Chapter 5: Traditional Literature

“Once Upon a Time” is a great way to start a traditional literature, or folk literature story.  These types of stories were usually told orally and have no true teller because it was not written down right away.  It would be told many times before actually making it on paper.  Writing down traditional literature would meet a variety of human needs.  Traditional literature was not meant to be for just children.  When the tales were written down that is when traditional literature began to a play a very important role on children’s lives.  This allowed for students to tell tales of cultures around the world.

Fairy tales took off around the world.  One story that is told in many different styles is Cinderella.  There are over 700 versions of this story around the world.  This is one book that you could use in your classroom to explain different cultures with the same story line.  I would use Cinderella as a literature circle, give each group a different version of the story, and have them work on different parts.  After, I would have each group act out their version of Cinderella.

 

                         

   These are just three versions of Cinderella that I researched.