Dreaming Of Fairy Tales

By Patty James

Introduction

Have you ever dreamed of living in a place where princes and princesses meet witches and goblins, or mythical creatures grant wishes and cast magic spells? And in the end, everyone lives happily ever after!

A fairy tale, or wonder tale, is a kind of folktale or fable. In these stories we meet witches and queens, giants and elves, princes, dragons, talking animals, ogres, princesses, and sometimes even fairies. Marvelous and magical things happen to characters in fairy tales. A boy may become a bird. A princess may sleep for a hundred years.

The oldest fairy tales were told and retold for generations before they were written down. The best-known fairy tales of today originated from folk tales of France and Germany. French fairy tales were the first to be collected and written down. Fairy tales were actually written for adults, but now we can read fairy tales from almost any culture and they can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

Today, some authors still like to retell and invent new fairy tales. The Cinderella story was recently re-imagined by Diane Goode in her book Cinderella: The Dog and Her Little Glass Slipper. Jon Scieszka's fractured fairy tales in The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales are another example of a retelling but with humor.

Task

As you do this Web quest, you will increase your knowledge in the following:

· You will explore the history of fairy tales.

· You will explore the different cultures that have created fairy tales.

· You will read or listen to, and analyze Fairy Tales from around the world including characters, setting, story problem, events, solutions, and Fairy Tale characteristics.

· You will identify the elements of nine different fairy tales.

· You will complete a Venn diagram about two Cinderella tales.

· You will use PowerPoint to make a four-slide version of a fairy tale of your choice.

Process

Step 1 – Discovering Fairy Tales

Go to “Discovering Fairy Tales” and explore the history of fairy tales, the different cultures that have created them, and the magical elements that make them what they are in this basic introduction to the fairy tale genre. If your teacher has already discussed about the history of Fairy Tales, go on to Step 2.

Step 2 - Fairy Tale Characteristics Chart

Click to see a chart listing the different characteristics of Fairy Tales. This will help you to recognize when a story is a Fairy Tale.

Step 3 – Identifying Elements of a Fairy Tale Chart

Print out a copy of Identifying Elements of a Fairy Tale Chart. After you have read or listen to these stories, follow the directions on the chart to identify recurring characteristics presented in fairy tales. You must do the story titles that are already listed. You will need to do four more titles of your choice.

Step 4 – Venn diagram Of Two Cinderella Fairy Tales

Using the Cinderella stories shown below, make a graphic organizer (Venn Diagram) using the computer program called Inspiration or using a Venn Diagram given to you by your teacher, to compare and contrast (what is alike and different) the two Cinderella fairy tales you choose.

Step 5 – Fairy Tale Slide Show

Print out a copy of the Story Map Outline and the Slide Planning Sheet. Choose one of your favorite fairy tales and use the Story Map Outline sheet to identify characters, settings, problem, and solutions. Use the Slide Planning Sheet to turn your fairy tale into a four-slide slide show. (For grades 1-2, use the Fairy Tale Template for PowerPoint.)

Step 6 – After All The Fun

After you have finished Steps 1 – 5, here are some other sites about Fairy Tales that you might like to visit:

What Is A Fairy Tale? http://www.montana.edu/4teachers/instcomp/hunts/language/fairytale/fairytale.html

Grimm’s Fairy Tales: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/index2.html

Ezone Productions Illustrated Fairy Tales: http://www.ezoneproductions.com/

Resources

Resources needed to complete the tasks include:

Fairy Tale Characteristic Chart
Identifying Elements of a Fairy Tale Chart
Story Map Outline (Page 5 of .pdf file)
Slide Planning Sheet (Page 6 of .pdf file)
Fairy Tale Template (PowerPoint)
Venn Diagram or Inspiration Software

Resources used to finalize this web quest include:

The Realm of Fairy Tales: http://www.webquestuk.org.uk/completed%20Quests/Fairy%20Tales/jhwebquest.htm

Fairy Tales @ Scholastic.com: http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/fairytales_home.htm

Discovering Fairy Tales: http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/fairytales_discovering.htm

Welcome To Classic Fairy Tales: http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/jcheek3/fairytales.htm

Fairy Tale Web Quest for the Academically Gifted: http://vandoraspringses.wcpss.net/fairy_tale_wq.htm

How to Write a Fairy Tale and Make a Multimedia Presentation: http://www.assd.winnipeg.mb.ca/schools/pj/ftsteps.htm

Magical Fairy Tale Moments: http://www.longwood.k12.ny.us/ridge/wq/savona/index.html

Fairy Tales: http://www.mhcbe.ab.ca/ict/Projects/FTales/Ftales/FairyTales.htm

What Makes A Fairy Tale A Fairy Tale? http://www.geocities.com/ljacoby_2000/fairytale.html

Integrated Projects – Fairy Tales Lesson Plan: http://www.teacheruniverse.com/tools/integrate_projects/fairy_tales/fairy_tales_lessonplanner.html

Venn Diagram: http://home.att.net/~teaching/graphorg/venn.pdf

Teacher Created Computer Activity Cards, Level 4, Sample Pages 5 & 6: http://www.buyteachercreated.com/samplefile/2673s.pdf

Fairy Tales Around The World: http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=387

Clipart: http://www.alshandra.com/Pages/clipartmain.htm

Teacher Resources

Optional Project Introduction For Fairy Tale Web Quest:

· Ask students to name fairy tales that they know. Write the responses on the board.

· Then have them talk about why they like fairy tales.

· Share a book version of the story of “Cinderella” or another popular fairy tale. Ask students to point out illustrations or plot features that make this story a fairy tale. (See Fairy Tale Characteristic Chart) Ask them to give reasons for their responses.

· Read “Discovering Fairy Tales” (@ Scholastic.com) with the whole class if your students are proficient listeners and readers. You may wish to paraphrase the page’s details or skip it entirely if your students are mostly novice readers.

Other Web Sites For Teachers:

Fractured Fairy Tales: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/fft.html

Fairy And Folk Tales: http://www.kidskonnect.com/FairyTales/FairyFolkTales.html

A Fairy Tale Timeline: http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/introduction/timeline.html

SurLaLune Fairy Tales: http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/index.html

Fairy Tales And Fables Resources:

http://www.vinton-shellsburg.k12.ia.us/tms/seventh/rdg7/fairy/fables.html

Fairy Tale and Folk Tale CyberDictionary: http://www.op97.org/instruct/ftcyber/

All About Fairy Tales, Rhymes, Fables And Myths: http://www.suelebeau.com/fairytales.htm

Theme Units/Literature/Fairy Tales:

http://abcteach.com/directory/theme_units/literature/fairy_tales/

Evaluation

Your Web Quest will be evaluated based on the following rubric:

Reading - Analyzing Information: Fairy Tale

Webquest

Teacher name: Patty James

Student Name ___________________

CATEGORY	Excellent	Good	Satisfactory	Needs Improvement
Discussion of Fairy Tale facts or elements	Student is able to participate in discussion of Fairy Tales by giving examples of 4 or more facts or elements.	Student is able to participate in discussion of Fairy Tales by giving examples of 3 facts or elements.	Student is able to participate in discussion of Fairy Tales by giving examples of 2 facts or elements.	Student is unable to participate in discussion of Fairy Tales by not knowing and facts or elements.
Elements of Fairy Tales Chart	Student fills out Elements of Fairy Tales Chart for 8 or 9 books.	Student fills out Elements of Fairy Tales Chart for 6 or 7 books.	Student fills out Elements of Fairy Tales Chart for 5 books.	Student fills out Elements of Fairy Tales Chart for less than 5 books.
Identifies important information in Venn diagram	Student lists all the main points in the Venn diagram of two Cinderella stories.	The student lists most of the main points in the Venn diagram of two Cinderella stories.	The student lists some of the main points in the Venn diagram of two Cinderella stories.	The student cannot list any important information on the Venn diagram for two Cinderella stories.
Story Map Outline and Slide Planning Sheet	Student accurately uses Story Map Outline and Slide Planning Sheet to retell a Fairy Tale in a four-slide PowerPoint presentation.	Student uses Story Map Outline and Slide Planning Sheet to retell a Fairy Tale story in a four slide PowerPoint presentation.	Student somewhat uses Story Map Outline and Slide Planning Sheet to retell a Fairy Tale story in a four slide PowerPoint presentation.	Student does not use Story Map Outline and Slide Planning Sheet to retell a Fairy Tale story in a PowerPoint presentation.
PowerPoint Presentation	Student accurately uses text and graphics to retell a Fairy Tale in a four slide PowerPoint presentation.	Student accurately uses text and graphics in 3 slides to retell a Fairy Tale story in a four slide PowerPoint presentation.	Student accurately uses text and graphics in 2 or less slides to retell a Fairy Tale story in a four slide PowerPoint presentation.	Student has difficulty using text and graphics to retell a Fairy Tale story in a PowerPoint presentation.

Date Created: 2003-06-18

Conclusion

In doing these activities you have learned:

· To analyze Fairy Tales from around the world including characters, setting, story problem, events, solutions, and Fairy Tale characteristics.

· To identify the elements of fairy tales.

· To compare/contrast two Cinderella tales.

· To use PowerPoint to make a four-slide version of a fairy tale of your choice.