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
Learners 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...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Using Literary Elements to Compare Fiction Texts
Students 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
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
Learners 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. Learners 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
Once Upon a Time
Students 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 Time...
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
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.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Story Elements Using Cinderella
Listen to an explanation of the story elements in Cinderella including exposition, characters, setting, sequence, conflict, climax, and resolution.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Exploring the World of Cinderella Tales
Students will read three different Cinderella tales, including tales from Africa, China, and America. Upon completion of a Venn diagram comparing the similarities and differences of these tales, the students will complete and present...
Birmingham Grid for Learning (UK)
Birmingham Grid for Learning: Story Telling: Cinderella
Click through a book to read and view illustrations of the story "Cinderella." Click the links below the book to open word documents with additional activities focusing on the characters, setting, sequencing, illustrations, line...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Variations in Plot and Setting
Although Disney's version of Cinderella is most popular in America, hundreds of versions exist across many cultures. This resource provides lessons, which examine the similarities and differences in literary elements among many versions...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Characters
Learn about the different types of characters in Cinderella, and determine which traits belong to the hero and villain. Click on the "Character" button.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Interactives: Elements of a Story: Characters
The interactive story lesson engages students in the study of "characters" and terms associated with them. Using the story of Cinderella as an anchor story, students will identify the following: hero, villain, protagonist, antagonist,...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Cinderella Folk Tales (Lesson Plans)
These five activities allow learners to explore the various Cinderella folktales, while comparing and contrasting the characters. They provide lesson extensions, links to charts, discussion questions and the like.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Elements of a Story Interactive
Explore different ingredients, or elements, that go into stories and make them so much fun. Read the story, "Cinderella," and look at all the different pieces of the tale to see how they all fit together.