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Fairy Tales are a fantasy genre that can include kings, queens, princes, princesses, fairy godmothers, witches, castles, kingdoms, magical spells, and trolls among other fairy tale elements.
Many fairy tales originated from folk tales from France and Germany in the 16th - 19th century. They were told and retold orally passing down from generation to generation. Eventually they were written down on paper. There are many variations of the different fairy tales. Many different cultures have made their own variations of the fairy tales we all know and love such as Cinderella.
Your task will be to choose two different versions of a fairy tale and compare and contrast the two different versions. You will then make a poster to show the elements of the fairy tale version that was your favorite.
1. First with a partner you will choose the two fairy tales versions you would like to compare. Remember they need to be two different versions of the same fairy tale. Example: The Three Little Pigs and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.
2. Read both versions of the fairy tale.
3. Fill out a Venn diagram to compare and contrast.
4. Then, choose which version you like best and make a poster showing the different fairy tale elements in your favorite fairy tale. Include the following elements that are in your fairy tale.
The mean, bad, or villainous character
Magic that occurred.
Things that could not occur in real life.
The main characters
The setting
Resources can include any fairy tale book in the library or the following Internet sites.
http://www.pacificnet.net/~johnr/aesop/aesophca.html
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/archive.html
http://www.fln.vcu.edu/grimm/grimm_menu.html
http://storypalace.ourfamily.com/mainc0898.html
| A | The Venn diagram will show three to four ways your story was alike and different. | Your poster will show all the fairy tale/literature elements mentioned in the task. |
| B | The Venn diagram will show two to three ways your story was alike and different. | Your poster will show all the fairy tale/literature elements mentioned in the task. |
| C | The Venn diagram will show two to three ways your story was alike and different. | Your poster will show three of the fairy tale/literature elements mentioned in the task. |
| D | The Venn diagram will show one to two ways your story was alike and different. | Your poster will show two of the fair tale/literature elements mentioned in the task. |
| E | The Venn diagram will show one or no ways your story was alike and different. | Your poster will show one or no fairy tale/literature elements mentioned in the task. |
As you have seen, fairy tales can have many versions to them. New versions are being created all the time. Hopefully you will have heard and enjoyed some new versions on your quest.
You may want to read some more fairy tales that you are not familiar with. You could also write your own version of your favorite fairy tale.
The following Arizona Standards were incorporated into this lesson.
Reading Standard Grade 3
Strand 1, Concept 6, PO5: Extract information from graphic organizers (Venn diagram)
Strand 2, Concept 1: Elements of Literature, PO1 Compare and contrast literary elements across stories, including plots, settings, and characters.