Lesson Title: Fables Beyond Frontiers

Overview: Students in two different parts of the world collaborate to create story book images from famous fables. This project offers student the opportunity to express themselves creatively, and learn about another culture through in-class discussions and communication with their e-mail partners abroad.

Grade Level: Grades 2-5

Author: Christine Kerrigan

Objective: To encourage the development of creativity and cross-cultural understanding.

Time: 4-5 Classroom Sessions

Motivation: Communication with foreign partner.

Materials: Studio materials (paint, pastels, crayons, etc.). Printed copies of the text pages to a well known foreign fable. E-mail/chat software. Optional: slides, digital camera and scanner.

Procedure: [The foreign partnering school is working simultaneously on the same project, but they will be concentrating on an American fable.] 1. Match each student with a foreign student from your partner school. Allow the students an opportunity to correspond with their partner and share information about themselves, their school and their culture. 2. Classroom discussion: Discuss fables (What is a fable? Can you give examples of a fable?, etc.). Present examples of sample illustrations from various fables. Discuss the culture of the country with whom you are partnering, and examine a few of this country's well known fables. 3. Allow each student to choose a page from the text only version of the fable. 4. Students work in class to create images/drawings or collages to represent their page of the fable. 5. Throughout the project, student correspond with their foreign partner via e-mail and discuss their works in progress. Encourage the students to use their partner as a resource for learning about the art and culture of their country. 6. Assemble the images with the corresponding text of the fable. Show your class the actual images of the fable (optional). 7. In order to share the finished project with your partner school, you have a few options: Option 1: If time and resources permit, you can take pictures of the students work with a digital camera and create a web site of your classes' fable. If you do not have a digital camera, you can take pictures and scan them or have them developed on a photo CD. There may be an opportunity to get a group of high school students involved in actually creating your class' web site. Option 2: Make color copies of the individual images and assemble them in a book form to mail to your partner school.

Reflections: When the partner school's book arrives or their web site is complete, view the partner school's students' interpretation of the American fable (allow plenty of time for discussion). Encourage continued communication with the students' foreign partners.

Resources: Fables. Slides/resources about your partner school's country.

Modifications: You may want to concentrate this unit on children's stories instead of fables. Refer to Procedures #7 for technical modifications.

Special Considerations: When you are choosing a foreign partner school, be sure to keep in mind the issues of language barriers. You may find it best to choose a country where English is widely spoken [A few suggestions: England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, Pakistan].