Share: Fairy Tale Museum

[Sherri Frieze Kilby <kilby@VNET.NET>]

I thought I'd tell you how the Fairy Tale Museum turned out.

I did this with 3rd graders.
After several weeks of reading and discussing different fairy tales during
library visits, the students picked a character they wanted to dress up
like.  (During this time, they checked out fairy tales everyday and read as
many as they could at home. )For one class time near the end of the unit,
we brainstormed things that reminded us of each fairy tale using the
Thinking Map called a circle map. (We chose 9 to work on--the number of
tables I have in my media center.)  Then the students started bringing me
objects: basket for little red riding hood, crowns, giant yellow plastic egg
for Jack and the Beanstalk's golden egg, beans, 3 bowls in different sizes,
a brick, straw, glass slipper...
During the session when we were brainstorming, the students volunteered to
bring things and I wrote it on  a paper for them to remember. After this was
done, for the remainder of the time, they worked on a sign for each fairy
tale.

On the day of the Fairy Tale Museum, I arranged tables with the circle maps,
signs and objects brought in. I also stood the fairy tale book up on the
table.  The students came in dressed up, and stood behind their table.  I
had made masks and Burger King crowns for the characters but next year the
art teacher has agreed to let the kids make their own masks and crowns
during art.  The other grade levels came and walked through the museum.  I
played classical music as they came through.
The event turned out better than I expected.  The students had a ball.  When
it was over, the 3rd graders went back to their classrooms and wrote about
the experience.  Many of them said thank you to me in their writing and said
it was the best day of their lives and that they would always remember that
day!
The teachers were very complimentary, and the older students were heard
saying, "That's not fair, we didn't get to do this."  Since this is my first
year as the media coordinator and I am in graduate school, many of the
teachers thought I did this for  a class requirement.  The look on their
faces was funny when I told them, "No, it was for motivating children to
read and to create an experience related to reading that they would enjoy."

Sherri Kilby/NBCT
media specialist
Royal Oaks Elementary
Kannapolis, NC 28083
Kilby@vnet.net

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