fairy tales, folktales, interdisciplinary, language arts, read-alouds, reading, social studies, storytelling, and writing.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• demonstrate an understanding of North Carolina and/or world cultures.
• read, comprehend, and then analyze various story elements to derive cultural clues, while identifying similarities and differences between tales.
• research the history and culture of a specific time period and location, and then reflect this information in the details of their rewritten folktale.
• rewrite a traditional folk/fairy tale revealing different cultural elements and values through new settings, characters, and lessons.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2-3 weeks

Materials/resources

• Copies of William Hook’s books: Moss Gown, Snowbear Whittington: An Appalachian Beauty and the Beast, and The Three Little Pigs and the Fox.
• Additional versions of the tales of Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and The Three Little Pigs for comparison (see Resources attachment).
• Optional: collections of folktales from various countries around the world.
• Information about North Carolina regions, history, and culture in social studies materials and from web sites.
• Optional: Information about world regions, history, and culture in social studies materials and from web sites.
• Folktale comparison chart, Venn diagrams, folktale plan for students. Paper for culture webbing.
• Project Rubric for final writing product and storytelling.
• Materials to bind class book if desired.
• Classroom set up to allow for small group and individual work.

Technology resources

This equipment is not required but would create additional resources for the students while practicing technology skills:

• Access to Internet-enabled computers for Internet research about North Carolina culture and other world cultures and electronic copies of folktales. (A list of Internet resources is attached to this plan resources).
• Software for word processing final folktales for class booklet.
• Database software to construct and complete an alternative version of the comparison chart of the folktales.

Pre-activities

Students will have been introduced to social studies material about culture and the various regions of North Carolina prior to this lesson.

• To review this understanding, begin by webbing the following elements on the blackboard: beliefs, traditions, language, art, music, clothing, food, games, shelter. Ask students what these terms define and try to elicit the term culture from their discussion. Place the word culture at the center of the web.
• Using the Cherokee culture (they probably studied this in social studies) web examples together connecting to some of the terms:
• beliefs: shamans, sought guidance from spirits of nature
• traditions: festivals to celebrate planting and harvest; clans according to women’s lineage; farmers and hunters; council for leadership
• language: Cherokee, first to have system of written language
• arts: beautiful baskets, quill designs
• clothing: deerskin, moccasins, fur capes, bone jewelry
• food: grew corn, peas, squash, potatoes, melons; gathered wild fruits, nuts,and maple sugar; hunted buffalo, bear, deer, racoon, opossum, and birds
• homes: domed houses, round council house in center, village surrounded by palisade
• games: similar to lacrosse - men fought to show speed and endurance
• Practice drawing conclusions about beliefs from the clues that this information gives:
• women have place of importance in the tribe (heads of clans)
• respect for nature is important (spirits and hunting practices)
• order is valued (central meeting house, well-organized clans, council, village layout)
• strength, bravery, and hard work were valued (games, roles).
• End the discussion by reminding them that these beliefs are reflected in the Cherokee legends that were passed down.
• If you prefer, use examples from modern culture instead and discuss how our beliefs are reflected in modern literature.

Transition

• Introduce William Hooks as a North Carolina author. Explain that he was a featured author at the North Carolina Literary Festival in Chapel Hill in 2004.
• Discuss that many of regional authors who are attending are known for writing that reveals southern culture through characters, settings, and plots.
• Explain that William Hooks has revised several traditional folk/fairy tales to reflect southern elements. Students will read these and look at the ways that they learn about culture through his folk tales and others.

Activities

1. Define folktales as stories told from generation to generation to entertain and to pass on the beliefs and history of the culture. At first folktales were part of an oral tradition of storytelling, but eventually various versions were written down. Fairy tales are a subgenre of folktales that also usually include magic and good vs evil. We can learn about cultures from reading their folktales.
2. Read aloud The Three Little Pigs and the Fox, by William Hooks.
3. Discuss “clues” to North Carolina mountain culture in this version. Draw conclusions about the values of the mountain region from the lessons in the story.
4. Read a traditional version of The Three Little Pigs aloud. Have students create a Venn diagram with a partner, comparing the two versions. For instance, while the traditional version has three pigs and a wolf, Mr. Hooks’ version has three pigs and a fox. Discuss these diagrams.
5. Explain that students will work in small groups to read and compare a selection of several versions of the same fairy/folktales. After reading each group of tales, they will complete a folktale comparison chart (or create one in either a table in word processing software, or a database to practice technology skills.) Ask students to read the William Hooks’ books (Moss Gown and Snowbear Whittington) together first, to discuss and record the details about the southern region, and to predict the values from the story’s lesson. Then they may continue to read other versions independently in their small groups, comparing and discussing their charts at the end of their reading.
6. Students will continue shifting sets of books and materials until they have read all the versions and compared them. Meet together as a class at the end of each class period to discuss findings and conclusions about the various cultural values shown in the tales. This activity can be expanded beyond the culture of the three North Carolina regions to include other fairy tales and other world cultures if desired. Students in the 8th grade will have studied the countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa in 6th and 7th grade.
7. Have students submit their charts for evaluation by the teacher for completeness and correctness of information. Suggestions for 5 groups:
• Little Pigs tales group
• Red Riding Hood tales group
• Beauty and the Beast tales group
• Cinderella tales group
• Optional extension group: other folktales from around the world
8. Once students have completed reading have them focus on determining the time period, location, and culture for their rewritten tale. Ask them to list the cultural details that they will try to convey in their stories.
9. Discuss “What ifs” to help get them started- What if the Three Little Pigs took place in the coastal plains? Who would be the characters? What would the setting be like? What materials would be used for the houses?
10. Review the folktale plan and ask students to complete it. Refer to the folktale plan example as needed. Then students will work on their folktale rewrite drafts. Provide a rubric to use to edit their stories. Complete final versions by word processing for a class booklet of folktales if possible.
11. Have students prepare and practice their tale for a folktale storytelling festival. Encourage creative use of visuals, props, and language.
12. Have a storytelling day as a class or with a younger group.
13. Have students self-assess using a Project Rubric

Assessment

The student folktale comparison charts will be assessed by the teacher for completeness and correct information.

The student writing will be assessed with a Project Rubric for cultural content, format, and mechanics.

The student presentation will be assessed for oral communication/presentation skills and creativity.

Supplemental information

Attachments:

• Folktale Plan Example
• Folktale Plan
• Resources
• Folktale Comparison Chart
• Project Rubric
  

  Comments

  For additional information about culture refer to social studies materials,and dictionaries.

  This lesson was created to correlate with the 2002 North Carolina Literacy Festival, April 5-6, at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. However, it can be used at any time.