This is a guest post by Susan Paul, who will be contributing a series of posts over the next few months. If you like what you see here, check back frequently for more posts from here and  click here to read her blog, The Fun Factory .  Cl ick here to see her other posts on our blog!

We   love    fairy tales! I mean, we   LOVE    fairy tales!!

In the last few years, the teaching of fairy tales and nursery rhymes in the public school systems has gone by the wayside . However, current research is urging teachers to bring them back into the curriculum.

Experts agree that nursery rhymes are great for teaching rhyme, rhythm, and repetition.  Fairy tales teach story elements such as setting, characters, problem-solution and beginning, middle and end (to name a few).

We use fairy tales with pre-kindergarten all the way through third grades.   We use fairy tales to teach reading comprehension, math, and almost every skill you can think of! This becomes super easy when using books from   the   Story World   series !

Since my “freebie” is about   Cinderella , I will use   Cinderella   as an example. First, read  Cinderella .   (By the way, the illustrations are adorable!) Then link the story to the real world by using the accompanying   Real World series  books , which include  Let’s Dance , What’s the Time?    and   Why Do We Wear Shoes?

At the bottom of the page, you can download a freebie that I have used for first-, second-, and third-grade students. Below is a sample page from the packet:

Enjoy and have a great summer break!

Susan

Susan Paul is an Early Childhood Specialist from Houston, Texas. Susan has taught more years than she is willing to admit, all in prekindergarten through second grade. Her passion is in pre-K but she has the most years in second grade. Susan loves dressing up as different book characters and has written a book. The book is a collection of songs she has written over the last twenty-five years to help teach skills and transitions. Visit Susan at  her Facebook page ,  blog ,  and  on Teachers Pay Teachers  for more great teaching ideas .

For more information about the  Real World series shown in this post, click here to visit our website , or click the image on the left below to download a series information sheet with key features. To download the freebie, click the image to the right.