Unicorns, Dragons, and Other Magical Creatures
Introduction
Children live in a world of magic, where unicorns,
dragons, and other imaginary creatures inhabit their everyday lives through imaginary
play. This lesson takes advantage of students' interest in all things magical
by helping them learn about fantastical creatures within a cultural and historical
context. By drawing upon young students' boundless imaginations, the activities
encourage students to discover similarities and differences in traditions and
symbolism that exist in cultures around the world and to understand how different
social meanings are embedded in make-believe creatures.
This
lesson will explore images of magical creatures from around the world. After discussing
the special attributes of such creatures, students will view images of specific
mythological creatures from two cultures--a unicorn from the South Netherlands
and a dragon from Korea--and listen to stories about them. Finally, students will
create puppets representing magical creatures of their own invention, or ones
based on the creatures they've learned about, and put on puppet shows, dramatizing
original stories about their creatures.
Learning Objectives
After completing the lessons in this unit, students
will be able to:
- understand and express
the meanings of the words "magical" and "creature."
- verbalize
an understanding of the special attributes of magical creatures, specifically
unicorns and dragons, and of how they compare to real-life beings.
- discover
different magical creatures and show an understanding of how they are described
in stories.
Guiding Questions:
What is a magical creature? How are magical creatures different
from everyday beings? What special powers do magical creatures have? What kinds
of magical creatures are found in different cultures and in stories from around
the world?
Preparing to Teach this Lesson
This lesson requires you to access images of various
works of art through EDSITEment-reviewed Web sites. Images may be presented to
students online at individual computer stations or in small groups sharing computers;
to individual students or groups in printed form; or to the whole class by means
of computer-projected images.
Suggested Activities
Lesson 1: Introduction to Magical
Creatures Lesson 2: What Makes
a Creature Magical? Lesson 3:
Mysterious Unicorns Lesson 4:
Powerful Dragons Lesson 5: Create
Your Own Creature Extending the
Lesson
Lesson 1 Introduction to Magical Creatures
Consider
beginning the lesson in one of two ways:
-
Read one of the suggested stories, or listen to the song "Puff the Magic Dragon"
by Peter, Paul, and Mary and/or the Irish Rovers' recording of Shel Silverstein's
poem "The
Unicorn."
- Show students any of the following
images of magical creatures throughout the world, from different times in history:
Carnival
masks from Puerto Rico, located on the EDSITEment-reviewed resource A
Collector's Vision of Puerto Rico; a Mesopotamian
dragon image, located on the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Detroit
Institute of Arts; Mesopotamian
Eagle-headed deity, located on the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Detroit
Institute of Arts; or an Egyptian
anthropomorphic creature of a goddess, located on the EDSITEment-reviewed
resource Odyssey Online. Encourage
students to describe the pictures and note what makes the creatures in them seem
magical. Begin a discussion with the class the meanings of the words "magical"
and "creature" by asking students to brainstorm about what they think these terms
mean and writing down their ideas. Then write the definitions of each word on
the chalkboard or chart paper:
- Magical:
Something or someone that has the power to make impossible things happen by using
charms or spells.
- Creature: A
living being, human or animal.
- Magical
Creature: An animal or human that has the power to make things happen using
charms or spells.
Ask students: "What
makes a magical creature special or unusual?" You can point out that magical creatures
often have something unusual about their appearance and may have special powers,
such as the ability to fly, grant wishes, or change their looks.
Ask
students to give examples of other magical creatures they have heard of. Some
students might be familiar with mythological creatures, such as Pegasus the winged
horse.
Lesson 2 What Makes a Creature Magical?
Reinforce
student's understanding of the term magical creature by visiting the EDSITEment-reviewed
resource Metropolitan Museum
of Art's Explore and Learn. From the top of the Homepage, select "Just for
Fun." On the next page, select the top activity, "Carpet Hunt." This activity
features a section of a 350-year-old Indian carpet depicting a variety of realistic
and fantastical animals.
To enhance this activity,
share with the students some background information about the history of carpet
weaving and about why some carpets are perceived as magical and by whom:
"A
tradition in Anatolia (Turkey) since the thirteenth century, the art of carpet
weaving has played an important role in Islamic culture throughout history. It
is the oldest form of Islamic art, and carpets are still the most valuable type
of art object in Turkey. Marco Polo wrote about the wonderful and beautiful carpets
woven by the Greeks and Armenian states in Turkomania. Like Marco Polo, westerners,
and others outside the Muslim culture, view the carpets as "magical" because of
their exotic, rich colors and intricate designs. But to the Muslims the carpets
serve a valuable and functional purpose -- they are used to cover the floor on
which they kneel in prayer." (From "Magical
Carpets of Turkey" by Katherine Blair)
Ask
students to find and look carefully at each of the animals on the carpet and,
judging by appearance, decide whether they are magical creatures or not. By clicking
each animal, students can access information about that animal online. Allow the
class to determine whether they were correct about the animal being real or fantasy.
Click the animal at the center of the carpet's top section, for example, to learn
that it is a mixture of a lion and a tiger, with a bushy tail and flames shooting
out of its sides. Students should recognize that this is a magical creature. While
some of the other animals may be unfamiliar to students (e.g., ibexes and cranes),
they are not magical -- only unusual.
As an extension
of this activity, invite students to turn one of the realistic animals into a
magical one by drawing it with new, magical features. Encourage students to write
or dictate a caption describing their new animals.
Lesson 3 Mysterious Unicorns
Review
the definition of a magical creature with students. Find out what students already
know about unicorns and jot down their ideas on chart paper. Then describe their
role in fairy tales and the cultures they come from. Share with the class some
background information about the history of unicorns:
-
Greek historian Ctesias in 398 B.C, was the first to mention unicorns. He recorded
travelers' descriptions of these magical creatures in India.
- A
unicorn looks like a white horse, but it has a little white beard and a long,
white horn in the middle of its forehead.
- The
horn is where the unicorn's magic lies. Some stories note that if a pool of water
is muddy and tastes bad, the unicorn can dip its horn in the water to make it
clear and sweet-tasting again. Other stories claim that a special powder made
from the horn of a unicorn could heal sick people. This made people want to catch
the unicorn and take its horn. One story tells of a beautiful young woman who
could tame a unicorn by sitting quietly in a meadow where it was eating grass.
If the unicorn came over and put its head in her lap, she would stroke the unicorn's
mane gently until it fell asleep. Then the hunters would come and catch the unicorn
and take off its horn. Luckily, unicorns had the power to grow new horns.
-
In the west, stories about the unicorn showed it as wild, but eastern stories
claimed the unicorn was a peaceful creature that offered good luck.
Sources:
The Unicorn Treasury, written by Bruce Coville and illustrated by Tim Hildebrandt
(Doubleday, 1988); Fabulous Beasts, written by Alison Lurie and illustrated
by Monika Beisner (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1999); The
Columbia Encyclopedia, available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource
Internet Public Library.
Next,
show students a reproduction of the famous "Unicorn in Captivity" tapestry from
the Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Cloisters, which can be accessed through the
EDSITEment-reviewed resource Metropolitan
Museum of Art's Explore and Learn. Click on "The Collection" in the left sidebar. On the next screen, click on "Permanent Collection" and select "The Cloisters." Click "next" to move through the collection to find the image of "Unicorn in Captivity." Click on the picture for more information and to enlarge the image.
Ask students what they notice about
the animal in the picture. Let them know that this famous picture was created
500 years ago in the Netherlands and is called "The Unicorn in Captivity." Explain
what the word "captivity" means and ask them to discuss why someone would want
to capture a unicorn.
Read a story about a
unicorn to students. (See the Resource List at the end of the lesson for suggested
titles.) After reading the story, present the following questions. Then re-read
the story.
Unicorn Questions to ask Students:
- How is the unicorn in the story like the
one that you just saw in the picture "Unicorn in Captivity"?
-
How is it different?
- What special powers
does the unicorn in this story have?
- Was
the unicorn in this story friendly or unfriendly?
- If
you were a unicorn, what kinds of things would you do?
-
Would you like to be a unicorn? Why or why not?
When
you finished reading the story a second time, elicit students' answers to the
questions. You might wish to have older students answer the questions by writing
in a journal. Have younger children to draw pictures of unicorns and then dictate
sentences about them to the teacher or classroom aide.
Lesson 4 Powerful Dragons
At
the start of this activity, ask students to describe dragons and whether they
know of any stories that have dragons in them.
Share
with the class some background information about dragons.
Dragon
Background:
- In tales that feature dragons,
the dragon usually has a green, black, gold, or red body and can breathe fire.
Different stories explained that dragons might have one or more heads.
- People
believed that the bodies of dragons had special powers. For example, some stories
told of a powder made from the eyes of a dragon that could make bad dreams stop.
Other stories explained that if you planted the teeth of a dragon, they would
grow overnight into an army of men.
- Some
dragons are friendly to human beings. In China, for example, people used to believe
that dragons sent the rain each spring so people's crops would grow and they would
have food to eat. Other dragons were mean and greedy. Some of them slept on big
piles of gold with one eye open so they can catch anyone who tries to steal their
treasure. People who took the dragons' gold would actually turn into dragons themselves.
-
Western cultures described dragons with wings for flight; eastern cultures described
dragons with no wings and the ability to fly in more magical ways.
Sources:
Fabulous Beasts,
written by Alison Lurie and illustrated by Monika Beisner (Farrar, Straus & Giroux,
1999); The Columbia Encyclopedia, available through the EDSITEment-reviewed
resource Internet Public Library.
Show
students a reproduction of a carved image of a dragon from seventh-century Korea
from the EDSITEment-reviewed Metropolitan
Museum of Art's Explore and Learn Web site. Select "Just for Fun" at the top
of the page. On the next page, select "Discover a Korean
Dragon."
Ask students what they notice about
the animal in the picture, and let them know that this carving was made more than
a thousand years ago in Korea. Roll the cursor over the image and select a highlighted
area to learn more about each part of the dragon. Read a story about a dragon
to students. (See Resource List at the end of the lesson for suggested titles.)
After listening to the story, present the following questions and read them aloud.
Then re-read the story.
Dragon Questions
to Ask Students:
- What does the dragon in
the story have in common with the one you saw in the picture? Why might some things
about this dragon be different?
- What special
powers does the dragon in the story have?
- Was
the dragon in this story friendly or unfriendly?
- Was
the dragon in this story different than the unicorns we read/heard about the other
day? How?
- If you were a dragon, what powers
would you have?
- Would you rather have a
unicorn or a dragon as a friend? Why?
When
you have finished reading the story a second time, elicit students' answers to
the questions. You might wish to have older students answer the questions by writing
in a journal. Invite younger children to draw pictures of unicorns and then dictate
sentences about them to the teacher or classroom aide.
Lesson 5 Create Your Own Creature
In
this activity, students create their own magical creatures. Inspire the class
by reading a story about magical creatures (see the Resource List for suggestions)
Before
crafting their puppets, students may wish to draw pictures of their magical creatures
with crayons or markers, or by using the "Make Your Own Art" section of the EDSITEment-reviewed
Art Safari Web site. Click anywhere on
the page to enter the site. On the left side of the next page, click on "Make
Your Own Art." Choose "Fantastic Animals" from the list that appears on the following
page; Henri Rousseau's painting The Sleeping Gypsy will appear on screen. After
viewing the image, students may click on the area at the bottom of the screen
to access the computer graphics program.
Have
students create their own magical creatures in the form of puppets, using a variety
of colorful materials (e.g., cardboard, colored paper, felt, cloth scraps, Popsicle
sticks, feathers, fake fur, buttons, or beads). Encourage them to incorporate
the features of unicorns, dragons, and other magical creatures that they learned
about in the lesson.
As they work on their puppets,
help students think about the ways in which their creatures will be magical. A
magical creature might look like a real animal (e.g., a horse, a lion, or a bird)
but have unusual features such as fiery breath, long claws, or beautiful wings.
Help each student think about the special powers of his or her creature. Perhaps
the creature can fly, change its form, or come back to life over and over again.
Encourage students to invent names for their creatures, and to give them personalities.
When
the puppets are complete, invite students to present their puppets to the rest
of the class, introducing the creature by name and explaining what makes it magical.
Some students might wish to present in pairs, introducing each other's creatures.
Extending the Lesson
- Have students work in groups to create puppet
shows featuring their magical creatures. Younger students should agree upon a
simple plot line, improvise the story, and practice it several times before presenting
it to the rest of the class. Older students should create a more complex story
line, record the play in writing with the help from the teacher, and rehearse
their drama more extensively before presenting it to the rest of the class. Students
can create a puppet stage, scenery, and props to add atmosphere to their productions.
You may consider sharing them with parents or with the members of another class.
- The
EDSITEment-reviewed Web site AskAsia provides
a downloadable worksheet for the class to design an online exhibition of the students'
magical creature puppets. The class can scan in images, or you can create a separate
gallery relating to the stories read in class and images found on EDSITEment from
the sources listed in this lesson plan. Students can write or dictate labels for
the exhibit. See the AskAsia
Visible Traces Exhibition.
Resource
List The following published texts contain background
information and stories about a variety of magical creatures:
Background
Reading The Unicorn Treasury, written by Bruce Coville and illustrated
by Tim Hildebrandt (Doubleday, 1988). Fabulous Beasts, written by Alison
Lurie and illustrated by Monika Beisner (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1999).
Unicorn
Stories The Unicorn of the West, written by Alma Flor Ada and
illustrated by Abigal Pizer (Atheneum Books, 1994). Unicorns! Unicorns!,
written by Geraldine McCaughrean and illustrated by Sophie Windham (Holiday House,
1997). Unicorn Dreams, written by Dyan Sheldon and illustrated by Neil
Reed (Penguin Putnam Books, 1997).
Dragon
Stories Mei Ming and the Dragon's Daughter, written by L. Baily
and illustrated by M. Springett (North Winds Press, 1990). Matthew's Dragon,
written by Susan Cooper and illustrated by Joseph A. Smith (Margaret K. McElderry
Books, 1991).
Saint George and the Dragon, written by M. Hodges and
illustrated by T.S. Hyman (Little, Brown and Co., 1984).
The Dragon's Pearl,
written by Julie Lawson and illustrated by Paul Morin (Houghton Mifflin, 1993).
The River Dragon, written by Darcy Pattison and illustrated by Jean and
Mou-Sien Tseng (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1991).
Beware the Dragons!,
written by Sarah Wilson (Harper Collins Children's Books, 1985).
Eric Carle's
Dragons, Dragons: And Other Creatures That Never Were by Eric Carle (Putnam
Publishing Group, 1996).
Other Magical
Creatures
The Little Mermaid & Other Tales, written by Hans
Christian Andersen (Hippocrene Books Inc., 1998).
The Rainbow Goblins,
written by Ul DeRico (Thames and Hudson Inc., 1994).
Prince Ivan and the
Firebird: A Russian Folk Tale, written by Bernard Lodge (Charlesbridge Publishing
Inc., 1996).
Fabulous Beasts, written by Alison Lurie (Farrar, Straus
& Giroux, 1999).
The Magic of Mythical Creatures by Colleayn Mastin
(Grasshopper Books, 1999).
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
(Harper Collins Children's Books, 1984).
Material
List
Buttons Beads, Cardboard, Cloth scraps, Colored paper, Fake fur, Feathers
Felt, Popsicle sticks, Glue Scissors, Crayons, and markers
EDSITEment Websites
Art
Safari
The
Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies
The
Metropolitan Museum of Art's Explore and Learn
The
Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Cloisters
A
Collector's Vision of Puerto Rico: Carnival Masks
Exploring
Ancient World Cultures (India)
Detroit
Institute of Art (Mesopotamian images)
Odyssey
Online (Egyptian goddess)
Standards Alignment
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