Overview and Outcomes:

This three-week Writing Root begins with the discovery of a bottle that contains a map and a message. After interrogating the scenario presented and writing a short news report using the present perfect tense, the children then share the first part of Cinderella of the Nile. They develop skills of inference before exploring the author’s use of literary language and the effect that this has on the reader. Suffix fixers are used to investigate abstract nouns which are then used to create an emotions graph before being woven in to a diary entry in role that also draws upon literary language from a previous session. Once the story has been read, the children sort statements about traditional Cinderella tales and statements about this version onto a Venn diagram and then go on to devise their own version of a Cinderella story complete with fable!

Synopsis of Text

In this earliest-known version of Cinderella, a rosy-cheeked girl called Rhodopis is abducted by bandits from her home in Greece and enslaved in Egypt. Along the way she becomes friends with the storyteller Aesop and a host of playful animals. Her master gives her a pair of beautiful rose-red slippers, making three other servants jealous. But when Horus, the falcon, sweeps in to steal her slipper, Rhodopis has little idea that this act will lead her to the King of Egypt...

Text Rationale:

Re-told by award winning and influential children’s author Beverley Naidoo, this version of Cinderella supports learning around traditional tales. With clear links to ancient Greece and ancient Egypt, children will discover how one story can have many iterations around the world and throughout history.  Alongside historical themes, the book could be used as a platform for discussions around human rights, enslavement and justice.

Links and themes:

Traditional tales, ancient Egypt, Aesop, justice, human rights

Date written: November 2020