Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Once Upon a Time...


Once upon a time, a three year old little red haired girl sat on her mother's lap, staring at a black and white television. She was captivated by the music and mesmerized by the action of the 1965, made for television, Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. Her mother says that she hardly moved for two whole hours.

That little girl was me, and I still find myself singing, "In my own little corner in my own little room, I can be whatever I want to be..." and truth be told, dancing around the room with a broom in hand. Thirty-two years later in 1997, I was just as captivated by the re-make staring Brandi as Cinderella. The colorful costumes and sets were amazing and even now it would still be my go to comfort movie. (along with Mary Poppins and The Wizard of Oz... what can I say, I'm a kid at heart)

So far this year at Home School Connection, we have taken a closer look at several fairy tales. We've looked at Snow White and did a science experiment "poisoning apples" with bleach and rubbing alcohol. We've read Little Red Riding Hood and done projects ranging from using balloons to see how far a stomach can stretch to making puppets, maps of the forest and rewriting the story changing an element. We read my grandmother's 1941 edition of The Three Little Pigs and have seen the old Disney Silly Symphony, animated in the early 1930's. We have read The Three Pigs and the Scientific Wolf and learned all about simple machines. We've designed our own wolf catching machines and have compared and contrasted real wolves with fairy tale wolves.

Cinderella is next. There are so many ways to go and I have many fun activities planned. We will look at the original story and compare it to the many Cinderella stories from all over the world. I have some science experiments in mind. One looks at ashes and cinders and the chemistry of how things burn. Another takes a close look at pumpkins and their seeds. There are also a couple of others that we may not get to. If you are interested in doing any of these or related activities at home, let me know. I would be happy to share ideas!

I would also love to share Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (the 1997 version) with any of the kids who would like to see it. I will plan on showing it on Thursday November 5 from 10:00-12:00 in my classroom. I'll have some popcorn here and you can send a juice box or something else to drink with your children. This will take the place of Brown Bag and Books for that day.

But if your children come home singing, "Impossible, for a plain yellow pumpkin to become a gold carriage, impossible..." I'm sorry. :0)