Grade: 1
Unit: 6
Essential Question
What can different versions of
the same story teach us about
different cultures?
Title: Around the World with a Glass Slipper
Key Content: The student will…
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Compare and contrast multiple versions of Cinderella by different authors 
and from different cultures.
Identify similarities in and differences between two texts on the same
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topic.
Write opinions about a favorite version of Cinderella.
Read nonfiction texts independently with a sense of purpose (e.g., to
know about the continents and cultures discussed in a fairy tale version).
Unit Focus
Continue to focus on opinion writing by writing about a
favorite version of a fairy tale, supporting choice;
continue to focus on similarities and differences in
fictional and nonfictional texts; examine artistic masks
from various cultures and use descriptive words to tell
about the masks.
Code
act out
compare
contrast
culture
dialogue
fairy tales
fantasy
once upon a time
scene
setting
Standard
Ask and answer questions about key details in literary text.
RI.1.9
Ask and answer questions about key details in informational text.
RF.1.2
Understand spoken words, syllables, and sounds and be able to distinguish long and short vowels, produce
single-syllable words by blending, isolating, and segmenting sounds in single-syllable words.
Decode grade 1 level words: know spelling-sound correspondence for consonant diagraphs and regularly
spelled one-syllable words; vowels and final e; number of syllables in a word and that every syllable must
have a vowel; decode two-syllable words; read inflectional endings; read first grade irregularly spelled
words.
Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension (i.e., grade level text fluency with
comprehension and use context to confirm or self-correct)
RF.1.4
Vocabulary and Terms to Emphasize
Illustrate an adaptation of a scene from Cinderella and present it to the
class in a PowerPoint slide.
Use descriptive words to tell about masks from cultures around the
world.
RL.1.9
RF.1.3
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Dates of Instruction: _______________________
W.1.1- 2
Write opinion piece by introducing topic/book, stating opinion and reason, provide closure.
W.1.5
With help, focus on a topic and respond to peer comments by adding details to strengthen writing.
W.1.6
With help, use digital tools to produce and publish writing in collaboration with peers.
W.1.11
Create and/or present a poem, dramatization, art work, or personal response to a particular author or
theme, with support as needed.*
Use standard conventions of English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing (dates and
names of people, end punctuation, commas, conventional spelling patterns, and common irregularly spelled
words, spell words phonetically).
With help, explore word relationships and nuances in word meanings by sorting into categories, defining by
categories, making real-life connections, and distinguishing shades of meaning in verbs by defining or
acting out the meanings (look, peek, glance, stare).
L.1.2
L.1.5
SL.1.5
Add drawings/visuals to descriptions to clarify information.
*Indicates standard specific to NY only.
Concept
Questioning
Details
Questioning
Details
Phonological
Awareness
Phonological
Awareness
Sight Words
Fluency
Writing: Opinion
Revision
Details
Digital Tools
Cooperative Learning
Response to Literature
Language Conventions:
Spelling, Punctuation,
Grammar
Vocabulary
Shades of Meaning
Clarify using visuals
Grade: 1
Unit: 6
Title: Around the World with a Glass Slipper
Dates of Instruction: _______________________
Suggested Activities/Investigations/Demos:
READING /LITERARY: Throughout this unit, keep a Venn diagram wall chart showing similarities and differences between each version of Cinderella read (e.g.,
Cinderella, by Charles Perrault; Cinderella, by Marcia Brown; The Korean Cinderella, by Shirley Climo; Prince Cinders, by Babette Cole; Cinderquacker, by Mike
Thaler; Fair, Brown & Trembling: An Irish Cinderella Story, by Jude Daly; Little Gold Star: A Spanish American Cinderella Tale, by Robert D. San Souci, Yeh-Shen:
A Cinderella Story from China, by Ai-Ling Louie; The Way Meat Loves Salt: A Cinderella Tale from the Jewish Tradition, by Nina Jaffe). Include information about
characters, setting, beginning, middle/events, and ending. Students should continue to add new words on index cards to their word banks, including new shades
of meaning words, throughout the unit.
READING/OPINION WRITING: After reading many different versions of Cinderella, have the students write an opinion response about which one was their favorite.
They should include the title of the book, at least two reasons why it was their favorite, and a conclusion. After writing their opinion paper, have them add some sort
of visual or drawing, and present their paper to the class.
READING/LITERARY/ MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION: Ask: “How do all of the Cinderella stories that we have read differ, based on the time and place where
they happen?” Write responses on the white board. Following the discussion, have the students draw a picture of the “trying on the slipper” scene in today’s time
and culture (i.e., casual clothes and a tennis shoe or flip-flop). Scan the pictures and create a PowerPoint slide for each picture. Have the students present their
drawings to the class explaining their version of the “slipper scene.”
READING/INFORMATIONAL/LITERARY: Introduce various informational books about different countries/continents using guided reading and a picture walk.
Have the students whisper read, using Good Reader Strategies when they get stuck. After reading the informational texts, have the students find and look
through a fairy tale set in a similar culture as one of the informational texts. Students should ask and answer questions about what was read, discuss what similar
things the students saw in both books (e.g., geography, people, clothing, food, places, and customs) and things that differed between the books (i.e., one tells a
story, the other gives factual information). Create a word wall of new words learned specific to each culture/country/continent, or words from students’ native
language, as appropriate.
READING /INFORMATIONAL: Choose two books about the same country, such as Australia, by Madeleine Donaldson (Pull Ahead Books Continents) and Look
What Came From Australia, by Kevin Davis. Discuss how the books are similar because they are about the same country. Show how they are also different
because they are written by different authors and have different purposes. Then, read the books as a class and create a Venn diagram for the two books. Work
together to document what was learned in each book that is similar and different. Partner the students. Using two new books by different authors (about the same
location), have the students each read one of the books independently, then share their information with each other to determine what is similar and what is
different, creating their own Venn diagram.
READING /INFORMATIONAL/ PRESENTATION: Divide the students into small groups. Have them research the contributions/inventions of a country introduced to
them in this unit (e.g., The Look What Came from… series; Pull Ahead Books Continents series; Internet; etc.). After finding information about the types of things
that different countries contributed, have the students gather actual items that represent the contributions (e.g., China: paper, compass, and paper money). Have
each group design information cards digitally for their country’s contributions, and create a classroom museum displaying the items. Invite another classroom and
have students stand behind their table to explain the origins of the items and answer questions.
ART CONNECTION/LANGUAGE: Discuss how the countries/continents read about in this unit are very different in many ways. Show the students pictures of
masks from different continents (see Resources). As each mask is viewed, have the students use descriptive words (i.e., adjectives) to describe them. Ask if any of
the masks could be used for one of the characters in any of the Cinderella versions read during this unit. If so, which one?
ART CONNECTION/LITERARY: Have the students choose one of the characters from their favorite version of Cinderella or a similar fairy tale, then create a mask
that would be appropriate for the character. Students should include as many physical characteristics as possible based on the information in the text. Once the
masks have been completed, have the students hold up their masks and recite or read a few lines from the text and let the other students guess the character.
POETRY: Read Shel Silverstein’s In Search of Cinderella (see Resources) and discuss who is “speaking,” and why he has “started hating feet.” Encourage the
students to think about how each of the characters in various Cinderella stories may have felt at different times.
Strategies
Graphic Organizer – Venn
Diagram, Wall Chart
Vocabulary Word Cards
Guided Reading
Picture Walk
Whisper Read
Good Reader Strategies
Word Wall
Graphic Organizer:
Venn Diagram
Grade: 1
Unit: 6
Title: Around the World with a Glass Slipper
Dates of Instruction: _______________________
Cross-Curricular Connections
Resources
Religion/Values: 1) Using a Venn diagram, compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the
main character of a fairy tale and Jesus, from the religious point of view. Students may also choose a favorite Bible
story or character and write an opinion paper about why it is their favorite. 2) Give the students the prompt: “Once
upon a time…” and have them create their own version of their favorite fairy tale, incorporating family
values/morals into the story. The story should contain three to four sentences, with a beginning, middle, and end.
Art Connection: After viewing masks from around the world, have students create a self-portrait and refer to how
they are made in God’s image.
ELA: Have students write a letter/postcard to an imaginary relative in a country of their choice, and refer to the fairy
tale in their letter. They should also demonstrate how they would address the envelope or postcard.
Social Studies: 1) Have students create a menu from their country or a country of choice in order to explore
different types of food from that culture. 2) Create a map that is labeled with directions, bodies of water, and a map
key. 3) Students can write a paper based on the prompt: “If your relative from another country was coming to
dinner, what would you do here in America to make him/her feel comfortable?” Students should use complete
sentences. 4) To help them explore the different aspects of their cultural background and experiences, have
students construct a poster by researching that particular culture.
Mask links:
Click on http://www.masksoftheworld.com and click on a country or picture
of mask.
Click on http://anthromuseum.missouri.edu and type “Masks Around the
World Minigallery,” then choose a mask to view.
Poem link:
Click on http://www.poemhunter.com and type “In Search of Cinderella”
and click on Silverstein’s link.
Assessing Student Understanding
 Students will retell the story of Cinderella from one of their favorite versions, using details and correct
sequence.
 Students will write an opinion response about their favorite version of Cinderella, including the title of
the book and at least two reasons stating why it was their favorite, a conclusion, and illustration. They
should revise their paper, editing punctuation, misspellings, grammar, etc., as needed, add additional
details, and present it to the class.
 Students will create a mask based on a character from their favorite version of
Cinderella or fairly tale, then read from a section of the story to the class, while using
their mask.
 Students will collaborate in a small group to research contributions and inventions from
another country, collect contemporary items that are a result of the contributions,
digitally design information cards for the items, and exhibit them in a classroom
museum. Ask and answer questions about the exhibit.
Teacher Notes/Reflections