Reading and Role Playing: Fiction, Folktales, and Fairy Tale
Reading and Role Playing: Fiction, Folktales, and Fairy Tale Reading and Role Playing: Fiction, Folktales, and Fairy Tale
Reading Curricular Calendar, Second Grade, 2012-20134they invite debate. Then, too, students will be reading modern books side by side these tales, andcan think comparatively and beyond about issues such as good and evil and everything inbetween, about the predictable roles they encounter, not only in these books, but in life, about thelessons books and authors suggest, and whether they see these sorts of messages elsewhere...orperhaps the opposite. They can consider their own views, too, talking back to the texts. You’llwant to see that kids are on these lines of thinking, and if not, make plans for how to bolster thiskind of work.Bend One – Readers Can Become Actors Too: Stepping into a Character’s Shoes—Literally!On the first day of the unit you might gather your children and say something like this: “Secondgraders, I was watching TV with my nephews over winter vacation and guess what show I saw?Little Bill! I couldn’t believe it. It was the episode “The Meanest Thing to Say.” What acoincidence! Right after we studied and read so many Little Bill books, our favorite characterwas alive! It was so neat to see the characters come to life that way, moving and talking. Iglanced at the cartoon schedule and guess what? There were a couple other class favorites, too—Franklin and Little Bear. It made me think that any of our books could become dramas! And thatgot me thinking that maybe, just maybe, all of you would like to be one of those actors. Are yougame?”Then, you can read aloud a book the class knows well (preferably one that has been made into acartoon or movie), setting children up to reenact as they listen. You’ll want to throw yourself intothe dramatization of the book, making facial expressions, gesturing with your hands andshoulders— your whole body if need be—and making your voice change for each character.You’ll invite children to join you as actors, not by standing up and moving around as you readaloud, but in their spots on the rug. It is amazing how much acting can be done while sitting inplace! You can read a passage aloud and then stop and say, “How about if we try it—right here,right now? I’m going to reread the part of The Meanest Thing to Say when Little Bill is at home,trying to decide what to do now that Michael, the new kid at school, has challenged him to thinkof the meanest thing he could say. So right now, while you are sitting here, will each of you beLittle Bill? He’s in his kitchen with his great-grandma and his parents. Think about what thatlooks like. Be the best Little Bill you can be. What does his face look like? Show me on yourface what you are feeling as him. Are his arms crossed? Remember, you are trying to think ofsomething really mean to say to Michael.”Halfway through the book and again at the end, you might say something like, “Right now think,‘What’s Little Bill thinking inside his head?’ Partner one, you be Little Bill and say thosefeelings aloud to partner two. Partner two, you’re Dad for now. Turn and talk.” As you listen inon these enactments, you may notice that some children think Little Bill is acting obnoxious,while others think Little Bill is just confused. You might decide to use this opportunity to tellchildren that not all actors interpret a character in the same way (just as not all characters share asingle point of view— CCSS RL 2.6) Or you could wait and do this sort of interpretive workanother day, during a second or third read-aloud/enactment. If you decide to do it today, youcould tell the class that you noticed different children interpreted Little Bill differently, andexplain those differences. Then you could say something like “Let’s all try imagining this part ofthe story as being all about how Little Bill becomes more and more obnoxious. I’m going to readit again, and you all play the role of Little Bill, but this time, make him sort of snotty sounding.”Unit Six – Reading and Role Playing: Fiction, Folktales, and Fairy TalesReading and Writing Project, 2012 ©DRAFT
Reading Curricular Calendar, Second Grade, 2012-20135Then you could reread, suggesting children try out the theory that Little Bill is more confusedthan anything. Your read-alouds will carry a good part of this unit, and they will also set childrenup to meet several of the Common Core Standards’ expectations for second grade readers. Forexample, they will prepare students to “describe how characters in a story respond to majorevents and challenges” (RL 2.2). Because the read-alouds for this unit involve not simplythinking and turning and talking about characters’ reactions, but physically stepping into theroles of characters, the result is that students will come away with a deeper understanding ofcharacter motivations and feelings.Of course, any unit of study is really going to be about the work you hope children will do ontheir own as they read. So after you’ve engaged the class in a dramatic read-aloud, you could sayto them, “Oh my gosh! You all are so good at becoming the character as you read! Which isgreat, because this month we’re going to be reading every story as if we are the characters.We’re going to be reading our stories like actors! This means that we’re going to step intocharacters’ shoes, thinking as we read, ‘I bet she’s really mad now,’ reading the words that thecharacter says in a mad voice as we furrow our brows and scowl, or, ‘I bet he’s a little scared inthis part,’ and then cowering a bit, and making our faces look frightened. And we’re going tonotice when a character’s feelings might be changing and make sure that the voice in our headchanges along with the character’s feelings. Each of you will be doing this work on your own asyou read, and later you’ll have a chance to act it out with your club.” The work you do withchildren during read-alouds, then, will scaffold them as they work on their own, in partnershipsand eventually in clubs. The hope is that children will not only model what you do, but begin toengage in more independent, higher level reading work.Your first step will be to teach children to do some preliminary work noticing and interpretingthe details that tell us about a character. “Before readers can empathize, before we can role-playour way into a story,” you’ll tell kids, “we need to read very closely, noticing clues that will helpus learn more about the character. What sort of person is this character? Is he serious? Alwayscracking jokes? What does he like and dislike? What does he really, really want?” Becausechildren will have learned earlier in the year about the importance of paying close attention to thedetails that an author provides, you’ll have the chance now to remind them of the strategies fordoing this that you taught in November. Bring out those old charts on ways to track yourcharacter and think about his or her wants and troubles, and remind children of all they knowabout marking books with Post-its, noting things to talk about with their partner. You can tellthem that actors, too, keep notes as a way to get inside a character’s head and put themselves intothat role. By marking up their books, they’ll be doing likewise, preparing to bring out the thingsthey notice about the characters in their books.In addition to thinking about the “who” and “why” in a text (CCSS RL 2.1), this work also setschildren up to consider “how characters respond to major events and challenges” (RL 2.3), and,in part through that, to “determine a central message, lesson, or moral” (RL 2.2). We believe thatthis combination of reading, reflecting, note taking and acting bolsters not only their readingcomprehension, but also their depth of engagement with text and with characters.Next, you can help children not only pay attention to a character and his or her experiences butalso analyze how the character is feeling. To do this, your children will mark places in theirUnit Six – Reading and Role Playing: Fiction, Folktales, and Fairy TalesReading and Writing Project, 2012 ©DRAFT
- Page 3: Reading Curricular Calendar, Second
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<strong>Reading</strong> Curricular Calendar, Second Grade, 2012-20135Then you could reread, suggesting children try out the theory that Little Bill is more confusedthan anything. Your read-alouds will carry a good part of this unit, <strong>and</strong> they will also set childrenup to meet several of the Common Core St<strong>and</strong>ards’ expectations for second grade readers. Forexample, they will prepare students to “describe how characters in a story respond to majorevents <strong>and</strong> challenges” (RL 2.2). Because the read-alouds for this unit involve not simplythinking <strong>and</strong> turning <strong>and</strong> talking about characters’ reactions, but physically stepping into theroles of characters, the result is that students will come away with a deeper underst<strong>and</strong>ing ofcharacter motivations <strong>and</strong> feelings.Of course, any unit of study is really going to be about the work you hope children will do ontheir own as they read. So after you’ve engaged the class in a dramatic read-aloud, you could sayto them, “Oh my gosh! You all are so good at becoming the character as you read! Which isgreat, because this month we’re going to be reading every story as if we are the characters.We’re going to be reading our stories like actors! This means that we’re going to step intocharacters’ shoes, thinking as we read, ‘I bet she’s really mad now,’ reading the words that thecharacter says in a mad voice as we furrow our brows <strong>and</strong> scowl, or, ‘I bet he’s a little scared inthis part,’ <strong>and</strong> then cowering a bit, <strong>and</strong> making our faces look frightened. And we’re going tonotice when a character’s feelings might be changing <strong>and</strong> make sure that the voice in our headchanges along with the character’s feelings. Each of you will be doing this work on your own asyou read, <strong>and</strong> later you’ll have a chance to act it out with your club.” The work you do withchildren during read-alouds, then, will scaffold them as they work on their own, in partnerships<strong>and</strong> eventually in clubs. The hope is that children will not only model what you do, but begin toengage in more independent, higher level reading work.Your first step will be to teach children to do some preliminary work noticing <strong>and</strong> interpretingthe details that tell us about a character. “Before readers can empathize, before we can role-playour way into a story,” you’ll tell kids, “we need to read very closely, noticing clues that will helpus learn more about the character. What sort of person is this character? Is he serious? Alwayscracking jokes? What does he like <strong>and</strong> dislike? What does he really, really want?” Becausechildren will have learned earlier in the year about the importance of paying close attention to thedetails that an author provides, you’ll have the chance now to remind them of the strategies fordoing this that you taught in November. Bring out those old charts on ways to track yourcharacter <strong>and</strong> think about his or her wants <strong>and</strong> troubles, <strong>and</strong> remind children of all they knowabout marking books with Post-its, noting things to talk about with their partner. You can tellthem that actors, too, keep notes as a way to get inside a character’s head <strong>and</strong> put themselves intothat role. By marking up their books, they’ll be doing likewise, preparing to bring out the thingsthey notice about the characters in their books.In addition to thinking about the “who” <strong>and</strong> “why” in a text (CCSS RL 2.1), this work also setschildren up to consider “how characters respond to major events <strong>and</strong> challenges” (RL 2.3), <strong>and</strong>,in part through that, to “determine a central message, lesson, or moral” (RL 2.2). We believe thatthis combination of reading, reflecting, note taking <strong>and</strong> acting bolsters not only their readingcomprehension, but also their depth of engagement with text <strong>and</strong> with characters.Next, you can help children not only pay attention to a character <strong>and</strong> his or her experiences butalso analyze how the character is feeling. To do this, your children will mark places in theirUnit Six – <strong>Reading</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Role</strong> <strong>Playing</strong>: <strong>Fiction</strong>, <strong>Folktales</strong>, <strong>and</strong> <strong>Fairy</strong> <strong>Tale</strong>s<strong>Reading</strong> <strong>and</strong> Writing Project, 2012 ©DRAFT
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