Lesson Developed by Dawn Shirk: INT 925 Project #2

Approx. 3rd grade level

CHARACTERISTICS OF A FOLKTALE

Standard:

Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Standard 1.3-
Reading, Analyzing, and Interpreting Literature
-Literary Elements
-Literary Devices
-Poetry
-Drama

Objective:

The learner will demonstrate an understanding of the basic elements of a folktale by writing one.

Materials:

large paper
easel

Set:

What is your favorite story? What makes it your favorite?

Teaching Strategies and Learning Tasks:

1. Ask class to name some of the most famous folktales (Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding
Hood, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and so on).

2. “Where do you think these stories come from?” Discuss origins- oral tradition, very old, have
been told many times and so have many variations, etc.

3. “Let’s think about the stories you mentioned and decide what major ideas they have in
common. As we come up with ideas, I will write them on this paper.” (on easel)

4. “First, let’s think about the setting of these stories.” Ask a volunteer to remind class what the
setting of a story is (where and when the story happens).
“ Tell me about the setting of one of the stories we talked about.” Allow students to respond;
answers will be fairly general. “ Do any of the stories we mentioned tell exactly where and
when the story happens?”
Write on chart paper- “Folktales have very general settings; they don’t have many details.”

5. “Now let’s think about the characters in these stories- what are they like?” Use one of the
stories to start off and ask the students about the main characters. “Is it easy to tell which
characters are good and which are bad?” Discuss how the characters in most folktales are not
very complicated; you can tell someone what they are like in one or two words. Write “Simple characters” on chart.

6. “Think about these stories- can you tell me how they might start off?” Call on a child to tell
the first sentence of one of the stories- “once upon a time”, “a long, long time ago,” etc.

7. “Now, how about the ending- can someone tell me how these stories often end?” (and they all
lived happily ever after)

8. Add to list, “Start and end with familiar sayings,” or a similar answer that the students give.

9. “In The Three Little Pigs, what does the wolf say to the pigs when he comes to their doors?”
(Little Pigs, Little Pigs...) “How many times does he say that?” (3)

10. Can you think of other stories that repeat things like that?” (Mirror, Mirror on the wall, Fe,
Fi, Fo, Fum, I smell... etc.)

11. Add to list, “Have sayings that repeat” or something similar.

12. Hang this list in a visible part of the classroom so that students can refer to it.

13. “Now that we know the main elements of a folktale, we’re going to use those ideas to
write our own.” Prompt students for a general outline: what will our characters be like? what
will the problem be? how will it be solved? how will the story end? Record ideas on another
sheet of paper, then hang this outline next to the folktale characteristics previously recorded.

14. Call on student volunteers to “write” the story. Write what the students dictate sentence by
sentence, paying close attention to the familiar parts of a folktale (from the list) to make sure they are included. Story should start with, “Once upon a time...,” etc.

Closure:

Have student volunteers read the story back to the class and then hang the story in the classroom to be re-read later.

Assessment:

Make observations on student involvement and ideas as the class writes the story. Also, assign students to write their own folktale for homework/seatwork and grade according to inclusion of key elements.