 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In fact, it was a leg. And surely it was Roberta’s leg. It must be. Because things always work out in the end, don’t they? Missing parts are found. Siblings are reunited. Parents return from another dimension. That’s how stories move along: from chaos to happily-ever-after. That’s the point of a story. Usually.
Click on a title below for book recommendations; reading, writing, and art information and activities; and discussion questions. • An Annotated List of Suggested Read Alouds and Independent Reads Retold Fairy Tales! An Annotated List of Suggested Read Alouds and Independent Reads by Rachel Weiss, Student, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Dominican University Read Alouds: Allen, Debbie, illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Brothers of the Knight. 32p. Gr. K-4. Hale, Bruce, illustrated by Howard Fine. Snoring Beauty. 44p. Gr. 2-5. Hughes, Shirley. Ella’s Big Chance: a Jazz-Age Cinderella. 48p. Gr. PreK-3. Independent Reads: Hale, Shannon and Dean Hale, illustrated by Nathan Hale. Rapunzel’s Revenge. 144p. Gr. 4-8. Marcantonio, Patricia Santos, illustrated by Renato Alarcao. Red Ridin’ in the Hood: and Other Cuentos. 185p. Gr. 3-7. Napoli, Donna Jo. Crazy Jack. 134p. Gr. 6-9. © 2010 Rachel Weiss Activities for the Classroom: R.A.F.T. by Kristina Fitzgerald R.A.F.T. is an activity that integrates reading and writing. It is a way for the reader to take an active role in the story and creatively explain a situation in the work from the perspective of a character. In addition, it is a higher level thinking activity that requires the reader to go beyond basic comprehension of the material. The reader has to abandon his or her own opinions of the story and enter the mind of a character. The critical aspect of this activity is that the reader must truly understand the chosen character and his or her motivations and personality traits. By accepting this adventure, you have the opportunity to become the author of the story who creates an adventure for the characters you have learned about in this journey through The Exquisite Corpse Adventure. To complete this adventure, let’s first understand what R.A.F.T. means. R.A.F.T. stands for… R = ROLE of the writer. Which character will you become? A = AUDIENCE of the writer. To whom are you writing? F = FORMAT. What format will the writing take? A letter? Song lyrics? Classified ad? Poem? Etc. T = TOPIC. What is the subject or the point of this piece? Below you will find a graph that contains options for each part of the R.A.F.T. You begin by choosing one option for each topic. Think about what character you would like to become, who you would like to write to, how you would like to write to the chosen person, and what type of writing you would like to complete. Choose options that you feel strongly about in order to make the most out of this activity.
As an example you might choose to be Nancy writing a friendly letter to Sybil Hunch inquiring what the future will bring. Another example might include you being Angel designing a brochure for the members of the Sick and Tired Circus to try and convince them to join you on your adventure. The possibilities are endless. Chose one topic from all the categories, and then you can begin to create your writing adventure. Use the graphic organizer below to help you organize and record your thoughts.
© 2010 Kristina Fitzgerald Discussion Questions and Activities by Geri Zabela Eddins, NCBLA Despite Nancy’s urgent caution, Joe and Genius Kelly begin eating the gingerbread house. They are so famished, they eat with abandon. Nancy continues to plead with them to stop eating, but they both continue eating until the drugged gingerbread forces them both into deep sleep. Have you ever been so hungry that you ate something you were unsure about? Nancy is likely to be as hungry as Joe and Genius, but she is able to maintain control and not eat the gingerbread. Have you ever been in a situation in which someone lost control and you couldn’t stop them? Are you surprised that Genius Kelly—the twin’s protector—does not heed Nancy’s warnings? Do you see this as a role reversal, a situation in which the child is taking on the role of the adult? How do you think a child feels when he or she is the one who tries to control the behavior of an adult? A foil is a “character who, by contrast with the protagonist, serves to accentuate that character’s distinctive qualities or characteristics.” Would you classify the character of Genius Kelly as a foil to Nancy? If so, is Genius Kelly also a foil to Joe? Think about the events in this episode, as well as in previous episodes. How do the decisions and actions of Genius Kelly contrast with the decisions and actions of Nancy and Joe? Cite examples. After Joe and Genius Kelly have fallen asleep, Nancy is left to deal with Boppo on her own. When Boppo suggests that Nancy go inside with him while he takes apart the robot, the narrator lists a series of choices for Nancy, “She could have walked away…She could have abandoned her sleeping brother and the worthless pig. She could have left the half-assembled robot to her fate…” Can you think of any other options Nancy might have? Nancy chooses to follow Boppo into the gingerbread house. What do you think this says about her? Put yourself in Nancy’s shoes. What would you do in her situation? The twins discover Roberta’s heart toward the end of this episode. Roberta recognizes its presence, and “…her torso came to life. The robot chirped and sang…She emanated hope.” Why do you think a robot needs a heart? How do you think Roberta will change when the heart is inserted? Will the heart provide a mere physical function or an emotional function or both? Can you think of another story in which a character longed for a heart? Why did that character wish for a heart? Like many of the preceding episodes, Episode 16 ends as a cliffhanger. Who or what do you think is creating the shadow in the door? Might it be friend or foe? A character we know…or a new one to be introduced? Reference Murfin, Ross and Supryia M. Ray. (2003). The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. ©2010 Geri Zabela Eddins
For Parents, Teachers, Librarians—Talk Art! Timothy Basil Ering and Chris Van Dusen’s Illustrations for Episodes Sixteen and Seventeen by Mary Brigid Barrett
The Gingerbread House "The tradition of baking the sweetly decorated houses began in Germany after the Brothers Grimm published their collection of German fairy tales in the early 1800s. Among the tales was the story of Hansel and Gretel, children left to starve in the forest, who came upon a house made of bread and sugar decorations. The hungry children feasted on its sweet shingles. After the fairy tale was published, German bakers began baking houses of lebkuchen --spicy cakes often containing ginger -- and employed artists and craftsmen to decorate them. The houses became particularly popular during Christmas, a tradition that crossed the ocean with German immigrants. Pennsylvania, where many settled, remains a stronghold for the tradition.” In the original Grimm’s fairy tale Hansel and Gretel (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2591) the house the abandoned duo stumbles upon in the woods is not made of gingerbread and candy, but of bread with sugar decorations. But by the late 1800’s when composer Engelbert Humperdink wrote his opera Hansel and Gretel, the house of bread had evolved into a house of gingerbread festooned with icing and candy. Read the traditional Brothers Grimm version of Hansel and Gretel to your kids. Share these traditional illustrations of “the gingerbread house” (below) with them.
You may also want to show them a wonderful old animation film of Hansel and Gretel made by legendary animator Lotte Reiniger (1899-1991) in 1955. Ms. Reiniger was a master of the arts of silhouette and Shadow Theater and her short films still hold magic for children.
Ask your kids to think about “the gingerbread house” not only as a visual image, but as visual symbol. Symbols have meanings. What would the gingerbread house as symbol have meant to a child, and a society, in earlier centuries when hunger and famine were daily challenges for a large number of people? What does the symbol of a gingerbread house mean to your kids today; what could it mean as a cultural symbol? Share two contemporary interpretations of Hansel and Gretel with your kids—James Marshall’s humorous take on the story and Paul O. Zelinsky’s more classic version—and compare, contrast, and discuss their illustration styles.
Have your kids take a good look at Timothy Basil Ering’s, Chris Van Dusen’s, and Calef Brown’s illustrations of “the gingerbread house” that they have done for successive Exquisite Corpse Adventure episodes (at top of page and for Calef’s go to: http://www.thencbla.org/Exquisite_Corpse/exquisite_ep15.html). How have these three illustrators depicted the Exquisite Corpse Adventure gingerbread house? Did they take a traditional approach? Did they play with and tease the generic vision of a gingerbread house that we all carry around in our heads? Do they build on the version of a gingerbread house made iconic in the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel? Are they using “the gingerbread house” as a symbol? Are their images funny? Scary? Beautiful? Enticing? Do they make you hungry? (Remember, the Exquisite Corpse Adventure artists do not get to see their colleagues’ illustrations before they execute their new illustration!) Art Activities There are numerous gingerbread recipes—and instructions on how to build gingerbread houses—on the Internet and in cookbooks (your local library is a great cookbook resource). Have your kids sketch a traditional gingerbread house, and together mix and bake flat blocks of gingerbread that you can all cut, assemble, and decorate to match their gingerbread house designs. Talk with your kids about the symbolism of food in our culture—the many reasons why we eat. Do we eat simply to survive? Or do we eat to celebrate and commemorate? Do we eat out of pleasure—or guilt? To reward ourselves, or to punish ourselves? Do we eat sometimes because we are anxious or bored? Do we share our food or horde it? Ask your kids to design gingerbread houses as symbols representing our many feelings about food. Introduce your kids to intriguing architects and their work. Just for fun, have them design and sketch gingerbread houses inspired by their favorite architect. They can do a little research themselves to discover interesting historic and contemporary architects. Here are a few architects that may inspire them: Paul Sullivan, the “Father of the Skyscraper”
Frank Lloyd Wright
Paolo Soleri
I. M. Pei
Frank Gehry
Zaha Hadid
And be sure to look for Timothy Basil Ering’s books in your local library and bookstore!
And Chris Van Dusen’s latest books, too!
©2010 Mary Brigid Barrett
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
You can view her Hansel and Gretel and many of her other films on You Tube at: 
