Dream Big, Girls!

          My 14-month-old daughter and I sat watching cartoons on the Disney channel one afternoon. It flooded the screen with images of princesses both old and new but with a twist. These were not the princesses I remembered growing up! These princesses were daring, clever, and strong. Each of these vignettes ended with the saying “Dream Big, Princess.” As my little girl  sat eyes transfixed on the screen I had to wonder as she is my little princess, what would equate to being a princess in today’s world? I know the power of media influence and I have to give Disney credit for trying to break the gender stereotypes about what a girl can and cannot do. I love the way  the old princesses’ portrayals evolved from the waiting to be rescued, I’m so pretty- types to daring, assertive, and innovative young women. It is how I want my daughter and all of my 2^nd grade girls to feel --confident in a world that seems stuck with some pretty rigid views on what women should be able to accomplish. I feel that educators and parents alike could benefit from knowing that there is literature out there as well as the media that still supports this central message: Girls can be anything that they believe that they can be. Character is what truly matters. In my second-grade standards, I believe that I would use RL2.2: Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral. What better message to give to a girl? Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman is a great book to introduce this topic. It is about Grace, a girl who loves to pretend to be whatever and whomever she chooses. She has a gift for storytelling and at her school, she decides to audition for a class play as Peter Pan. Her friends quickly offer her reasons why she cannot be Peter Pan including her race and her gender. Their protests sadden Grace and with the help of her mother and grandmother she starts her journey to stay true to her own wishes earning the part which such skill, she convinces the doubters that they were wrong. This book could be used to create a text to self-connecting hook for both boys and girls with the question “Have you ever been told you couldn’t do something because you are a boy or because you are a girl?”  I think most children (people) have experienced this in some way. As you discuss and share, kids would realize that they aren’t alone in this struggle to stay true to themselves by being their personal best at anything that they choose to do.  Two excellent resources to use would be www. amightygirl.com and http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/talk-about-stories-shared-57.html.