Education World Names Stories to Grow by TOP Site for FolkTales and FolkTale Resources

Check out what they have to say about Whootie Owl & Stories to Grow by here:
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/sites/sites062.shtml

Winter Unit Lesson Plan Part 1: The Theme of Cooperation & Friendship in The Long Winter

Looking for a great story to excite your students about the warmth (Spring!) returning after the cold Winter months, while also reinforcing the theme of Cooperation and Friendship? Would you also like to have some fun in your literary classroom by having the students participate in Reader’s Theater? Then we have the perfect tale for you from Canada, The Long Winter. Offered in both a story and play script version, this is sure to reinforce the importance of working together towards a common goal and excite your students that after the long cold winter months, the heat will return!  

 Cooperation & Friendship: Problem Solving 

with 

The Long Winter

The Long Winter:

A story of the missing heat and the plan to bring it back; a group of animals with varying strengths go in search of the warmth and learn the importance of working together and admiring the differences each friend brings to solve the problem.

A story from Canada, this Native American Folk Tale gives a wonderful explanation of how and why the warmth returns after the cold. We love it to be a Wintery tale, one of Cooperation and Friendship, to spark the discussion with your students on how important it is to creatively work together to achieve a common goal. This story also reinforces the theme of Friendship as many different animals work together and utilize their strengths to help each other succeed.

Teaching The Long Winter:

This story meets Common Core Standards for 1^st -3rd grade and is a wonderful addition to a Unit on Friendship, Problem Solving or Cooperation. You could further the learning with higher level thinking skills by having your students devise their own problem solving plan on how to distract the bears and create their own stories with their classmates as the Main Characters. We also offer a Teacher’s Resource Guide which includes activities on Plot, Sequence of Events, Setting, Characterization, Describing Words, Main Ideas as well as an Assessment and Games/Coloring Pages.  A Unit Plan already made for you! This story can also be Cross-Curricular with a Science Lesson on the Changing of the Seasons or on Native American studies and how they use tales to describe events in Nature. Extend your standard learning of the literary skills with a story that your students will sure to ponder and love. Happy Storytelling!

A positive message while teaching an important literary skill: this is what you will find in all the Whootie Owl Stories to Grow by Stories and accompanying Reader’s Theater scripts.

Stories that Inspire: Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.

    

Whootie Owl’s Stories to Grow by would like to share two stories from our collection that are a wonderful addition to your January lesson plans celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.

First is an early reader for those students in K-3^rd grade and one of our most popular stories, A Caterpillar’s Voice, an Animal Tale from Africa. Who has taken over the hare’s cave? A big voice! A Caterpillar’s Voice explores the themes of Courage and Not Judging People by their Appearances. Available as a Reader’s Theater Script, your class is sure to love it! We also offer an accompanying Teacher’s Resource Guide as well as Performance Notes to enhance your production.

Our second story is perfect for older students grades 2^nd-5^th. The Dustman and the Cadi is a Folk Tale from Turkey with a read time of 10-15 minutes. The story tells of a poor man who entrusts his life savings with a judge, who steals the money. A story of Justice, your students will love the turn of events and the outcome for the Dustman. Also available as a Reader’s Theater Script!

Happy Storytelling!

The TOP 10 Essential Stories of Childhood

Stories to Grow byis a non-profit organization dedicated to providing the very best children's stories, reader's theater scripts and storytelling resources which all showcase a positive message. Our founder, Elaine Lindy, started Whootie Owl's Stories to Grow by in 1998 with a mission to educate parents and teachers on the importance of using stories as a learning tool to build character. These are the TOP 10 Essential Stories of Childhood she believes will do just that along with our story that showcases the same theme. Happy Storytelling!



1. Tortoise and the Hare    If you love this story, you'll love ALL FOR A PAISA

2. Little Engine that Could    If you love this story, you'll love FUR & FEATHERS 

3. Little Dutch Boy   If you love this story, you'll love YUUKI & THE TSUNAMI 

4. Lion & the Mouse   If you love this story, you'll love ANDROCLES & THE LION 

5. Wind & the Sun   If you love this story, you'll love  KING ARTHUR & THE HALF MAN 

6. Bundle of Sticks   If you love this story, you'll love THE SIX FRIENDS

7. Pinocchio   If you love this story, you'll love THE WAGER

8. Beauty & the Beast  If you love this story, you'll love our version BEAUTY & THE BEAST

9. The Ugly Duckling  If you love this story, you'll love BLONDE CARRIE & BRUNETTE CARRIE  

10. SHARE YOUR FAVORITE! WHAT STORY DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE IN THE TOP TEN??     ANSWER HERE: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/L7P7RCK

Our TOP 3 Stories of 2016! New Discussion Questions for 2017!

Happy New Year and Happy Storytelling 2017! We at Stories to Grow by would like to thank our readers for making 2016 one of our best yet! To celebrate our accomplishments in 2016, we would like to share with you our TOP 3 MOST READ STORIES: Androcles and the Lion, The Apple Dumpling (Our Featured Story from November), and The King's Choice (featured on Education World!).  Even more exciting, all three of these stories have been turned into READER'S THEATER SCRIPTS! Extend the learning and the fun!

To keep the excitement around these and all our stories rolling, we are adding DISCUSSION QUESTIONS to our most popular stories to keep the learning going.  See Sample from ANDROCLES AND THE LION below:

Have your students write in their responses and we will be featuring them on our blog, maybe even our website! We LOVE to hear what kids have to say about our stories (so will you!) and we want you to easily utilize our stories and continue the learning through discussion in your classroom or home environment.

Looking forward to sharing our stories with all of you in 2017! Happy Storytelling!