Sculptural Headdress

In class, we read Cinderella and The Rough-Face Girl.  Cinderella was the traditional Disney story with Cinderella, the god-mother, the prince, the evil step-mother, and evil step-sisters.  The Rough-Face Girl was similar to the story line of Cinderella with some exceptions.  This book was a Native American version of the story with the introduction of the invisible man instead of a prince and other minor differences.
When we were asked to make headdresses that were related to the stories we just read, I immediately wanted to do something along the line of the The Rough-Face Girl story.  My first thought was to create something that involved nature and wildlife.  Native Americans are strongly connected with Mother earth and animals, so I believed that flowers would be a good representation of this.  I also decided to use bright colors to represent how the "Rough-Face" girl transformed into a beautiful girl.  I decided to add grass to the background of the flowers as well.  I finished the headdress with the addition of braids and feathers, which made it look like it had more of a connection with the book.
I strongly believe that this is a positive teaching lesson to use in a second grade classroom.  This lesson allows children to think critically and reflect on details that were discussed in class about the fairy tale.  I would read my students a couple of fairy tales, which apply to both genders and different cultures.  After the reading of the books, I would open up the class to a discussion on the differences and similarities among the stories.  After the discussion, I will ask the students to make a headdress or hat about their favorite fairy tale that we read.  I would ask the students to include major themes from the fairy tale to help distinguish what book they did their headdresses on.  I would then allow each student to share their headdress in front of the class.

California Content Standards:
Key Ideas and Details- #1 and 2
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas- #7 and 9