Once upon a time, an evil queen used a mirror to understand herself. Her identity was wrapped into her physical appearance.
For this unit, we will explore how identity can be understood through fairy tales. And in the process, we might learn more about ourselves.
For this unit, we will explore how identity can be understood through fairy tales. And in the process, we might learn more about ourselves.
Daily Assignment Schedule
Week One
Wednesday
Friday
Week Two
Monday
Friday
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Wednesday
- Introduction to the Course; Course Policies
- Assign: Diagnostic Essay
Friday
- Defining Fairy Tales
- Lecture/Prezi Presentation
- Activity: Brainstorming Small Groups-How do you define fairy tales?
- Assign Reading: "The Crown Prince and the Frog Prince: Characterization in the Identity Construction of Firstborn Males"
- Blog: What are your strengths and weaknesses when writing?
Week Two
Monday
- In-Class Writing Assignment: How can fairy tales give us understanding on how identity is constructed?
- Class Discussion: Identity and fairy tales in "The Crown Prince and the Frog Prince: Characterization in the Identity Construction of Firstborn Males"
- Assign Reading: "Filial Daughter, Woman Warrior, or Identity-Seeking Fairy Tale Princess: Fostering Critical Awareness through Mulan"
- Collect: Diagnostic Essay
- Class Discussion on Mulan and Identity
- Small Group Activity: How have you learned about yourself through reading a fairy tale? How do the characters in the story learn about themselves?
- Blog: How does what you've learned relate, support, or challenge the scholarly articles we've read so far? Use specific examples to explain your opinion.
- Assign: Fairy Tale Narrative Paper
Friday
- In-Class Writing Assignment: In your experience, how do you think fairy tales influenced your perception of identity?
- Lecture-How do I write a thesis statement? What are the qualities of a strong thesis statement?
Monday
- Lecture-Pre-writing + the writing process
- In-Class Writing: Identifying your personal writing process
- Activity: Pre-writing
Wednesday
- Drafting Day-Bring your Laptops
Friday
- Peer Review- Bring 2 hard copies of your complete draft
Unit Plan One: Identity and Fairy tales
Wednesday
Friday
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Monday
Friday
Wednesday
- To introduce the course objectives and course politics. To assign Diagnostic Essay
- This is an important aspect of any course, because it allows the class to understand the instructor's expectations of the semester. It also provides a brief outline of topics covered and the student learning objectives. It's important to establish standards, because students receive a clear understanding of how the classroom will function. A diagnostic essay will allow me to identify general strengths and weaknesses in the student writing. The blog will allow me to see the students own perspective on their strengths and weaknesses as well. This will give me the opportunity to tailor my writing lessons to their needs.
- I will use hard copies of the course policy sheet to review the expectations. I will also give additional details to better explain the course policy sheet. In addition, students will have time to ask questions.
- I will evaluate my teaching based on the student's responses and engagement.
Friday
- To introduce the course theme: truth in fairy tales. We will consider the following questions: How do we define fairy tales? Why should we study fairy tales? How can fairy tales highlight an understanding of human experience? What does scholarly research have to say about fairy tales?
- This class day functions to provide the students and instructors with a common definition of fairy tales. It will also allow me as an instructor to give a more in-depth description of the course objectives and how we will use fairy tales to strengthen our critical analysis and writing skills.
- I will break students into small groups and have them discuss how they define fairy tales. We will then share those descriptions so that we, as a class, have the same standard definition of a fairy tale. I will add qualities of a fairy tale as necessary.
- I will evaluate my teaching by giving the students an exit slip. I will compare their informal writing assignments Assign Reading: "The Crown Prince and the Frog Prince: Characterization in the Identity Construction of Firstborn Males" / Collect Diagnostic Essays Blog: What are your strengths and weaknesses when writing?
Monday
- To discuss the reading, specifically focusing on the construction of identity. To incorporate scholarly research. To review effective reading strategies.
- This article will introduce scholarly work on fairy tales. Yes, even fairy tales can be 'academic.' This will also serves as a method to strengthen critical thinking skills through the use of reading strategies.
- I will use quotes from the text to guide a class discussion on the main ideas/themes of the article. I will ask questions that encourage the students to critically think and make connections. I will provide students with different strategies to read critically, such as previewing a text and asking questions. These strategies will be applied to the future readings in the course.
- I will evaluate my teaching through their answers and participation. I will evaluate the student learning by checking student annotations for the next reading assignment.
- Assign Reading: "Filial Daughter, Woman Warrior, or Identity-Seeking Fairy Tale Princess: Fostering Critical Awareness through Mulan"
- Collect: Diagnostic Essay
Wednesday
- To discuss "Filia Daughter, Woman Warrior, or Identity-Seeking Fairy Tale Princess: Fostering Critical Awareness Through Mulan." To further analyze the role of identity construction within fairytales.
- This article will allow students to apply critical reading strategies as they consider the role of identity in fairy tales.
- I will ask students to share their own questions in order to have them accountable for their own learning. I will then support their answers/questions with my own connections and questions.
- I will evaluate the student's understanding of the article and the effectiveness of the lesson by student response in their blogs and their level engagement during class.
Friday
- To assign the students their first paper. To review body paragraph structure and thesis statements. To discuss the narrative format. To brainstorm ideas for this paper.
- Since students are entering ENG 200, I will only review the basic paragraph structure, especially since this is a more personal narrative essay. Students will be asked to think critically about how fairy tales either supported or contradicted their own perception of identity through the form of a narrative essay.
- This class will primarily be a lecture on the upcoming assignment. However, I will allow the end of the class to be a brainstorming session that will be student centered.
- I will evaluate my effectiveness by looking at student drafts/peer review and their final papers.
Monday
- To examine the writing process, with an emphasis on pre-writing.
- The goal of this class is to prepare the students for writing the Fairytale Narrative.
- In-Class Writing Assignment- How do you prepare to write your college papers? What's your personal writing process? How has that process changed? We will focus on pre-writing and different strategies to pre-write. He will then practice those strategies in preparation for drafting day.
- I will evaluate my teaching by the student's participation. I will evaluate student learning through their worksheets that I will collect at the end of the class.
- To spend class drafting for the fairy tale narrative. To provide the opportunity for students to ask questions and conference with me in class.
- I want to be available to assist students as they draft in class.
- Students will need to bring their prewriting notes and their laptops to support a productive drafting day.
- I will evaluate students based on their drafts and their participation.
Friday
- Peer Review Day
- Students will practice the revision process in groups of 2-3
- The plan will be have students advise on strengths and weaknesses. They will be instructed to focus on content and organization.
- I will evaluate the effectiveness of the peer review by answering student questions. I will also compare their peer review drafts to their final draft.
Using Mulan to Understand Identity: Lesson Four
Objective: To discuss "Filia Daughter, Woman Warrior, or Identity-Seeking Princess: Fostering Critical Awareness Through Mulan." To further analyze the role of identity construction within fairy tales.
Materials: Annotated Text; Pen; Notebook
Opening: Today, we're focusing on the role of fairy tales in terms of understanding identity. This reading specifically looks at three versions of Mulan and how the meaning changes depending on what is emphasized in the story. Instead of telling you what to pay attention to, I want to see what you
Plan: First, I will ask the students to share their homework assignments with the class. They will be asked to volunteer to share the quotes that they selected; they will then ask a corresponding question to that quote. I will use their questions to guide them into making connections about the text on the role of identity discussed in this particular article.
To further develop discussion, I will incorporate my own questions to support the students in identifying the main ideas and also analyzing the meaning behind those ideas. Such questions include:
*The majority of the questions that I will ask will encourage students to make relevant connections that go beyond the text. I want the students to analyze the text, but I also want them to consider how the text works in the larger conversation on fairy tales, truth, human experience all with the focus on identity.
These type of questions will prepare the students to think about their own experience with fairy tales and how those experiences supported or contradicted their perception of identity.*
Conclusion: The article considers how each version of the fairy tale changes depending on the author or audience. Specifically, it looks at how the meaning changes through the Disney interpretation. For example, Disney ignored Mulan's actions that sacrificed her own personal wants and needs. Instead, they promote the idea of being true to oneself or finding oneself. Therefore, the reader learns a different lesson on identity depending on what tale is being told. For homework, you will begin considering how your own experiences with fairy tales have influenced how you see yourself or the search for identity in general.
Homework: Blog Post- Select a fairy tale from your childhood. Using what you've learned from the scholarly work we've read so far. Consider the following questions: How does the fairy tale address identity? How did this support or hinder your perception of your own identity? Your blog post will be assessed based on your level of critical response. So, make sure you support your claims with evidence and analysis.
This will also prepare you for the upcoming paper that I will introduce on Monday.
Materials: Annotated Text; Pen; Notebook
Opening: Today, we're focusing on the role of fairy tales in terms of understanding identity. This reading specifically looks at three versions of Mulan and how the meaning changes depending on what is emphasized in the story. Instead of telling you what to pay attention to, I want to see what you
Plan: First, I will ask the students to share their homework assignments with the class. They will be asked to volunteer to share the quotes that they selected; they will then ask a corresponding question to that quote. I will use their questions to guide them into making connections about the text on the role of identity discussed in this particular article.
To further develop discussion, I will incorporate my own questions to support the students in identifying the main ideas and also analyzing the meaning behind those ideas. Such questions include:
- How do the stories we tell shape or influence our identity as argue by Ivy Haoyin Hsieh and Marylou M. Matoush? (213-214)
- How do you think your parents or the stories that they shared influenced your perception of identity?
- "To avoid misrepresentation, cultural authenticity, historical accuracy and current, non-stereotypical images are imporatnt in children's literature" (214). Reflection question: How can misrepresentation of cultural or societal experiences lead to negative stereotypes or assumptions? Can you think of an example from the text? What about outside of the text? (Disney, Mulan)
- What do we lose when stories come "westernized" (215)? Or how does the meaning change through western adaption?
- How does each version of the ballad of Mulan change the meaning or what is emphasized in each tale? Specifically, what is emphasized in terms of identity?
- On 219, we get an in-depth analysis on the changes that Disney made when extending Mulan's story into a full-length film. What were some of the changes made? Why were those changes made? How did it change from the original version? What was lost, what was gained?
- How does the Disney version address identity? (219)
- What are the authors' arguments for teaching Mulan in a classroom setting? What can be gained by teaching the different versions of the fairy tale? Do you agree or disagree with her argument?
*The majority of the questions that I will ask will encourage students to make relevant connections that go beyond the text. I want the students to analyze the text, but I also want them to consider how the text works in the larger conversation on fairy tales, truth, human experience all with the focus on identity.
These type of questions will prepare the students to think about their own experience with fairy tales and how those experiences supported or contradicted their perception of identity.*
Conclusion: The article considers how each version of the fairy tale changes depending on the author or audience. Specifically, it looks at how the meaning changes through the Disney interpretation. For example, Disney ignored Mulan's actions that sacrificed her own personal wants and needs. Instead, they promote the idea of being true to oneself or finding oneself. Therefore, the reader learns a different lesson on identity depending on what tale is being told. For homework, you will begin considering how your own experiences with fairy tales have influenced how you see yourself or the search for identity in general.
Homework: Blog Post- Select a fairy tale from your childhood. Using what you've learned from the scholarly work we've read so far. Consider the following questions: How does the fairy tale address identity? How did this support or hinder your perception of your own identity? Your blog post will be assessed based on your level of critical response. So, make sure you support your claims with evidence and analysis.
This will also prepare you for the upcoming paper that I will introduce on Monday.