TUPELO COMMUNITY THEATRE
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Study Guide
Snow White Study Guide
Many Different Versions
Snow White is one of the most widely retold stories of folklore. There are literally hundreds of versions of this story each with its own interpretation. For example, in some, it is Snow White’s mother who is jealous of her beauty and in others it is her stepmother. Probably the most popular version, among children today, is Walt Disney Studio’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs produced in 1937 as an animated film. Perhaps you have more than one version at your school.
Activity
Read two different versions of the Snow White story to your students and ask them to compare the two stories. Or, have them watch the Disney animated film and compare it to another version that you read to them. How were they different? How were they the same? Fairy Tales often teach a moral or a lesson? What is the lesson taught in each of the stories?
Explain that fairy tales were originally passed down verbally. Play a version of gossip as a class. Read a short unfamiliar fairy tale with lots of details. Have each student retell the story to the class and see how many different versions are created as a result. How were they different? How were they the same?
Language Arts
When the magic mirror speaks to the Queen, it used words that rhyme.
Activity
Select a dwarf and create a list of words that rhyme with his name. Then write a poem about that dwarf using the words from your list. Here is an example to get you started. Make the list of words as a class and write the poem individually. Have the students recite their poem for the class.
Sarge
LargeBargeChargeMarge
There once was a dwarf named Sarge
Whose feet were as a big as a Barge,
His mom’s name was Marge,
He was always in charge,
And I think, he liked everything large.
Character Creation
There are only seven dwarfs in the story. There could have been more! And, all the dwarfs in the story were men, but what if there had been women dwarfs? How would they have been different?
Activity
Create a dwarf of your own. Think of a name for an eighth dwarf. Be sure to give it a name that will describe its behavior. For example, in the story, Gloomy Gus is often miserable and frowning while Spritely is always cheerful and smiling. What is unique about your dwarf’s appearance? Add your dwarf to the chart above.
Art
Draw a picture of your dwarf.
Create a castle or the dwarf’s cottage out of shoeboxes, paper towel and toilet paper tubes. Decorate.
Make dwarf paper dolls. Draw a basic dwarf on a piece of plain white paper. Create different hats, shirts, pants and shoes out of construction paper. Use glue sticks to make the clothes removable. Try on different hat, shirt, pant and shoe combinations to create several different dwarfs. Name them.
Writing
Write a short paragraph from the first person perspective of any of the characters from the play or from the dwarf that you created earlier…”What it is like to be ______(one of the characters). Describe a typical day.
Math Activity
Create word problems suitable for each students level, using the dwarfs as a theme. For example:
How many dwarfs’ names begin with the letter “S”? How many dwarfs’ names begin with the letter “G”?
If Snow White and 5 dwarfs took a nap, how many dwarfs would be awake?
If each dwarf brought home two potatoes every night for dinner, how may potatoes would Snow White have to cook for supper?
If each dwarf had five pets, how many pets would there be all together?
Science
The Queen gave Snow White a poisoned apple, but without the poison, apples are a wonderful fruit.
Activity
How does an apple grow?
Label the parts of an apple.
Plant an apple seed.
Make applesauce by peeling and mashing apples.
Social Studies
While the Dwarfs are at work, Snow White is left alone in their cottage. They tell her to be on guard. “No visitors.” When the Queen comes to the cottage, she is in disguise. Snow White lets her in.
Activity
Use the events in the play to teach about child safety.
Cleanliness
Before Snow White came to live with the Dwarfs they were not practicing good personal hygiene. Discuss what that means. How did Snow White help them practice better hygiene? What good personal hygiene habits do you practice?
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was one of the stories told by the Brothers Grimm. They were from Germany.
Activity
Locate Germany on a map. Create a German Flag out of construction paper. The word “kinder” is a German word that means children. What word in the English language has “kinder” in it? (Kindergarten) How is life in Germany different from life in America?
Family
In today’s society there are many types of families. Some are traditional with a mother and a father, but each is different because of the number of children in each family. Use the Snow White story as a springboard for teaching about the different types of families.
Activity
Recognize the non-traditional families represented in the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Discuss the differences in the family that Snow White was a part. What role did Snow White play in each family? What role do you play in your family? What new responsibilities did the dwarfs have once Snow White was living with them? What are your responsibilities at home and at school?
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