Teaching Round: The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush and the literary elements of a folktale
Carolyn Glynn
3rd Grade Jacob Hiatt Magnet School
November 12, 2013
Background:
This lesson is the third of six in my Ways of Knowing: Humanities unit. The Focus of this unit has
been on discovering and identifying the five literacy elements of a folktale (problem, solution, magic,
moral, and cultural element). In the previous lessons we have read The Legend of the Hummingbird and
The Seven Chinese Brothers. We used these books to compare and contrast fables and folktales, which
the students recently studied. Through grand conversations about these folktales, the students gained
the foundation of what the five elements of a folktale are.
In today’s lesson we will continue to work on identifying the five elements in the folktale, The
Legend of the Indian Paintbrush. I will be using best practice instruction as I draw on student prior
knowledge in cross curricular topics, such as their Social Studies unit on the Wampanoag Native
American Tribe, to help them understand tribes and possible cultural elements in this folktale. I will also
be drawing on student’s prior knowledge from our two previous lessons and the folktales read during
them (Zemelman, Daniels, Hyde). Students will work collaboratively with the teacher and with their
peers through dialogue to interpret the text (Peterson and Eeds). Students have shown difficulty in
identifying the cultural elements and the moral of the story, which are the two elements I wish to clarify
during this lesson. The students have discovered that there can be multiple morals of a story, as long as
they provide evidence to support their moral. While discussing the moral of the story, I would like
students to provide evidence from the text to support their thinking.
Focus of the Learning Activity:
The learning activities in this lesson focus on supporting the students in their ability to identify the
elements of a specific folktale. We will review the five elements at the start of the lesson and what they
mean. We will discuss Native Americans and find Wyoming on the map, allowing students to gain
cultural awareness before the folktale is read. The students will then listen to The Legend of the Indian
Paintbrush read aloud while thinking about and listening for evidence of the five elements. The students
will then work in small groups to complete a graphic organizer identifying the problem, solution, magic,
moral, and cultural element in the story. The students will have access to the book, allowing them to
refer back to text, which is currently a skill they are working on.
Learning Centered Goals:
 Students will be able name the five literary elements of a folktale
 Students will be able to identify the elements of a specific folktale, The Legend of the Indian
Paintbrush
 Students will provide evidence from the text to support the moral of the story.
 Students will work collaboratively and efficiently in a small group of their peers
Practice Centered Goals:
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Transition the class effectively and efficiently between activities
Provide clear instruction to students when explaining new activity
Effectively group students together providing a range of types of learners within each group
Hold students accountable for providing evidence to support the moral
Round Inquiry:
1) Do you see evidence of student understanding of the cultural element of the folktale? Please
provide examples.
2) Does the teacher use effective classroom management techniques to have control over
behavior, the discussion, and group work?
3) Does the teacher provide clear directions for the group activity? Does the teacher explain the
expectations of the work and the behavior during group work?
4) Do the students provide evidence from the text to support the moral?
5) Are the students working well together? (no fighting/arguing, everyone is participating, and
groups mates are listening to everyone’s thoughts)