Our Online Fairy Tale Unit
"Once upon a time there was a class who loved reading all about....FAIRY TALES!"
This is a great unit to end the year "happily ever after," but of course it can be done at any time!
To introduce this unit, I give each student a paper with blank spaces, and tell them we are ready to play "Guess That Fairy Tale!" Since so many children have some familiarity with this genre, this works well. I have a chest with twelve items in it, each representing a fairy tale or a character. As I take out each item, the children can work together to write down the name of the fairy tale they think it represents! Some of the items I have are:
glass slipper (Cinderella)
long yarn braid (Rapunzel)
peas (Princess and the Pea)
spinning wheel (Rumpelstiltskin)
bed (Sleeping Beauty)
red cape (Little Red Riding Hood)
brick (Three Little Pigs)
bowl and spoon (Three Bears)
red rose (Beauty and the Beast)
apple (Snow White)
beans (Jack and the Beanstalk)
magic lamp (Aladdin)
I usually start this 4 to 6 week unit by concentrating on what I call the "THREE" stories, and their many versions and adaptations. Here are some we like to read:
The Three Little Pigs
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
The Three Wishes
The Three Sillies
The Three Feathers
The Three Bears
The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig
The True Story of the Three Pigs
The Fourth Little Pig
The Three Javelinas
Somebody and the Three Blairs
Goldilocks and the Three Hares
GOLDILOCKS - A Limerick
There once was a girl called Goldilocks
Who wasn't a person who knocks.
At the home of three bears
She ate mush and broke chairs
And probably tried on the socks!
We read and compare these stories, usually beginning with the traditional retelling of the story and then compare and contrast it with the modern and humorous versions. After reading many versions of the Three Bears, we also read "Dear Peter Rabbit" and the "Jolly Postman," two books featuring letters to and from fairy tale characters. We then write our own apology letter from Golidlocks to the three bears. We also work with a partner to create our own "three" story, keeping in mind some of the fairy tale elements.
Another fun and cooperative activity to do after reading these stories is to create a "mixed up fairy tale." Dividing the class into four or five groups, they each choose a card from a "character" bag. The "good character" bag would have a card for a pig, bear or goat." The "evil character" bag has cards for a troll, Golidlocks, and a wolf. The "setting" bag has cards for the woods, the farm and a bridge. After each student has chosen a card, he/she works together with their team to create and act out their silly fairy tale. It may be the story of the Wolf and Goldilocks...and they are always hysterical!
We then move on to other fairy tales, and we create a large chart of fairy tale elements, including a royal character, evil character, magic, special number, beginning and ending words, and animal characters. As we read each fairy tale, we mark off on our chart the elements it contains. We may also focus on fairy tales featuring royal characters, such as these:
Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Ugly (Yolen)
Rapunzel
Snow White
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
The Princess and the Pea
The Cowboy and the Black-Eyed Pea
The Paper Bag Princess
The Emperor's New Clothes
The Principal's New Clothes
The Frog Prince
The stories of "Sleeping Beauty," "Snow White" and "The 12 Dancing Princesses" lend themselves to a comparison study using a three-way Venn Diagram. All three stories feature princesses who fall asleep! The "Paper Bag Princess" is a great modern-day story, and we love to use a real lunch-sized paper bag as the body of our princess, and then add a head, arms and feet...and of course, a crown! A neat craft to do after reading "Rapunzel" is to make a castle tower with Rapunzel looking down from it, and using real yarn for the hair makes the fairy tale come alive!
For a full week (or longer) we focus on the many, many versions of the perennial favorite "Cinderella." We begin by reading the European version by Charles Perrault, which is the tale most of us are familiar with, and then move on to other versions, both from other countries as well as the modern and silly ones!
Yeh-Shen (from China)
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters (African)
The Rough-Face Girl (Native American)
The Egyptian Cinderella
Prince Cinders
Dinorella
Cinderella Penguin
Cinder Elly
Cinderella Bigfoot
CINDERELLA - Another Limerick
There once was a girl - Cinderella,
Who had a sad story to tella.
Her stepsisters were mean,
Made her sew, cook and clean,
Until she wed a prince of a fella.
During our study of Cinderella, we create a booklet called "Comparing Cinderellas." There are three different comparison sheets inside: one is a question and answer page, one a checklist and the other is a pictorial representation in the form of a castle drawing. After reading each version, the children choose one of the pages and record the Cinderella elements. A highlight of this study is the creation of our own "modern" Cinderella stories. We've had Cinderella going to the barn dance and dancing to country music, and we've even had the story of "Cinder Heifer" featuring a Cindercow!
Three Wishes - A Poem by Mrs. Tonnessen
If I had three wishes, I'll tell you what I'd do.
I wish for something special, just for me and you.
I wouldn't wish for toys, I wouldn't wish for money.
I know that might sound strange to you, I know that might seem funny.
Instead I'd wish for happiness,
Instead I'd wish for joy.
Instead I'd wish for love to come to every girl and boy.
If I had three wishes, that is what I'd do.
I'd make a wish that everyone could have someone like you!
To round out our study of this genre, we read many other versions of fairy tales, and we practice our summarizing skills in a booklet called "Fun with Fairy Tales." Some of the other stories we enjoy include:
Jack and the Beanstalk
The Little Mermaid
Little Red Riding Hood
The Ugly Duckling
Hansel and Gretel
Puss In Boots
Thumbelina
The Bremen Town Musicians
As a year end activity, we like to do a Fairy Tale Finale! Family members are invited, and the children all wear paper crowns and march into the classroom to "royal" music! They then recite several of our fairy tale poems, and then showcase their own fairy tale project. Prior to the program, I'll send home information asking each child to complete a fairy tale project at home. They can choose to do a diorama, a poster or an illustrated book report on any fairy tale of their choice. They bring this in prior to the Finale, and after showcasing their work to the parents on the day of the program, we have some refreshments, such as Royal Cookies and Princess Punch! And then, of course, we all live "happily ever after!"
FAIRY TALES (to the tune of "Jingle Bells")
Once upon a time,
In a land far away,
A girl kissed a frog -
That just made his day!
Far across the town,
Red Riding Hood took fright -
She found a wolf
In granny's bed
When she told her goodnight!
Fairy Tales! Fairy Tales!
Read them every day!
Oh what fun it is to hear
How Goldilocks got away!
Fairy Tales! Fairy Tales!
Full of joy and laughter!
Do you know how this one ends?
Why, its HAPPILY EVER AFTER!
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