ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS FOR SNOW WHITE

The following additional assignments are suggested by Constance Vidor, Librarian, The Cathedral School of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City.

Analyzing Illustrations of Fairy Tales: A Curriculum-Integrated Library Learning Experience

This instructional activity is copyrighted. It may be reproduced and re-distributed for free with acknowledgment of my authorship. It may not be reproduced and re-distributed for sale without my permission.

GRADE: 4 or 5

CURRICULUM AREA: Language Arts

OBJECTIVES:

1. Language Arts:
   Become familiar with the fairy tale "Snow White."
   Understand the concept of multiple versions in terms of illustration.
   Understand how illustrations can influence the mood of a story.
   Write a multi-media script of a scene from "Snow White."
   

2. Library:
   Become familiar with a variety of editions of a popular fairy tale in both print and non-print formats.
   Analyze illustrations critically and creatively.
   

3. Technology:
   Navigate a web site.
   Use a web site to learn about the fairy tale Snow White and to develop some critical thinking skills about illustrations.
   

MATERIALS (software, books, hardware, online resources):

1. Downloaded web site: Kay Vandergrift's Snow White Pages
   
2. Web Whacker or other downloading software
   
3. Networked computers
   
4. Many different illustrated editions of the fairy tale Snow white
   
5. Audiotapes of several different kinds of music-something spooky, something jazzy, something noble and classical.
   

SEQUENCE OF INSTRUCTION:

Preparation:
Read a good version of "Snow White" to the class.

Lesson 1:

Concept: Illustrations can elaborate and interpret text.

1. Write the sentence, "Something surprising happened to me on the way home from school yesterday" on the board.
   
2. Ask the students to brainstorm a list of things that this sentence DOES NOT tell us.
   
3. Hand out markers, crayons, and drawing paper. Tell the students to each make an illustration that provides as much of the "missing information" as possible.
   
4. Have students examine each other's completed illustrations.
   
5. Tell each student to choose TWO of the illustrations (one may be their own, but does not have to be their own) that are as DIFFERENT as possible from one another and fill out a comparison chart that describes the differences (see attached for one possible format for a comparison chart).
   
6. Discuss with students how different types of illustrations can affect the story. In this case, the text was the same for each illustration, but the interpretations varied widely.
   

TABLE 1

Lesson 2

1. Divide class into groups of three or four students. Provide each group with different fairy tale in multiple illustrated editions (for example, Group I has four different editions of Rumpelstiltskin; Group II has multiple editions of Cinderella, etc.). There should be a number of editions equal to the number of the members of each group.
   
2. Tell each group to decide on ONE scene that is illustrated in each of their editions. Together, the group should decide what is most distinctive about each different illustration of this scene.
   
3. Each group takes a turn standing up in a row in front of the rest of the class. Each member holds up their illustration and says one sentence about what is distinctive about their version of the scene.
   

Lesson 3

1. In a computer lab or networked computer environment, display the downloaded portion of the Kay Vandergrift's "Snow White" web site that is devoted to "Show White" illustrations. Give them a few moments to explore the site individually in whatever way they wish.
   
2. Turn on the Screen Sharing control so that students cannot interact with their computers. Display the Illustrations of Show White in the Casket/Coffin Surrounded by the Dwarfs. Show two of the gif images in enlarged format, for example, Chihiro Iwasaki's image from The Brothers Grimm Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs translated and adapted by Anthea Bell and V. Konashevich's image from The Tale of the Dead Princess and Seven Knights by Alexander Pushkin.
   
3. Ask students to suggest some bits of dialogue for each picture. Then, play short musical excerpts in contrasting styles and ask students to give a thumbs up for the one they think best suits each image. Finally, ask students to write in their notebooks a list of four natural sounds that might occur in each picture, for example, wind blowing, birds singing, thunder rumbling, etc.).
   
4. Hand out comparison charts for analyzing some of the images in the Seven Dwarfs Meeting Snow White section. Turn off the Sharing Screen program and allow students to examine Tony Wolf's Dwarfs and Michael Foreman's Dwarfs, filling out the comparison charts containing the following categories: Dialogue, Music, Background sounds, and Overall mood.
   

TABLE 2

Lesson 4

1. Tell students that they are going to write their own screenplay versions of one scene from "Snow White" using any one of the images on the web site for inspiration. Remind students that all the elements of the screenplay must be consistent with the mood and contents of the illustration. The characters should refer to or interact with at least some of the objects in the illustration, and their emotions should match the gestures and facial expressions in the illustration.
   
2. Give students access to the downloaded web site and encourage them to examine most of the illustrations contained on it.
   
3. The completed screenplays should include dialogue, suggestions for music, and background sounds. If students are adept at working cooperatively, they may work in groups of three or four.
   
4. If sufficient resources are available, students may tape their scenes using each other as actors and choosing music either from their home collections or from audiotapes provided in the library. Alternatively, students may read their screenplays aloud with a "sound engineer" providing the taped music and background sounds on cue.
   
5. When the groups perform (or play their tapes) for the rest of the class, they should tell the rest of the class which sub-section of the Illustrations site provided their inspirational illustration. Students may examine the three or four illustrations in that area and guess which particular one provided the inspiration.
   

EVALUATION

1. I created a screenplay that dramatized the mood of the illustrations through:
   dialogue_______________________________________
   music_________________________________________
   background sounds______________________________
   
2. I was most proud of the following part:
   ______________________________________________
   

3. I think I could have done better in this way:
   ______________________________________________
   

4. My favorite illustration on the website was:
   ______________________________________________
   

5. It was my favorite because: ____________________
   _______________________________________________