Curated OER
Examining Character Traits through Character Mapping
Some of what we know about a character is directly stated. Some of what we know is inferred by events in the story. Character maps help primary learners recognize the difference. After modeling with a story your class has read, pupils...
Curated OER
Remembering What We Read
Students discover strategies to help them better understand the stories they read. As a familiar story is read to the class, individuals practice answering basic questions about the main characters, settings, problems, etc. while...
Curated OER
Fractured Fairy Tales
Students use familiar characters, plots, and settings from traditional fairy tales to create "fractured" versions, while experimenting with satire, irony and parody. A fractured fairy tale is designed to be humorous by changing the story...
Curated OER
Southeast Asian Folktales
Fifth graders locate and identify the countries of Southeast Asia on a map. In groups, they compare and contrast photographs and artifacts from their own lives with those living in Asia. They write their own folktales based off of...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Using Literary Elements to Compare Fiction Texts
Pupils explore language arts by reading and reflecting on literary examples. In this fiction writing lesson, students read several different cultural versions of the story "Cinderella" and discuss their interaction with the story and...
Curated OER
Cinderbank
Fourth graders identify major components of a "Cinderella" story in order to create a database.
Curated OER
The Magical World of Russian Fairy Tales
Students read several fairy tales of Russian origin. They brainstorm common elements of a fairy tale and identify those elements in several examples. They retell a favorite fairy tale through a skit, oral storytelling, a sketch, or a...
Penguin Books
Folklore and Fairytales: A Guide to Using Traditional Tales and Reimagined Classics
Every culture has its own stories to tell. An interesting educator's guide shares a large collection of fairytales and folktales, some from different cultures and some re-creations of classics. A summary and brief teaching ideas...
Curated OER
Comparing Cultures
Young readers compare two stories/cultures, identifying how they are alike and different. They share their own version of a well-known story and adapt it to another culture. They explain their adaptations.
Curated OER
Fairy Tales Unit Ideas
Students listen to children's fairy tales and watch them on a video. Afterward, they list the heroes from each story. Students write a short paragraph about a typical day for the hero. Students dress up like their character and give a...
Curated OER
Ending a Famous Fairy Tale
Altering the ending of a famous fairy tale is a really fun way for kids to experience creative writing. The instructional activity here has them do just that! Learners listen to the famous fairy tale, "The Twelve Brothers," and change...
Curated OER
Short Story Elements
Students engage in a lesson that investigates the elements that are necessary in a short story. Each element is covered separately while they take notes for each part. Then the teacher points out each element while reading a short story...
Curated OER
Once Upon a Time
Young scholars use Inspiration to Identify the defining characteristics of Fairy Tales, They create a literary web, study the basic structure of plot, and recognize that themes reoccur across literary works. They complete Once Upon a...
Curated OER
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Fourth graders participate in a play to work on seeing events from a different perspective. Some of them are reporters, some cameramen and women, and others are interviewed. They put themselves in the shoes of the people in the book...
Curated OER
Fairy Tales
Students write and draw fairy tales based on modern themes and/or their own experiences. The class is divided into groups and are assigned a fairy tale. The groups develop a modern story based on this fairy tale through group discussion.
Curated OER
Japanese Folktales
Students read both Japanese and American folktales and respond to teacher generated questions. They compare the folktales and determine if there is a lesson plan to be learned. They draw story card to retell the story to the class.
Curated OER
Adjectives
Students are encouraged to think about the adjectives they choose and to steer away from adjectives that have become meaningless through overuse, such as "nice" and "good." They then add meaning and interest to sentences.
Curated OER
Stories of Nepal
Students explore folktales and fairy tales from Nepal to help them understand the Nepalese culture, and to compare the stories to the ones the students may know. After reading the stories, students consider what rural life is like in...
Curated OER
Multicultural Fairy Tales
Third graders explore the elements of a story using fairy tales from all over the world. They compare and contrast story elements, key ideas and concepts found in a variety of texts from around the world.