Cinderella is a classic love story when Cinderella is the protagonist—but what happens if a stepsister tells the story? Focus on point of view with a lesson plan about fairy tales and story elements. After reading a few familiar fairy tales, kids rewrite the stories to make a minor character (or antagonist) the person telling the story.

Concepts

point of view, protagonists, fairy tales, story elements, plot, first-person point of view, third-person point of view

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Use in a unit about stories in different genres (fairy tales), or when discussing story elements
• Have kids all write about the same story from different perspectives
• Prompt older learners to complete the activity as well, raising the assessment standards to include more advanced writing skills

Classroom Considerations

• Lesson is part of a larger unit on mock trials; use when discussing mock trials or as its own stand-alone lesson
• Designed for gifted learners, but helpful and applicable to language arts classes at any level
• Requires access to several fairy tales, as well as different articles and stories about fairy tales (titles and authors are listed)

Pros

• Lesson is engaging and thought-provoking for even your most reluctant writers
• Allows for differentiation, as kids can choose the stories and characters they wish to write about
• Provides reading handouts for six fairy tales, as well as a presentation to accompany your lesson

Cons

• Assessment is casual; consider creating a rubric for this assignment

Common Core

RL.4.6 RL.4.9 RL.5.6 RL.5.9