The Rough Face Girl was written by Rafe Martin and illustrated by David Shannon. This amazing story is a fractured fairy tale based on the fairy tale Cinderella. The story is set in the Algonquin Indian Village. The story is about an invisible being who wants to marry one of the ladies in the tribe. All the ladies wanted to marry this being because he was rich and powerful and handsome. In order to be considered, the lady how to prove to the beings sister that he was a real being. Every lady in the village tried to convince the sister but no one could. Then one day, the rough face girl came to prove to the sister. The was all scarred up from working over the fires. She was able to prove to the sister that the being was real. She was transformed into a beautiful young woman and married the being.
The Rough Face Girl is a great example of a fractured fairy tale and is a fictional story. According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 15, it explains that folklore, another name for fairy tale, is composed of stories that have been passed down from generation to generation, by word of mouth. The story has no known author. Folklore comes in many different forms, including rhymes, fairy tales, fables, and many more. Fractured fairy tales are explained in further detail on page 198 of the textbook. It states that many authors have created their own literary fairy tales which are stories patterned after traditional tales, such as The Rough Face Girl which is patterned after the fairy tale Cinderella.
According to the Saint Leo University Core Values, respect is a vital part of our program. This book is a great example of showing respect. The rough face girl respected herself enough to put her trust into the hands of an invisible being to provide for her happiness for life. Even though she looked all scarred up, she had a great amount of self respect, which is vital to survive in a life where people treat you badly because of how you look.
The book is recommended for children ages 8 and up. I would agree with this recommendation. The story is such a beautiful alliteration of the Cinderella story which most, if not all, students will know. There is such an amazing lesson to be learned in this book, too. Being able to read a very beautiful story to teach students to be themselves and by being true to themselves, good things will come to them.
When teaching this in the classroom, I would suggest the following activities to be included in your lesson plan:
1. Students will write their own “Cinderella” story based on what they know about the story of Cinderella and what they have learned about fractured fairy tales.
2. Create a Venn diagram based on the story of Cinderella and The Rough Face Girl.
3. Students will research the Algonquin Indians and learn about their culture. Then students will write a story based on facts they learned about the Algonquin Indians through their research.
READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:
1. How do you think Rough-Face Girl felt when her father couldn't give her the same beautiful things as her older sisters to go courting the Invisible Being? How would you have felt?
2. How did Rough-Face Girl show courage?
3. What does it mean "to see all the way down to your heart"?
4. Why was Rough-Face Girl able to see the Invisible Being where the other women of the village couldn't?
5. Is it more important to look on someone's outer beauty or what they are like on the inside? Why?
REFERENCES:
Cinderella Stories: A Multicultural Unit. Retrieved from http://www.education.ne.gov/forlg/elementary/cinderella.pdf
Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.
Martin, R. (1992). The rough face girl. New York, NY: PaperStar Book.
The Rough Face Girl literary project. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=the%20rough%20faced%20girl%20activities&source=web&cd=7&sqi=2&ved=0CGAQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mssunana.com%2Fuploads%2F5%2F8%2F3%2F4%2F5834463%2Flfu_-_rfg.docx&ei=bJUOUcrAEIn2qQH12YGoAw&usg=AFQjCNEKXIFuiRKRTUJhbLwniNidD3MX3w
1 comments:
Think about the sisters in the story. What do you think happened to the two cruel sisters. Write a story about what you think happened to them.
While you read the story, make a list of some housing Native Americans lived in and describe it. Then describe the clothing the Native Americans in the story wore. Go to the Iroquois Indian web site and to the Woodland Indian web site to see what these Native American tribes actually lived in and how they dressed. Finally, print out the chart, and write what is the same in one column and what is different in the other column.
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