Both the reading level of entering students and the new CAPT mandates are forcing us, as teachers, to find new ways to incorporate both reading and writing across the disciplines. This unit is a great way to incorporate these skills along with the expected art elements and principles of design for high school students. If one provides students with literature that is not intimidating, they can focus on themes and construction, instead of worrying about comprehension. In this unit students will read and analyze a variety of different versions of Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, and Little Red Riding Hood while having a variety of other fairy tales available to them. Students will also be challenged to compare a variety of different styles of illustration and will then use Molly Bang's Picture This to learn the elements of creating a composition. After much comparison and discussion about fairy tales, students will be challenged to write and illustrate their own fairy tale, including all of the key elements they have identified in literature and art.

(Developed for Art, grades 9-12; recommended for Art and English, grades 9-12)