Around the world with Cinderella!

I have been working on a fairy tale unit that includes the analysis of Cinderella stories from around the world (Domatila, The Golden Sandal, Jouanah, Yeh-Shen, etc.). My objective is for kids to see patterns in writing. They will start to recognize common motifs in Cinderella stories and then begin applying this to other stories and works that we read. They will hopefully come to see that we have certain expectations of certain types of characters such as step-mothers and supernatural beings such as a "fairy godmother." At first I was sure that this was too "girly," but I have come to see that the boys enjoy it just as much, if not more, than the girls. The final assessment of this Cinderella unit is to have to kids write a Maine Cinderella story. They have to use the 7 motifs that we identified and apply it to our Maine culture. The other day a tough young man in 6th grade overheard me discussing the lesson plan with a fellow teacher and came up to ask if I would want to read his "Cinderblock" story from last year. My first question was, "You still have it?" and he replied that he keeps it on his dresser. He said it was one of his favorite things we did. I was shocked. This boy who loves shooting things, big trucks, and logging was actually excited by a Cinderella unit! He remembered so much of the objectives too. We had a great discussion and I felt so much more confident about doing it again in the future. It is amazing how we can have such an impact without even knowing it.