Comparing Cinderella Stories

I love using classic stories like Cinderella in a new way when I teach. This past week in my 4th grade class we discussed compare and contrast with fictional stories. The class read Rough Faced Girl by Rafe Martin and Smoky Mountain Rose by Alan Schroeder. After reading each book we discussed the setting and how the location affected the story. (Smoky Mountain Rose is written in a very heavy Appalachian Mountain dialect.) 

We created a character trait list for each of the main characters. Then, the students completed a story map for each story and discussed how the stories were different from each other and the original Cinderella.

Instead of a Venn Diagram worksheet we created Venn Diagrams out of paper plates. The students loved this and it looks much better than a worksheet. :) 

The students also wrote a paragraph comparing and contrasting the two stories. The students used a worksheet with a list of words for comparing and contrasting: Words Used to Compare and Contrast.