Ella
Enchanted
by Gail Carson Levine
Ella
Enchanted
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The primary audience for the materials on this
page is fifth to eighth grade teachers. We have included a book
talk (which is designed to entice students
into reading the book), an author study
(which can benefit student interaction with text in so many ways, not least
of which the realization that individuals like them actually write books
-- they do not just magically appear in bookstores), suggestions for
possible
activities
(an excellent asset for any teacher),
a
list of related books,
and finally a list of websites
related to the author and the novel.
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine is a Cinderella story with a twist. Ella Enchanted is full of magic, fairies, and many other fantastic creatures. It's an exciting story of a young girl named Ella and her adventures as she tries to rid herself of her "gift" of obedience. Unfortunately for Ella, always having to do what she's told seems more like a curse than a gift. She has to do whatever anybody tells her, even if they tell her to chop her own head off. During her adventures she encounters evil ogres, helpful elves, friendly giants, and a handsome prince. With the help of her friends and the love of a prince, will Ella ever be able to break the curse? Guess you'll have to read it to find out.
Gail Carson Levine was born on September 17, 1947 in New York. She received her BA in 1969 from City College of the City University of New York. Her parents who encouraged creativity in their children's lives inspired Levine. Levine states that her first interest was acting and then painting. Levine claims to have read many fairy tales as a child, which may account for her genre of writing. She was a member of a poetry club in high school and later in college had many of her poems published. While in college, she wrote the script for the children's musical, "Space Napped", with the help of her husband. Levine found that she could express herself freely in her writing. She later took a class of writing and illustrating children's books and it drew her interest. She found that she enjoyed writing fairy tales “with a twist” and also realistic fiction.
Levine currently lives in Brewster, New York with her husband where she does her work at home. She has published many other books, which are listed below.
Language Arts- Write a short story about a child being given a different "gift" at birth and the problems it causes. Invent some vocabulary words in a new language for a group of make-believe creatures or aliens. Think about how their spelling, grammar and punctuation might be different from ours. Pick a familiar fairy tale and rewrite it in a new way. Change the names of the characters slightly, add new adventures or give them special powers. The students could also compare other Cinderella type stories to Ella Enchanted.
Social Studies- Draw a map that shows where Ella traveled through the kingdom of Kyrria. Include such locations as Frell, Ayortha, the elves' Forest, the land of the giants, Ella's home, the king's castle, etc. Add mountains, trees, rivers, and roads where you think they might have been.
Art - Draw a picture of one of the mystical creatures that Ella meets, using Ella's descriptions of them as a starting point. Create your own creature and describe its characteristics.
Drama - Imagine a day in your life if you had to do anything people ordered you to do. How would you feel about that? How might you act toward people who gave you orders? With some other students, act out a short skit, with one person obeying the others' orders and reacting to being bossed around.
Betsy Who Cried Wolf
Cinderella and the Glass
Hill
Dave at Night
The Fairy's Mistake
Princess Sonora and the Long
Sleep
The Princess Test
The Two Princesses of Bamarre
The Wish
Books related to Ella Enchanted
Happily Ever After
by Anna Quindlen
My Father's Dragonby
Ruth Stiles Gannett
The Phantom Tollbooth
by Norton Juster
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
retold by Ruth Sanderson
The people who contributed to this project include:
