Grade K: Story Time – Folktales from Around the World
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Common Core Standards
Reading Literature
RL.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
RL.K.2 With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.
RL.K.3 With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.
RL.K.4 Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
RL.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).
RL.K.9 With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories.
Writing
W.K.3 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.
Speaking and Listening
SL.K.4 Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.
SL.K.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.
SL.K.6 Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.
Language
L.K.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on kindergarten reading and content.
L.K.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.
Description of Unit
This Grade 1 unit titled “Grade K: Story Time – Folktales from Around the World” from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is intended to be completed in the fall for two to three weeks, 45 minutes each day. The unit addresses what folktales are and why people tell them over time across cultures. It focuses on the basic elements of story, with an emphasis on sequence of events, through picture books that retell a variety of folktales from around the world. Students are provided with opportunities to consider both the purpose and craft of telling stories and to learn and practice basic reading skills. Through interactive read-alouds, discussion, retelling, and other activities, students learn about story elements (i.e., characters, setting, and major events) as well as common characteristics of folktales passed down over time, such as varying versions and lessons (or morals). Students also consider the craft of telling stories by thinking about what effective storytellers do to engage their audiences. Lessons include text comprehension strategies such as sequencing, asking questions, discussing, retelling, and speaking and listening. The unit culminates with students retelling a familiar folktale through small-group performances, focusing on speaking and listening skills.
Cautions
Connecticut teachers should be cautioned that teacher notes and preparation materials are extensive and will require familiarity to be used effectively. These notes suggest that lessons should be divided up into two or three parts and taught with breaks in between, or at different times of the day. Prior to beginning this unit, should know how to listen to a story, interact appropriately in a group, and follow rules for discussion. While many accommodations and supports for students who are ELL, have disabilities and/or read below the grade level are provided, it will be important to consider the variability of learners in your class and make adaptations as necessary. At the start of each of the lesson groupings, the texts and materials needed are listed. These are not included with the unit plan and will have to be secured. Some of the links to websites listed in the unit materials have broken links, but substitutes for the same folktale or background information can easily be found on the internet.
Rationale for Selection
This unit is an exemplary example of a progression of learning where concepts and skills advance and deepen over time. The plan addresses instructional expectations and is easy to understand and use. Lessons are designed to gradually remove supports, requiring all students to demonstrate their independent capacities. Performance tasks with aligned rubrics elicit direct, observable evidence of the degree to which each student can independently demonstrate the targeted grade-level standards. Lessons are designed to cultivate student interest and engagement in reading, speaking and writing. Specific tips on such topics as: pacing, differentiation, teacher modeling, instructional tips, and anticipated student misconceptions are included throughout the unit.