Enchanted by Ella Enchanted!

I prepared myself for a cute, sweet fantasy story when I began Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine. This is precisely what I encountered for the first half of the book. I couldn’t quite understand why it had received a Newberry Honor. I could readily see why teenage girls would enjoy this book, and certainly that it would translate very well into a romantic comedy aimed at the preteen set.

However, understanding came crashing over me, and I felt such a fool! Of COURSE! It’s a Cinderella tale! This realization did not hit until page 152, when Ella (CinderElla) and Char (Prince Charming) found the glass slippers. Suddenly, I understood. The father . . . the stepmother and two stepsisters . . . a servant in her own home. Oh, what a delicious retelling of this old tale! My next task is to return to this book when I have some additional time (or need to procrastinate a bit) and, with the benefit of hindsight, reread the book and find those clues that I so obtusely missed on the first reading.

As soon as I made the connection, I couldn’t put the book down. I blame a late night and a painful early morning on this lovely book. If only I’d caught on at the beginning, at the first mention of a girl named Ella and her mysterious fairy godmother!

The book is well written. As with Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, perspective is put to excellent use, particularly in the description of the giants’ wedding (p 120.) I had amusing images of a dark haired girl, with pieces of food the size of her entire face, a napkin more like a table-cloth which barely reached the waist of most of the guests.

I do wonder about the selection of “Lucinda” for the name of the misguided fairy godmother. Perhaps I am reading too much into it, perhaps Ms. Levine liked the name, or perhaps there is some basis for it in one of the traditional tellings of which I’m unaware, but why name such an unenlightened creature as Lucinda, a name based upon light? Symbolically, light means inner wisdom, and the names Lucy, Lucinda, Lucille and so on are all monikers which allude to this lingual origin. I’ll need to think more about this. I was disappointed, too, in the portrayal of Centaurs in this book. Perhaps I am too strongly swayed by my recent reading (and rereading) of the Harry Potter series, but I prefer to think of Centaurs as the strong, silent type, not the silent, empty-headed sort.

I think this story could be used effectively in 4th through 8th grades. Younger than that, al-hough it would make a lovely end-of-day read aloud, the sounds of gagging would overwhelm the parts in which Char and Ella each confess their love; this is highly dependent upon the preferences and personalities of the readers. Interactive read-alouds of Cinderella tales, traditional, modern and "twisted," could surround and accompany this book: Native American, Central American, Egyptian, Indian, various African, and retellings such as Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Slipper-Gold-Sandal-Cinderella/dp/080507953X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195443378&sr=1-1 . Or, students could direct the selection of these books by using a webquest, such as http://wneo.org/WebQuests/TeacherWebQuests/Cinderella/The_Cinderella_Project.htm . Students could write their own stories during creative writing that retell the story of one of the other characters in Cinderella, or perhaps another traditional fairytale of their choosing. An excellent resource of traditional fairytales would be The Illustrated Book of Fairytales (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/078942794X ) for such an exercise.

I must admit, even though I’ve been warned that the movie is terrible, Ella Enchanted is now at the top of my Netflix cue. I can’t help it. I know I’ll be disappointed, but I can’t resist the thought that, perhaps, just maybe, some element of the clever, witty and delightful book will translate to the big screen.

A Recommendation

Please note:
When practicing with a new video-recorder, it is generally unwise to operate the video camera while walking backwards in a hallway which hasn't been tidied in a few weeks. One might, just might, end up falling head over heels into a half-filled bin of winter clothes, pulling down a shelf of junk waiting to be put away, which might, just might, fall on your head. It is entirely possible that such an event might, just might, leave incredible, technicolor bruising in locations prime for kicking by small feet in the middle of the night when one's children climb into bed with one. Further, one's husband might, just might, be doubled over with laughter rather than leaping gallantly to one's aid.
This might, just might, happen to you.
Don't ask me how I learned this.

Ratatouille -- The Rats of NIMH, part deux?

Last night I hit upon one of those marvelous coincidences that make life fun. Could Ratatouille http://www.ratatouillemovie.net/ be one of the legendary Rats of NIMH? Think about it! Here is a remarkable rat, able to converse with humans, a rodent of impeccable taste, with a highly developed sense of smell and the ability to create culinary masterpieces. Surely such a critter would be able to find his way from a lab in the United States to a sewer in France! Perhaps he suffered amnesia due to a traumatic injury along the way, thus forgetting his origin, was adopted by a kindly family of rats, and eventually, through his superior intellect and long life, found his niche within a kitchen of French haut-cuisine! Could this be the lost Jenner, mellowed thanks to an assumed brain injury induced amnesia?

In any case, students who have seen this fun movie may well draw movie-to-text connections between the rats described as thieves and scavengers in both media. Perhaps here is another fun extention activity: Reading Journal Directions -- Please write the story of Jenner's journey after being stunned by the electrocution, escaping from the hardware store mere moments before being discovered by humans, across the Atlantic and into the sewers of France.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

As I write tonight, I am thinking of how intense it is to be a mother. I hear Fiona upstairs, coughing her little heart out -- well, probably "lungs out" would be a more apt phrase -- and wishing I could really make her well with a kiss and a sing-song chant of "All better!" I'm typing with one hand because the other arm is kept immobile with the delightful weight of Anneliese's soft, curly, slightly sweaty wee head. I don't think I've ever seen anything so beautiful as her sweet, sleeping form right here by my side. But then, I say that about both my girls -- their smiles, laughs, snores and sniffles included!

When reading Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH for Dr. Johnson's Elementary Reading / Language Arts C&I class, I came across a sticky left in the book by a former student. On page 47, next to a pen-and-ink drawing of Mrs. Frisby trembling with fear as she talks with the great, hulking crow, this student has written "COURAGE -- knows she has to do what is necessary." I thought when I saw that, "Well, DUH! She's a mother! A mother will do anything for her children, even if that means confconting her deepest fears or laying her very life down for them. Courage, my foot, that's motherhood!"

And, speaking of motherhood, my one typing hand is about to give out and I must draw this to a close. I think, perhaps, I will repeat here what I wrote in my reading journal about Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O'Brien (thank goodness for cut-and-paste!)

_____________________________________________________

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH tells the story of an unusual group of mice, shrews, birds and rats, and a rather usual cat by the name of Dragon. These rodents are not remarkable simply for their human qualities – speaking English, reading, writing and operating heavy machinery to name a few – but also for the history of the rats. The rats are escaped lab-rats, accelerated in intellect, slowed in aging and launched forward up the ladder of social evolution by the studies of three scientists, Dr. Schultz, George and Julia.

In short, the rats have escaped from the laboratory several years prior to the start of the book in the company of two similarly altered mice and eventually built for themselves a civilized – if seemingly useless – life. This led to unrest within the community and a desire to return to the human “simple life” of living off the land. The alternatives are either continuing to live by stealing from the farmer and his family while dodging the stalking Dragon, or a return to their pre-laboratory lives of living in sewers and dining on less-than-delectable refuse. A small band of rats rejected the Plan and ran off to continue their lives of useless ease, but are accidently electrocuted to death while attempting to purloin a motor from a local hardware store. This accelerates the execution of the Plan for the remaining rat population. As the Plan was underway, my palms were bathed in sweat with the excitement and tension of a well-told story!

All of the above, however, is both a side-story to the supposed central problem of moving the widow of one of the escaped mice, Mrs. Frisby, and her children to a newer, safer location and a story-within-the-story and by far the more exciting of the two. Mrs. Frisby, it turns out, is the widow of one of the two escaped lab mice. The rats move her home in kindness and remembrance of her husband. At end of the book, she tells her children of their heroic father, the story of the rats’ escape and the Plan. However, the reader never learns if the Plan has been a success and, indeed, which of the rats lost their lives in its execution. (I must admit to a cry of “What?! I want to know what happened to the rats!!!” upon finishing the book!)

The book, beyond simply an enjoyable read, is filled with teachable moments which could be selectively employed to great success or, alternatively, used in their entirety to beat the children over the head and kill any possible enjoyment they might find in its pages. Approximately the first third of the book could be an excellent study in perspective, as the author skillfully blends the fantastic – talking mice – with the every day – a home with a comfy living room, beds and blankets. The reader comes to view a cinderblock as a comfy home, a farmer’s plough from a mouse’s point of view and the farm and its surrounds through the eyes of a small mouse as well as those of a perceptive owl. An excellent extension activity would be to take the students to a field, playground or park and ask them to write their observations from the perspective of a mouse, bird, worm, or other slithering, crawling or bounding critter. One could preface this assignment utilizing GoogleEarth and zooming into, for example, the Rio Grande, then panning further and further out until it bears the resemblance of a snake, as seen by Mrs. Frisby from the back of a helpful crow.

Cross-curricular content may also be found. For example, if a high-level group of 4th grade readers were to explore the text describing the toys on page 166, a short distance into chapter “Thorn Valley,” and the scene in which Mrs. Frisby’s home is moved, p. 204, near the end of the chapter “Escape,” this would be an excellent opportunity for students to identify potential and used simple machines. This is included in the third grade SOLs and would be a timely review. Further, since electricity is included in the 4th grade SOLs, this could be noted in the rats’ use of this tool and read in tandem with the electricity unit in Science or serve as a review for 5th graders. In any grade-level, the proper execution of scientific experiments can be reviewed, particularly the importance of independent variables, as described by the experiment undertaken with the rats.

Social awareness could also be fostered through various discussions. On pages 159-161, near the beginning of the chapter “The Toy Tinker,” the rats discover human books which discuss rats, human hatred for the wee beasties, and their place in evolutionary history. What might it feel like to be so reviled? What would it feel like to be a rat? What would it feel like to be running free and happy as, well, a rat in refuse, one moment, and then caged the next? Even if one is treated relatively “well,” what does it do to a person – er, rat – when basic human – er, rodent – freedom is lost? To what lengths will one go to regain this basic dignity? Hmmmm, can you think of a parallel?

I must say that I really enjoyed this book! I can’t believe that I’d neither read it nor seen the movie before. I think I’d probably use this from a high-level 4th grade reading group up to about middle school. There are also quite a few on-line resources for using this book in the classroom. I liked the ideas I found on this website particularly well: http://www.literatureplace.com/bookfolios/bookfolio.asp?BookfolioID=75#Read-aloud%20Recommendation
1. In and Out of Character (Analyzing character behavior)
2. Mrs. Frisby: A Real Heroine (Defining a heroine)
3. Another Epilogue (Creating an epilogue)
4. A Birds-eye View (Drawing a setting)
5. The Nature of Rats (Researching rat behavior) -- defending the rat!
6. A Plan of Action (Planning a garden)

It Ain't Easy Being Green

Kermie!
Yes, Kermit the Frog. Dear ol' Kermie.
Who knew that frogs were such interesting little critters?
Last Spring I created a lesson plan and (in retrospect a rather rudimentary) Powerpoint presentation on frogs to teach in my Cooperating Teacher's 2nd grade class at Matthew Whaley Elementary School. It was a fun lesson and went well. The students enjoyed it and learned quite a bit . . . as did I.

I knew that I wanted to return to it, tweak it, and include it in my E-folio for use in my job search. Well, that hour came today when I took the opportunity to polish it for submission in my Educational Technology class and eventual inclusion in the E-foilio. I say that the "hour" came today, but that should really read hours . . . day . . . It was a full day of completely redoing the lesson, reformatting it and building the Powerpoint from the ground up. I'm sure that it will be undergoing further revision, but for now I'm rather pleased with it.
Now I'm tired, but it's a satisfying kind of tired. The kind of tired in which I can pour a glass of wine, curl up with my girls and a good movie, dog at my feet and dear husband by my side.
Oh, no, wait, I still have several hours' worth of homework to finish first. Ah well, a girl can dream.

In any case, here it is!
Lesson Plan: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc4m2pdw_075tx7t
Powerpoint: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc4m2pdw_38dpjwwn
Life cycle cards: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc4m2pdw_35j6ng8

P.S. Oh heartbreak! I discovered now that when I uploaded my Powerpoint to Google documents, the links went haywire. Well, I'll have to leave it for now and mess with it later. I still have 2 lesson plans and a conference summary to write, a test to study for, and I must get home to my family! Suffice to say that when one clicks on the picture of a frog, one is taken to a sound file of the frog's vocalization; when one clicks on the name of the frog, one is taken to a website with information about the frog. There is also a link to a video of poison dart frogs (thank you, National Geographic!)