50 Ways To Retell A Story: Cinderella does exactly what it says on the cover - retells the favourite fairytale Cinderella - in fifty brand new ways! As a haiku, a recipe, a text message, a story written in 'pig Latin,' a diary entry, a ghost story and forty-four other innovative ways. The language play involved will interest any avid reader, but the book has, predominantly, been written with the Primary and Secondary school classroom in mind. 50 Ways to Retell a Story - Cinderella provides teachers with 50 literacy lessons, starter sessions or extension activities which ensure a creative, engaging approach to the teaching of literacy. While the familiar format of an old favourite like Cinderella can encourage reluctant writers to 'have a go', more able pupils will relish the challenges of completing the more complex re-tellings. And all of the approaches exemplified in 50 Ways To Retell A Story: Cinderella can be applied with any other traditional tale. Author Alan Peat explains: The inspiration for the book came from Raymond Queneau's work Exercises in Style, which is a collection of ninety-nine different retellings of the same tale. Queneau was one of the founders of OULIPO, a French group of mathematicians and writers who believed that constraints, paradoxically, lead to greater creativity. One of the examples in the book retells Cinderella as a lipogram. A lipogram is a key Oulipean constraint which bans the use of a certain letter or letters in the alphabet. While the story must remain the same, the language chosen to tell that story changes significantly. If we ban, for example, the letter 'a' in the retelling of Cinderella, our heroine must be re-named, can't go to a 'ball', or a 'dance', or even a 'party' but she would be allowed to go to a 'soiree' or 'exclusive reception'. This retelling specifically encourages practical use of a thesaurus, but more importantly, if we encourage children to play with language so that it becomes fun, we can develop a love of literacy which will then impact positively on their writing standards. It also reduces the fear of making a mistake in the classroom, encourages 'risk taking' and experimenting with language. Reluctant writers also find the retelling of a familiar text less threatening than a blank sheet of paper while more able pupils relish the extra tiers of complexity which some of the writing tasks in the book involve.A"

 

There are 166 pages in this book. This book was published 2009 by Creative Educational Press Limited .

Gareth Metcalfe is a Y6 Teacher and Assistant Headteacher in a primary school in Stockport, UK. He is also a Maths Consultant for Alan Peat Ltd. Alan Peat is an author and Independent Literacy Consultant. His unique INSET, conference and school based training provides teachers and school leaders with practical, effective and enjoyable strategies for raising pupil achievement in both writing and reading. His inspiring approach to practical pedagogy, which has been used to effect in 22 countries, draws on experience gained as a primary school teacher, LEA Advisor and author of numerous books, including the popular series IMPROVING LITERACY / CREATIVE APPROACHES (Nash Pollock Publishing) and a range of titles published by Creative Educational Press Ltd.

This book has the following chapters: 50 Ways To Retell A Story: Cinderella contents - story retold as: NARRATIVES 1. Lipogram 2. Monosyllabic 3. Yoked sentences 4. Mini-saga 5. Similes 6. Alliteration 7. Monologue 8. Diary 9. Personification 10. Sci-fi 11. Crime Fiction 12. Ghost story 13. Fable 14. Blog 15. Altered characters 16. Reversed story 17. Flashbacks 18. Rashomon 19. Different time frame POETRY 20. Pop song 21. Hendecasyllabics 22. Alphabet of sentences 23. Limerick 24. Sonnet 25. Rhyme royal 26. Skaldic 27. Haiku 28. Renga 29. Naga-uta 30. Tanka 31. Acrostic 32. Hidden acrostic 33. Telestich 34. Tele-acrostic 35. Start-of-line rhyme 36. Mirror snowball OTHERS 37. Plot skeleton 38. Never-ending fairy tale 39. S+7 40. Reversed alphabet code 41. Pig Latin 42. Book review 43. Letter of complaint 44. Recipe 45. Mix tape 46. Text message 47. Blurb 48. News story DIALOGUES 49. Play script 50. Film script APPENDICES APPENDIX ONE - 'Oulipo': a brief introduction APPENDIX TWO - Glossary