This week's topic is Folktales and Fairy tales. Folktales are stories that grew out of the lives and imaginations of the people, or folk. It is a tale circulated by word of mouth, of the common folk. Fairy tales differ from folk tales because they contain magical characters or fairies. The children's book that I chose for this weeks post is a folktale.. sort of. The book is Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter.
Title: Follow the Drinking Gourd
Author: Jeanette Winter
ISBN: 0-679-81997-5
The book Follow the Drinking Gourd is based on a simple folk song. The folk song Follow the Drinking Gourd was first published in 1928 and was supposedly used as a code for escape directions through the Underground Railroad. The Drinking Gourd is used as a code name for the Big Dipper star formation, which points North, the direction the slaves needed to head. In this book, Jeanette Winter creates a story based on the song about one brave family who followed the drinking gourd (big dipper) to freedom.
I was first exposed to this book during my student teaching. Each week, one of the retired teachers would come in and sing songs with the students using his guitar, and they kept asking for him to sing "Follow the Drinking Gourd". The students had read the story the year before and really enjoyed singing the song that is in the back of the book. The students learned many things just through reading the book and singing the song. The book offers great insight into history and traditions. I hope you enjoy!
Author: Jeanette Winter
ISBN: 0-679-81997-5
The book Follow the Drinking Gourd is based on a simple folk song. The folk song Follow the Drinking Gourd was first published in 1928 and was supposedly used as a code for escape directions through the Underground Railroad. The Drinking Gourd is used as a code name for the Big Dipper star formation, which points North, the direction the slaves needed to head. In this book, Jeanette Winter creates a story based on the song about one brave family who followed the drinking gourd (big dipper) to freedom.
I was first exposed to this book during my student teaching. Each week, one of the retired teachers would come in and sing songs with the students using his guitar, and they kept asking for him to sing "Follow the Drinking Gourd". The students had read the story the year before and really enjoyed singing the song that is in the back of the book. The students learned many things just through reading the book and singing the song. The book offers great insight into history and traditions. I hope you enjoy!
Amanda-
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your blog very much. I love how you shared your own positive experience with this book. I'm sure the children enjoyed singing the song very much--I know I would! I also like how you managed to tie Social Studies (the "forgotten" subject) into literature. I think that's such a great idea, especially since many schools tend to ignore social studies. I will be sure to pick this up for my library :)
-Nicole
This story definitely seems like it would be great to use for a social studies lesson. I like that you chose a book that is not a typical fairytale story. It allows people to see the different aspects of folk and fairytale stories. I enjoy stories that have a song to go with it. It brings more excitement and realistic characteristics to the classroom. I am glad to see that the students you were teaching enjoyed it as well. Keeping the classroom vibrant and fun for all students keeps a good class flow!
ReplyDelete