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Fun with Fractured Fairytales WebQuest: Process

How do we get started?

Students will follow the Symbaloo Lesson plan on the "Task" page under "Student Resources."  The start of the lesson including the Anticipatory (or A+) set begins there.

 

Use this page here for your lesson planning purposes.

Note:  Students will not be able to work completely independently through the whole unit just on the Symbaloo Lesson Plan.  The mentor text activity with cooperative learning strategies begins with the venn diagram on the Symbaloo and is done offline.  The questions following the venn diagram link check comprehension.  The students are then lead to the final project on ABCya's Storymaker or StoryboardThat.

Unit Information

Description:  Students will identify the parts of a fairy tale as well as know that fairy tales are folktales (stories that have been handed down from generation to generation orally).  Students will be able to give examples of fairy tales and use the parts of a narrative (characters, setting, problem, etc.) to create their own fractured fairy tale story.

Objectives in student-friendly terms:

Grade Level Standards:

Grade Level(s)

Grades 2-3

 

It's necessary that students have a basic understanding of plot structure or the parts of a narrative.  It also helps if students have the ability to quickly remember and recite facts about fairy tales which they will learn, which is more difficult to do at first grade and lower grade levels.

Content Area(s) Addressed

NE LA 2.1.6.b, .e, .g, .h

ISTE 1a, b, 2a, d

AASL 1.2.3, 2.1.6, 4.1.3, 4.1.8, 4.2.4

Important Vocabulary:

classic fairy tale Is the type of fairy tale most often told.
Has most of the elements of a fairy tale.
cultural retelling of a fairy tale Is easily recognized as a fairy tale even if it doesn't have all the same elements.
Has characteristics important to the country it came from.
modern or fractured fairy tale Has the least number of fairy tale characteristics.
Was written more recently (the last 20-30 years still counts as recent).
Usually has elements changed for humorous effect.

Useful Anchor Charts

Feel free to use whatever anchor charts work best for you.

Here are some examples I've used throughout the unit:

How do we get started?

Sequence of Instruction:

 

Introducing students to the fairy tale elements:

  1. A+ Anticipatory Set -- Watch the Once Upon a Time TV show ad.  This will trigger prior knowledge and students' experiences with fairy tales and pique interest.
  2. Ask Ss "What is a fairy tale?" List student examples on a white board, chart paper, or in an interactive notebook.
  3. Tell Ss that a fairy tale is a specific type of folktale (see anchor chart bottom left corner).  Define folktale, using manipulative vocabulary cards or a word wall.  Have Ss recite definition orally. 
  4. Outline the elements of a fairy tale:  Characters are royal, princes and princesses; setting is a castle or forest; problem is good vs. evil; and solution involves magic or threes and sevens; begins with "Once upon a time" and ends "happily ever after".  Tell students that not every fairy tale perfectly has all of the characteristics.
  5. Have Ss go to padlet located in the Symbaloo Lesson Plan to give examples of a fairy tale.  See picture below:
     
    Many students will try to name Disney movies (common misconception that all Disney movies are fairy tales).  Address this misconception.  Tell Ss there is a difference between classic and modern fairytales.  Cultural retellings of fairy tales had some similarities to the classic version, but have characteristics important to the country they come from.  Many modern fairytales will change things about the original fairy tale in order to make it more relevant for this time period.  Fairy tales change over time.
  6. Have students complete the activity in Symbaloo, the Flip Quiz.  This game can be done independently or in partners or teams.  This helps students review the elements of a fairy tale in a Jeopardy-like game.

Learning about different types of fairy tales:

  1. Using a paper copy of the readwritethink.org paper graphic organizer, compare and contrast various fairy tale stories:  Classic, cultural, and fractured/modern.  

    Choose from any of the following scenarios based on what stories you have available in your library or classroom.      Feel free to make the process individualized. Group students in pairs and one will read as the other writes down facts and then students can switch roles based on what your class needs:

    Scenarios:
    Compare and contrast two versions of Rapunzel.  Classic version by Paul O. Zelinsky and modern version by Lynn Roberts.  Refer back to elements of a fairy tale.
    Compare and contrast two or three Cinderella stories:  one Caribbean version by Robert D. San Souci, Yeh-Shen, and The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo. 
    Compare and contrast the classic Little Red Riding Hood (my favorite is the one illustrated by Trina Shart Hyman) with Lon Po Po, a cultural retelling from China.
  2. Using the readwritethink.org virtual Venn diagram link found in the Symbaloo Lesson Plan, have students create the final copy to share out with the whole class.  Students can take turns typing and assisting each other with the technology.
  3. Share the student Venn diagrams as a class and reflect upon what students have learned about each type of fairy tale story.  What makes classic fairy tales, cultural retellings, and fractured/modern fairy tales similar?  How are they different?

​At this point, the Symbaloo Lesson Plan walks students through 2-3 comprehension checking questions to validate their learning about classic fairy tales, cultural retellings, and reviews fractured fairy tales.  The Symbaloo also gives the instructions on how to complete their final project.

 

Note:  ABCya's Storymaker is currently a free resource.  A high-tech, paid version of the same tool is StoryboardThat.  I would suggest looking at StoryboardThat if you are interested in differentiating this unit for high ability learners.  This tool is also great for creating web comics and plot diagrams as well.

Final Steps

Creating the final project:

  1. Use a graphic organizer like this free one to introduce the topic of a fractured fairy tale to students.  Have students pick elements (characters, setting, etc.) out of a virtual bag.  Or put the students in partners and have them take turns picking elements from their favorite.  You can also input pre-selected elements into a random picker tool.
  2. Consider having students storyboard after they outline their fractured fairy tales on paper.  There are some great free graphic organizers that you can find online.  This will help students imagine what they will draw
  3. Assist in students writing and publishing their fractured fairy tale on ABCya's Storymaker or on Storyboard that for advanced learners.  Since ABCya's Storymaker is limited in the number of pages you create, have students save their work and then create a new document.  Just keep going!

Finishing the unit -- Grading and Reflecting

Image attribution:

Iván Erre Jota.  February 1, 2015.  MEDELLÍN - 2015 Atardecer.  [Photograph].  Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/15072398@N00/16241006197.

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