Merry-Go-Round PlayhouseLisa Myers, Artistic Director •Erin Katzker, School Communications and Outreach Coordinator

17 William St. • 2nd Floor • Auburn, New York 13021 Phone: (315) 255-1305 Fax (315) 252-3815

Email: youthmgr@merry-go-round.comwww.FingerLakesMTF.com/youth-theatre

Pre-Performance Activities 1. The protagonist of The Golden Goose is eager to help those around him. Ask your students why helping others is important and what things can we do each day, at school and at home, to show others how good helping can be.

2. Explain to the students that during the play, they will be asked to take a magical journey to the Land of the Golden Goose. Pose questions such as: Have you ever pretended to take a trip to a magical land of your very own? What was it like? Were there special animals or plants? What about people? Give them the task to draw a picture of their imaginary land.

Post-Performance Activities 1. Kings and Queens often have many advisors. The advisors are citizens of the kingdom whose job it is to help the King or Queen make good and fair decisions. Have your class pretend that they are your adiviors. Present your class with a problem; you want to make sure that your subjects learn how valuable it is to work together. You desire to hold a Festival to celebrate the importance of cooperation. The students must come up with a schedule of activities, games, or projects that the people could do at the Festival. Have them discuss with their fellow advisors in class their ideas for things to do at the Festival.

2. Have your students draw a picture of a character from one of their favorite stories. Have them take turns sharing their drawing with their classmates and the reasons why they like the character they’ve chosen.

Additional Resources http://www.classicfairytales.com/en/main -- a great kids site about fairy tales; includes some fun games, read along animated stories, and downloadable coloring pages and activities.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/index.html -- site includes versions of popular tales including some in audio format; also a few links to other resources.

For more information on this production, including a downloadable activity page, please visit our website:

www.FingerLakesMTF.com/youth-theatre

Student Learning Objectives - The Golden Goose30-minute preparatory session, 45-minute performance The Merry-Go-Round Youth Theatre’s Sequential Dramatics Program creates educational theatre experiences aligned with core reading, language, writing, listening, speaking, and theatre arts standards. The content of our workshops and shows is designed to work in compliance with the Common Core, National Core Arts Standards, and 21st Century Learning Skills Framework. For a complete listing of the specific standards met with our programming at each grade level, please visit our website at: FingerLakesMTF.com/youth-theatre.

About Brothers GrimmJacob and Wilhelm Grimm, better known as the Brothers Grimm, were born in 1785 and 1786 respectively. They lived in Hanau, Germany with their parents, six brothers, and one sister. Both Jacob and Wilhelm studied law in school, but in order to help support their family, they quit and took jobs as librarians. In 1812, they published their first collection of children’s tales containing 86 stories. Over their lifetime, the collection saw six editions and was expanded to include over 200 stories. Their work has become the best known book ever created in the German language.

Other Popular Brothers Grimm StoriesCinderella The Bremen Town MusiciansLittle Red-Cap Snow White and Red RoseRapunzel The Brave Little TailorRumpelstilskin Hansel and Gretel

The Golden Goose STUDY GUIDE

1ST GRADE

The Brothers Grimm stories can be found in various adaptations under slightly different titles. Snow White and Rose Red is better

known as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Little Red-Cap has been translated into Little Red Riding Hood.

Wilhelm Grimm (Left) and Jacob Grimm (Right) in an 1855 painting by Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann.

Summary - The Golden GooseWhen the show begins, students will meet Jackie and Willie Grimm, descendants of the distinguished Brothers Grimm. They are the dedicated assistants to Aldwyn Elric Alberon, the Story Sorcerer, whose zeal for the magic books is only matched by his absent-mindedness.

The Story Sorcerer will then begin telling the story of the Golden Goose, and all the students will be transported to a small German village where the Pfeffer family lives. They will meet Muter and Vater Pfeffer and their three sons: Augustus B. Pfeffer, the eldest son and best woodcutter in the village; Olaf O. Pfeffer, the middle son who is following in his brother’s woodcutting footsteps; and the youngest son, Hans N. Pfeffer, who would rather sing than swing an ax. Because of these differences, Hans’ brothers taunt and bully him.

One day, Augustus heads to the forest to chop wood. He meets an injured, old man who asks to share some of Augustus’ sweet cake and water. Augustus refuses to share his food and drink and heads onward to complete his task of cutting down trees. Suddenly, a bear appears and scares Augustus home with no wood to show for his trip.

Knowing that without wood the Pfeffer family will have nothing to sell to make money, Olaf agrees to finish the task his older brother started and heads to the forest. He too meets the injured, old man and rejects him. Just then, a swarm of bees descends upon him and he runs in fear. With the two eldest brothers too afraid to return to the forest, their last resort is to send the inexperienced Hans. Hans is thrilled to get the chance to prove to his family that he is just as good as his brothers, but they are doubtful that he will bring back any wood to sell.

Hans is just about to enter the forest when he is met by the injured, old man. Hans is kind to him, and the old man rewards him by telling him to chop at the tallest tree in the forest to find his fortune. He does and finds a Golden Goose. He wants to thank the old man and sets off to find him.

Hans travels the whole night and ends up in a Kingdom with a sad Princess. She won’t laugh or smile and the King has promised to give onehalf of his kingdom and a large bag of gold to whoever can make her happy. Hans meets many townspeople who are all curious about the Golden Goose, but as soon as any person touches the Golden Goose they become stuck to it and cannot get loose! Pretty soon, Hans has the entire Kingdom stuck to his Golden Goose. The line of townspeople winds all through the town travelling right below the gloomy Princess’s window. The Princess sees all of the people stuck to the Golden Goose and laughs like she has never laughed before. The King sees this and declares that Hans has won the reward. Hans’ family apologizes for doubting him and thanks him for securing the family’s future.

Let’s Travel to Germany! The story of The Golden Goose takes place in a small village in Germany and centers around Hans and the Pfeffer family. Below is information to help prepare your students for the German components of the production.

German Vocabulary Words Muter- Mother Vater- Father Danke- Thank You Gut- Good Meine- Mine Kopf- Head Und- And Ja-Yes Untersiete- Bottom

Hans’ Favorite song - Mein Hut Der Hat Drei EckenHans sings when he is happy, but he also sings to make himself feel better when he is scared. His favorite song to sing is Mein Hut Der Hat Drei Ecken, which in English translates to My Hat It Has Three Corners. The students will learn this song in the pre-performance workshop, but below are the words and translation if you would like to teach it to them in advance. You can find a great YouTube video with the tune at http://youtube/HA-BE6qM_pY.

Mein hut der hat drei ecken (My hat it has three corners)Drei ecken hat mein hut (Three corners has my hat)

Und hatt er nicht drei ecken (And had it nor three corners)So war er nicht mein hut (It would not be my hat)

Throughout the story, Hans’ older brothers learn that even though Hans would rather sing than swing an axe, it is our differences that make us special. They also learn that kindness and generosity will get you much further in life than greed and selfishness. Hans shows us that it is important to be true to who you are and respectful of others. Hans also shows us that persons of good character help others.

We Are More Like the Pfeffer Family Than We Think!Because the Pfeffer family lives in Germany, students may assume that they are very different from families here in the United States. However, in the pre-performance workshop, students will discuss how German immigrants have influenced our culture here in America. Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, hot dogs, hamburgers, sauerkraut, and the tuba were brought to America by German immigrants in the 1600’s, and are still very much a part of our American culture today.

About the Production:The Golden Goose has been developed to give first grade students the chance to actively participate in a live theatrical performance. Audience members will be selected to assume roles as citizens in the Kingdom of the Golden Goose; they might be Hunters, Elders, Clowns, Bakers, Firefighters, or Soldiers. Students will also be selected to play members of the Royal Family.

This Adaptation of The Golden Goose Intends to: • Make students familiar with the story of the Golden Goose by the Brother’s Grimm. • Show students a family from Germany so they can compare and contrast how their family is similar or different to a family from another country. • Highlight different jobs that people have in a community and why those jobs are important. • Introduce the audience to some basic German words.

The Importance of Community in The Golden GooseNo matter whether you live in a big city like Los Angeles or a tiny town in Central New York, every person plays an important role in making his or her community a great place to live. In every country and continent around the world, people work hard to make sure that their hometown is the best that it can be. During The Golden Goose, students will help create the community the Pfeffer family lives in. Students will become Hunters, Firefighters, Clowns, Soldiers, Bakers, and Elders through sound and motion. By helping us tell the story of The Golden Goose, students will learn that it takes many people with different talents to make a town work. In the pre-performance workshop, they will explore different jobs in their community, and consider how their town is similar or different to the village in The Golden Goose. They will also discuss how they can play an important role in their community, even though they are too young to have a job.

Did you know? German immigrants established the grade level system that we follow in our schools today. The first Kindergarten was established in Wisconsin by a German man named Friedrich Fröbel, who believed that students should be nurtured like delicate plants; hence the name Kindergarten, which in English translates to Children’s Garden.