Curated OER
Elements of the Oral Tradition
Various genres of oral tradition are outlined and defined in these slides. Give your class examples of folk tales, fairy tales, parables, fables, legends, and myths before reading an example of one of these stories. This overview acts as...
Curated OER
Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Plot and Setting
Students examine plot and setting of Cinderella, and how it changes as it is translated into different cultures, discuss universal literary elements of the Cinderella story, and write narratives with original settings and plots...
Weekly Story Book
Folk Tales and Fables
Pages and pages of engaging activities, worksheets, and writing projects on teaching folktales and fables await you! You don't want to miss this incredible resource that not only includes a wide range of topics and graphic...
Curated OER
Retell the "Tail" of the Tale
Students explore story structure. In this multicultural literacy instructional activity, students discuss common elements of folk tales and then listen to the story Tiger and the Big Wind: A Tale from Africa. Students identify the...
Curated OER
Printing and Publishing
Explore African literature and artwork in a multicultural literacy and art lesson. Begin with a read aloud of Tiger and the Big Wind: A Tale from Africa, and afterward, have kids retell the main events in the story. They...
Curated OER
Morality "Tails" East and West: European Fables and Buddhist Jataka Tales
Have your class explore Buddhist Jataka Tales to compare and contrast them to European fables. After defining fables, Jataka tales, and the elements of each, learners identify themes and patterns for both types of narratives and the...
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...
Great Schools
Different Types of Writing
What type of writing is this? Learners read a brief introduction to various types of text: instructions, explanations, poems, folk tales, novels, informative, and arguments. The introduction doesn't explain these, so...
Curated OER
A Togolese Tale: The Big Fire
High schoolers identify common elements found in folk tales and read a Togolese folk tale told by Fred Koehler. They analyze the folk tale for its elements and compare and contrast it with well-known Western folk tales.
Curated OER
Identifying Structured Patterns in Folk Tales
Students are introduced to the structure of folk tales. After working through an example, they identify as many folk tales as possible that follow the same pattern. In groups, they compare a folk tale and a fairy tale to identify the...
Curated OER
The Hare and the Water: A Tanzanian Folk Tale
"The Hare and the Water," a Tanzanian folk tale, lends a global perspective to literary analysis. Learners spend the first two days reading and storyboarding. On day three, they examine folk tale elements (worksheet included), and design...
Curated OER
Write Your Own Folk or Fairy Tale
Students analyze folk and fairy tales. In this language arts lesson, students discuss the elements of a tale determining what the differences are between folk and fairy tales. Students then write their own tales using the graphic...
Curated OER
Tall Tales Today
Students explore the attributes of American tall tales. In this folklore activity, students read several tall tales, describe the elements of tall tales, and then use hyperbole to write their own tall tales.
Curated OER
A Dash of Folk, A Pinch of Fairy Recipes for Playmaking
Young scholars examine the importance of oral traditions while reading various fairy and folk tales. Given a piece of clay, they can mold it into any shape they want and pass it to their neighbor which keeps building the object. They...
Curated OER
Fairy Tales
Students explore fairy tales. In this fairy tales instructional activity, students analyze the main idea of a fairy tale and interpret it. Students then re-write the story from the point of view of another character or object in the story.
Curated OER
A Fairy Tale: Italian Folklore
Students work in groups to write an original fairy tale in Italian. They research the components of a fairy tale, compare and contrast fairy tales with myths and follow an outline to write a complete, 15-20 page fairy tale.
Curated OER
Once Upon A Time...
Students discuss elements of fairy tales, examine selected piece of Robert Harris' art, and compose fairy tales based on what they see and imagine. Students then view homes in Harris' artwork collection, create home in which they would...
Curated OER
Fate vs. Mind: A Macedonian Folk Tale
Students read examples of folk tales and describe the characteristics of fables and folk tales. They also examine the concept of fate and if it plays a part in people's lives.
Curated OER
Fables and Trickster Tales Around the World
Students analyze fables and trickster tales from various cultural traditions. In this fable analysis lesson, students identify the elements of fables and trickster stories. Students read Aesop's fables and Ananse spider stories....
Curated OER
Tall Tale Introduction
Students explore folk tales by completing a graphic organizer with classmates. In this tall tale lesson, students read the famous story Paul Bunyan and identify the many characteristics of a fictional tall tale story. Students complete a...
Curated OER
Integrating Japanese Folk Tales into the Classroom Using Japanese Kamishibai
Students study Japanese folk tales focusing on the traditional values and key elements. They compare the Japanese values with their own. They discuss Japanese art before designing a set of kamishibai on which they write a summary of a...
Curated OER
African Folk Tales
Seventh graders listen to, recite, and research African folktales. They research African artwork to add to their original folk tales which they write.
Curated OER
CAN WE SWITCH GENDERS OF STORY CHARACTERS?
Analyze characters and stories to identify stereotyping. Learners will examine the concept of character gender to evaluate bias in classroom story books. They are asked to read a story or play and change the gender of the character to...
Curated OER
Bringing Household Items to Life
Use folk tales as inspiration for learning about and using personification in creative writing. Learners brainstorm together in order to practice personification before writing their own poems or paragraphs about a household object.