Mrs. Luerssen's Class

My class listened to a variety of Cinderella Around the World literature. We chose The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin. This is a Native American Cinderella story. All of the female characters in this story wanted desperately to meet and marry the very rich and powerful Invisible Being. They had to answer to his sister in order to meet him upon her approval. The Rough-Face Girl sisters dressed up and assumed one of them would marry The Invisible Being because they were so beautiful on the outside. However, the Invisible Being's sister did not see any beauty at all in the self -centered sisters and did not let them in. The Rough-Face Girl showed courage and confidence when she went to try to meet The Invisible Being even though she was not so beautiful on the outside. She had many scars on her face from working so hard near the fire. The Invisible Being sister saw her deep inner beauty and let her in to meet her brother The Invisible Being. They fell in love and lived happily after.

My students enjoyed this book very much. We used this story to learn about character traits and goals. We made a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast The Rough-Face Girl with the traditional Cinderella. Using our writing journals we wrote paragraphs to compare and contrast. Then the class had their choice to write a continuation of the story, a summary, or a poem. The class did illustrations to go with their writings. Most of the students did their writing and illustrations cooperatively in pairs.

New Endings
So the Invisible Being and the Rough-Face Girl lived in the wigwam for many years and had children. But one day the invisible being grew very sick and died. So the Rough-Face girl carried on with her life and took care of her children. by Daniel and Luke	One year later the Rough-Face Girl and the Invisible Being had three children. While the children were playing and the father was hunting the door fell down. It was a bear! The bear started to laugh. It was the father. For scaring the mother he had no supper and slept on the ground for four days. by Sami and Angela
Selena and Nadia
They rode away to a new land and build a really big wigwam. Ten months later they had kids and they got a lion cub. They lived by a warm lake and had their canoe in it. They go in the lake every day and climb trees. by Andrew and Matthew	The next day the Rough-Face Girl and the Invisible Being went out hunting. The Invisible Being taught his wife how to use a bow and arrow. Soon the Rough-Face Girl was a pro. She got two rabbits, three buffalo, and five birds. Then they went back to their wigwam and ate what the Rough-Face Girl caught. by Steven
Andrew and Matthew
The Rough-Face Girl and the Invisible Being went to the heavens and lived in the clouds. They haunted the Rough-Face Girl's sisters and hunted deer and used the fur for coats. She ate the deer and maize on Thanksgiving. They drank fresh cups of water. They had a very good time. They lived happily ever after. by Anthony and Mike	The Invisible Being and the Rough-Face Girl ran because cowboys were trying to kill them. So they went into the tepee and hid there until morning. Then they looked outside. Then the Rough-Face Girl ran to the river. Her face and body was smooth again. Later her face turned rough. Then she ran to the river. Her skin was soft again so they ran out of the town. But the cowboys went to their campsite and they ran back to their tepee. And they lived happily ever after. by Thomas, Paul and Nicky P.
The Rough-Face Girl was not called Rough-Face Girl anymore because no longer did she have a rough face. From then on she was called The Beautiful Girl. The Beautiful Girl got married to the Invisible Being and they had two twin girls and two twin boys. One day The Beautiful Girl and the Invisible Being said, "The kids need pets to play with." So they got two girl cats and two twin dogs. by Lisa and Chris	The Rough-Face Girl was nice and courageous. Her skin was not scarred anymore. She and the Invisible Being had a good life. They were very happy and nobody teased her. by Eric and Dennis
Sami and Angela
Poems
Rough Face Girl Plain, lonely Caring, courage, strong Kind Hearted Honest person by Samantha K. and Alexandra B.	Thoughtful Honest Energetic Resourceful Outstanding Useful Great Hard working Faithful Always nice to people Caring Effort Grateful Independent Respectful Loving by Nicole S. and Tori B.
Nick G. and Vincenzo
Comparison The princess had to wear a glass slipper. The Rough-Face Girl had scars. They both have mean sisters and they are very nice to their sisters. The prince was an invisible being in The Rough-Face Girl. In Cinderella there was a real prince. Both Cinderella and The Rough-Face Girl had to work all day. The Rough-Face Girl had a kind heart and she was all burned with fire. The two sisters had a bad heart and The Rough-Face Girl was a beautiful girl inside and when she took her bath all of her scars were gone. She is a good princess because she is nice to people and so is Cinderella. by Selena and Nadia
Samantha and Alexandra
Meeting the New York Standards ELA Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen and speak for information with understanding ELA Standard 2: Students will read, write, listen and speak for literary response and expression ELA Standard 4: Students will read, write, listen and speak for social interaction