Next week, University of Evansville education majors will transform into — among other characters — a princess, an ogre, and a grinning cat when UE hosts the fifth annual Fairy Tale Festival for local elementary school students.
The event, designed to spark children’s interest in reading, will take place Tuesday, December 6 in the Carson Center large gym.
Twenty-three students in UE’s School of Education will perform the classic fairy tales “Alice in Wonderland,†“Jack and the Beanstalk,†and “The Princess and the Pea†for an audience of 156 kindergarten and first-grade students from Harper Elementary School.
The UE students are currently enrolled in Education 422: Teaching Reading and Language Arts in the Elementary School, taught by associate professor of education Sharon Gieselmann. They have spent approximately a month creating sets, costumes, and scripts for the performances.
“The Fairy Tale Festival has two important goals. First, we want to encourage children to get excited about reading,†said Gieselmann. “The event also gives UE students a chance to apply the reading strategies they learn in class and display their knowledge in a non-traditional way.â€
At the Fairy Tale Festival, Harper students will rotate through three stations to watch each performance. After each fairy tale, they will receive a summary of the story and a small memento — a playing card for “Alice in Wonderland,†green jelly beans for “Jack and the Beanstalk,†and green gumballs for “The Princess and the Pea.â€
“Each year, as the children leave the Fairy Tale Festival, you can see the excitement on their faces,†Gieselmann said. “If each student goes back to their home school enthusiastic about reading — what a great outcome.â€
