One joyful aspect of teaching is introducing young students to the love of learning through reading. I guess that can be said for us all. In this unit, the folktale, The Mitten, will serve as a foundation for several discussions, including topics such as animals, size and volume, patterns and designs, story sequencing, and even role-playing. As students learn the story and discover the characters, they then work with textiles and illustration in different ways as they engage with the story.
Although there are many variations of this Ukrainian folk tale across cultures, locations, and languages, The Mitten is a picture book that teaches about friendship and sharing. 1 The story begins when a child loses their mitten in a snowy forest during a cold winter. One by one, various animals come and settle inside the mitten, all of them planning to stay warm. Eventually, the mitten can no longer hold all those who want to warm themselves inside. The mitten then splits open, or some other action (such as a sneeze) happens, which causes all the animals to spill out into the cold. From there, they all scramble back to a place of refuge in the snowy forest.
The two Ukrainian versions covered in this unit include Alvin Tresselt and Yaroslava’s from 1964, followed by Jan Brett’s 1989 retelling. The illustrations in each will provide a launching point to learn about the country of Ukraine and then focus on two main cultural materials: textiles and print/illustration, which are emphasized in and through the two publications of the folktale.
I teach in a self-contained Kindergarten classroom at Edgewood Magnet School in New Haven. I find the neighborhood/magnet setting a rewarding environment, with students coming to school each day from a variety of home circumstances and with differences in academic levels. As a result of these variables, the children have differing levels of background knowledge and life experiences. The classroom is a mixture of varied ethnicities, economic strata, and social and emotional strengths and weaknesses. Collaboration allows all students at all levels to learn in an inherently differentiated environment, learning new concepts and experiences through hands-on practices. Throughout the school year, the Kindergarten curriculum centers on social development, literacy, and cultural awareness, which is certainly appropriate for five- and six-year-old children. Our school’s mission and vision statements focus on equity and inclusion, acknowledging and including everyone in our learning environment. Literacy and visual literacy across cultures play an important role in reading instruction in our school and district broadly. This unit on material culture is in direct alignment with our school’s mission and vision.
