We continue to weave the thread of "a single story" and its implications for readers throughout our reading this week. Today's story was the classic "Little Red Riding Hood", a German folk tale published by the brothers Grimm, famous for their collection of fairy tales. Students worked in small groups to examine how the setting, characters, actions, and language reflect the authors' background, Germany in the 1800s. They also considered how this fairy tale presents a "single story". Students will remain in their groups throughout the week, each day reading a different version of the tale and answering the same questions about it. The versions include "Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China", "Red Ridin' In the Hood" by Mexican-American author Patricia Santos Marcantonio, "Little Roja Riding Hood" by bilingual author Susan Elya and Latina illustrator Susan Guevara, and "Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion", a "classic fairy tale with an African safari twist". To culminate, students will synthesize their group work and our listening, discussing and writing about "the danger of a single story" in a short essay. While we may have time to begin this writing in class on Friday, I will ask students to complete the essay over the break so that the information and their experience of it is still fresh, as opposed to waiting until we return.
Homework:
Monday: add to group notes as needed; do spelling rules 15-18 in packet.
Tuesday: add to group notes; do spelling rules 19-22.
Wednesday: add to group notes; do spelling rules 23-25.
Thursday: add to group notes; do spelling rules 26-28.
Friday: add to group notes; write final response essay: due 2/26 (preferably typed!)
Little Red Riding Hood Group Work Questions and Essay
Little Red Riding Hood Original Version
Danger of a Single Story TED talk
