The Cinderella Story to Your Class
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● ● ● ● ● STUDY GUIDE TO PRODUCTION & ACTIVITIES Introduction Rooted in the belief that the arts are basic to many aspects of education, Pushcart Players is delighted to present “Happily Ever After,” based on the classic tale, “Cinderella.” Pushcart was drawn to this enduring story for many reasons: Its origins are informed by the universal longing to overcome adversity. Certainly it speaks to all of us who have a vision or a dream yet to be fulfilled. And, we never grow tired of its central themes of goodness, generosity and compassion. But perhaps of greatest importance in today’s world of growing up, it provides a pathway for discussion and significant learning opportunities about Bullying Behav - ior – a topic of increasing concern in schools throughout the country. Toward this end we are coupling our presentation of “Happily…” with the book, “Banishing Bullying Behavior” by SuEllen Fried and Blanche Sos - land, PhD, as a resource in the classroom; and have included a section of discussion and activities on Bullying Behavior prepared by Blanche Sosland in this Study Guide. This Study Guide is designed to assist teachers, parents and group leaders in preparing students for the presentation. It also offers suggestions for discussion, art and values tie-in activities following the program. It is our hope that the material suggested in this guide will be tailored to the age and interests of your students and presented in a nurturing and supportive classroom, recreation or home setting. www.pushcartplayers.org•261BloomfieldAvenue,Verona,NJ07044•973-857-1115 TheRootsAgency•www.therootsagency.com•717-227-0060 Happily Ever After - A Cinderella Tale BookandLyricsbyRuthFost MusicbyLarryHochmanandLaurieHochman Summary This production begins with a spoken Prologue set to music that provides an overview of the characters and events that come together to form the Cinderella tale. The story itself begins with Cinderella at a breaking point, suffering from the verbal abuse and demands of her stepmother and stepsister. Exhausted and over - whelmed, we see her sobbing quietly. Her barnyard friends hear her and quickly come in to help her. The play moves forward in song and story following the classic sequence in the following scenes and musical numbers: • Ella becomes Cinder-ella, working day and night to serve the needs of her Stepfamily • Announcement of A Ball at the Palace for the Prince to find a Bride • The Step Sister and Stepmother prepare and then leave for The Ball • A Godmother appears, Cinderella is magically transformed and goes to the Ball. • Cinderella dazzles everyone, especially the Prince, at the Ball • The clock strikes 12 and Cinderella runs home. All is as it was before. • The Prince finds a glass slipper and is determined to find the person who wore it. • The slipper is tried on many maidens, but it fits none, until Cinderella comes forward. • Justice triumphs and dreams come true. Cinderella leaves for the Palace with the Prince. • Epilogue – also spoken to a musical underscore, this segment tells of what happened after Cinderella is escorted to the Palace to become the Bride of the Prince. • Finale - The Epilogue segues to a Finale that celebrates the story and the concept of reaching for a Happily Ever After conclusion. 2 TRANSFORMINGTHECULTUREOFPEER/SIBLINGABUSE This section of the Study Guide has been prepared by Blanche Sosland Ph.D., co-author of the book, “BanishingBullyingBehavior,” by SuEllen Fried and Blanche Sosland, published by Rowman & Littlefield Education, a division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. For orders and information call 1-800-462- 6420 or visit their website at www.rowmaneducation.com We are recommending coupling the presentation of “Happily Ever After… A Cinderella Tale” with use of the book, “BanishingBullyingBehavior” by teachers and parents to maximize and enhance your school’s anti-bullying program. There is growing recognition that the serious problem of sibling abuse/bullying has been overlooked far too long. With the rise in the number of blended families, the bullying of step-brothers and step-sisters is also increasing. Each year siblings abuse 19 million children in their own homes. Nearly 2 million children use weapons as a means of resolving a physical problem with a sibling. Siblings commit 10 percent of the murders in the American family. These staggering statistics underscore the critical need to address this significant problem. Students who are bullied at home by either parents and/or siblings conduct much of the peer abuse that occurs at school. Many state legislatures have mandated anti-bullying programs. “HappilyEverAfter–ACinderellaTale” offers an excellent opportunity to re-enforce the anti-bullying program at your school. Here are some discussion points and activity suggestions to help you get started. All discussion points should be open ended. Discussiontopics Review the five types of bullying* : 1. Physical – punching, shoving, choking, tripping etc. 2. Verbal – name-calling, put downs, threatening, cursing etc. 3. Emotional – psychological and non-verbal, can be effected by physical and verbal. 4. Sexual - inappropriate touching and sexual harassment 5. Cyberbullying – Should lead to an interesting discussion contrasting the effects of the traditional types of bullying in “Happily Ever After” and the devastating effects of the 21st century cyber bullying. • Discuss which of these types of bullying played out in “Happily Ever After” . Example: how was the scene in which Griselda was bullying Ella to give her the precious necklace from her mother an example of both physical and emotional bullying? Note: Until recent years, when students were asked which type of bullying they found worse, school or sibling, they usually responded that sibling bullying was worse because they could not get away from it. But now cyber bullying follows them home, as well. • Discuss what students can do to transform the culture of peer/sibling abuse to create an environment of kindness in their classroom. Encourage each student to participate and contribute ideas. • Evaluate classroom rules to see if they include anti-bullying concepts such as kindness, respect and creating a community of learners. • Discuss the roles of bullies, targets and witnesses. • Discuss the difference between reporting and tattling (i.e. reporting is getting someone out of trouble and tattling is getting someone into trouble). • Discuss the importance of reporting bullying to a trusted adult. 3 Activities Roleplaying – divide the class into groups representing different types of families, traditional, blended with different numbers of children per family. Have students enact a sibling-bullying situation and then have the class discuss it. MultipleIntelligenceTreasureHunt — Use the Internet to find a Multiple Intelligences Inventory** appropriate for your class. Administer the MI Inventory and use the information for student participa - tion in activities in their strongest intelligences . For example you might do a MI Treasure Hunt in which students are given a list of Howard Gardner’s first seven Multiple Intelligences. They act out each one to a fellow student who then signs off for the student as the item is completed. Example: Tom might perform the task for Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence for Jon, Jon would then sign off on Tom’s sheet and then Jon might perform for Tom and Tom would sign off on Jon’s sheet. Then both students would move on to other classmates to continue performing each of the other tasks. ExamplesofMultipleIntelligenceUsage: Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence: recite one of your favorite lines from the play. Mathematical/Logical Intelligence : calculate how long Ella was at the Ball. Musical Intelligence: hum or sing a few lines from your favorite song in the play. Kinesthetic Intelligence: do a few waltz dance steps or mime Ella doing her chores. Spatial Intelligence: draw a picture of your favorite stage set/scene in the play. Interpersonal Intelligence: briefly discuss a bullying episode in the play with a classmate or group of class - mates. Intrapersonal Intelligence: Reflect on the sibling bullying in the play and then discuss with a classmate or small group of classmates. TraditionalTreasureHunt - Include items like Ella’s glass slipper, Ella’s mother’s necklace, a pumpkin. Stop–Look–Listen - Encourage students to STOP when they are thinking unkind thoughts – LOOK in the mirror at the back of the room and ask themselves whether they should really do what they are considering– LISTEN to their inner voice telling them to do the right thing. * A more detailed description and discussion of the five types bullying can be found in BanishingBullying Behavior:TransformingtheCultureofPeerAbuse on pages 36-42. * * in his Theory of Multiple Intelligences Howard Gardner viewed intelligence as “the capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural settings” in contrast to the belief that intelligence was a single entity that was inherited. There exist a multitude of each intelligences quite independent of each other: that intelligence has its own strengths and constraints. TheCinderellaStory Read a simple, classic version of the Cinderella story to your class. Or present an old fashioned oral telling of the tale with group participation. At various intervals, ask “who knows what happened next?” Build the story through the additions supplied by students. Following is a quick version of Pushcart Players’ telling of the story: “Once Upon A Time…. There lived a young girl whose name was Ella. She was a happy child and loved most everything and everyone around her. But sadly, her mother died when she was still quite young and after a short time, her father re-married. He was away from home much of the time and her new stepmother and stepsister were mean and bossy. Ella tried as hard as she could to please them, but they were jealous of her sweetness and beauty and the harder she tried the more they demanded of her. Because she spent so much of her time cleaning, cooking and tending to the fire, she soon became covered with cinders and ashes.