Strong Wind - A Native American Cinderella Story for Reader's Theater

This Reader's Theater is for 4 students. This is the Native American version of Cinderella. In the script, Strong Wind is a great warrior who has the power to make himself invisible. When a girl wants to be his wife she is tested by Strong Wind’s sister. Many try to pass the test but none are honest. In the same village live three daughters of a great chief. The two older daughters are jealous and cruel to their little sister. When they try to become Strong Wind’s wife, they both fail the test. Finally the youngest daughter goes to see if she can be his wife. Her honesty helps her to pass the test and she does become his wife. Strong Wind punishes her sisters for their cruelty by turning them into Aspen Trees.

There is a short writing assignment afterwards for the students to respond to. You can also have your students compare and contrast the standard version with this one using a Venn Diagram. I have one pack based only on Cinderella stories from around the world called 'Cinderella Around the World' and it also includes twisted versions of the story. My on level 3rd grade group did fine with this script but needed a little extra practice.

I use reader's theaters to encourage my students to practice fluency. It is a fun way to do something that they need. My scripts are in black and white with only the occasional color picture on front so they photo copy easily. The problem with many other reader's theaters is that students spend a lot of time waiting for their part. When you have a small group they get more practice in and less off task behaviors take place.

My name is Melanie Whitesides but my store name is Wonbyone and, if your students enjoy this script, look for more Cinderella tales as well as other fairy tales and twisted tales at my site. I hope that your students enjoy this script as much as mine did. Let me know how things go!

Strong Wind - A Native American Cinderella Story by Melanie Whitesides is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.