Zen Stories: Fables and Folktales from Asia merges social studies and literacy skills to engage students in meaningful, common core state standards aligned learning experiences. Each week, we will focus on an element of storytelling. After performing a close reading of the featured text, students will participate in a shared writing activity.

This course meets two times a week for four weeks. Each lesson is forty-five minutes in length. Each week contains two lessons centered around the weekly fable or folktale, Lesson A and Lesson B.
 
Lesson A includes: a social studies mini-lesson, a vocabulary mini-lesson, read aloud accompanied with reading comprehension questions and discussion, a literacy skill based game or activity. Lesson B includes: a social studies review and game, a close reading of a focal portion of the text, a shared writing mini-lesson and activity, a game or activity inspired by the featured fable or folktale's “Big Idea.”  

Research based, best practices and methodologies used to teach this course include: Robust Vocabulary, Accountable Talk, Common Core State Standards (K-2 ELA), Close Reading, Shared Writing, Read Alouds, Think Alouds, and more!

Week 1: Momotaro, Peach Boy 
 ‣ Social Studies: Japan mini-lesson
 ‣ Vocabulary: Example and Non-example
 ‣ Reading Skill: Story Elements
 ‣ Shared Writing: Writing to describe, create a character.

Week 2: How Tiger Got his Stripes
 ‣ Social Studies: Vietnam mini-lesson
 ‣ Vocabulary: Categorization 
 ‣ Reading Strategy: Cause and Effect
 ‣ Shared Writing: Parts of speech mini-lesson. How the ... got its ... mad libs. 

Week 3: Kuafu Chasing the Sun
 ‣ Social Studies: China mini-lesson
 ‣ Vocabulary: Synonyms and Antonyms
 ‣ Reading Skill: Author's Message
 ‣ Shared Writing: If... then writing. Students create "fortune cookies."

Week 4: The Elephant and The Sparrow
‣ Social Studies: India mini-lesson
‣ Vocabulary: Sentence generation
‣ Reading Strategy: Compare and Contrast
‣ Shared writing: Opinion writing mini-lesson. Leaving a book review.