Lesson Plan

Cinderella Skeleton Discussion Guide

Robert San Souci retells the Cinderella story with a twist in his book Cinderella Skeleton. Readers will experience a fractured fairy tale, practice their prediction skills, and be introduced to a book-length poem.

By Rebecca Gomez
  • Grades: PreK–K, 1–2

About this book

Grade Level Equivalent: 4.2
Lexile Measure:
Guided Reading Level: P
Age: Age 6, Age 7, Age 5
Genre: Fables, Folk Tales and Myths, General Fiction, Poetry and Rhymes
Subject: Magic and Supernatural, Blended Families, Halloween

Overview

Book Summary
In a just slightly-spooky tone that kids are sure to love, award-winning author Robert San Souci retells the Cinderella story with a twist. Cinderella Skeleton stars a skeleton in the title role. Just how this Cinderella gets to the ball and what she does once she gets there, make a favorite fairy tale fresh — just in time for Halloween.

Objective

Readers will experience a fractured fairy tale, practice their prediction skills, and be introduced to a book-length poem.

Standards:

  • Students will make predictions about what will be found in the text
  • Students will produce a response to literature

Before Reading 

Predictions
Take advantage of the fact that nearly every child is familiar with the story of Cinderella by encouraging each child to make predictions.

  1. Talk about the original "Cinderella." If necessary, review the basic plot with your class.
  2. Based on that plot and this book's title, ask students to guess what might happen in Cinderella Skeleton. Be as specific as possible: Who will be her fairy godmother? Who or what will be her coachmen? Where will the ball be held?
  3. Record each child's predictions as a class or have them each make their own list.
  4. Talk about the various possibilities that each student comes up with. Are some more likely than others? Why or why not?
  5. Be sure to revisit the predictions once you've read the story.

After Reading

Cinderella Who?
Now that students have seen how one author reinvented a fairy tale, it's their turn to give it a try.

  1. Ask each student to pick a favorite fairy tale.
  2. Encourage each child to be as imaginative as possible in inventing an alternate, or fractured, version of his or her favorite tale.
  3. Depending on the skill level of your class, have each child record their retooled fairy tale in words and/or pictures.
  4. One at a time, have each student share his or her story with the entire class.

Rhythm and Rhyme
Mr. San Souci retells his Cinderella story in the form of a long poem. Allow your students to express themselves in a similar fashion.

  1. Have each student pick a favorite scene from Cinderella Skeleton.
  2. Hold a very brief classroom discussion about the various types of poetry: haiku, sonnets, rhyming verses, etc.
  3. Ask each to retell the favorite scene in a new poem, recording their revised version on a piece of paper.
  4. Or, you may wish to have them choose an incident from their own lives to retell in verse form.
  5. If possible, ask students to illustrate their new poems.

 

Other Books Incorporating Fairy Tales

  • Sootface: An Ojibwa Cinderella Story
    By Robert San Souci
    Robert San Souci's retelling of the classic story with a Native American protagonist.
     
  • Grimm's Fairy Tales
    By the Brothers Grimm
    The classic collection offers fairy tales in their original versions.


Totally fractured fun! The following books by John Scieszka offer hilarious off-kilter takes on popular fairy tales.


Other Books by Robert San Souci

  • Subjects:
    Language Arts, Compare and Contrast, Drawing Conclusions and Making Inferences, Reading Response, Listening and Speaking, Literature Appreciation, Poetry Writing, Early Reading, Early Writing, Halloween
  • Skills:
    Development of Reading Comprehension, Drawing Conclusions, Making Inferences, Public Speaking, Poetry Writing
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