Bugged out Eyes – Traditional Literature? That’s in CCSS?

My eyes BUGGED out when I read, ” CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.9
Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures. ”

No faster way to SCARE teacher in their boots….albeit a first year upper elementary teacher at that!

If you are there – let me help and show you what I know!

What is Traditional Literature genre?

Traditional Literature (Folktales) is a genre of stories handed down from one generation to the next.

There are 5 main categories of Traditional Literature when are important to differentiate from:

• Fables- short story with talking animals
• Legends– connection to a real person but mixes fact and fiction information
• Tall Tales– exaggeration
• Fairy Tales – imagination/magic
• Myths – explains something about the world

How to Make a Traditional Literature Anchor chart

A Traditional Literature anchor chart including common themes of each category can be a powerful tool.

This lets students see the different characteristics easily and can be made together when students are exploring each category.

My class worked through their tab books for a week exploring one category each day and filling in our chart with information that we learned.

We loved this QR Traditional Literature Tab Book because it was easy for students to explore on their own or do together as a class if we listened to the story together.

This also made a great reference guide for later in the year when we needed to refer back to different genres before testing season.

This activity is one that we research for traditional literature and take over a week to really look critically at these types of fables in literature that we know!