Introduction to Fairy Tales Lesson Includes vocabulary, characteristics and information about authors.
Fairy Tale Writing:
I’ve done two versions of using Fairy Tale words (vocabulary) for writing activities.
Version 1: These words are cut apart and placed in a brown paper bag. I gave each child their own bag, but it can be done whole group as well. The kids pulled a word out of the bag and wrote a sentence with that word. In math, the words were used to write story problems. Later, they used the words to help them spell while writing their own Fairy Tale or a version of one of their favorites. The words can also be used as a matching game with various Fairy Tale books.
Version 2: This is the same list, shrunk down to half a page. The kids were given lists like this with Halloween words, Thanksgiving words, Family words, Winter words, etc. Each list was glued on the back pages of their writing journal. That way they were easy to find. The words prevented them from asking me a million times how to spell something. It increased their reading and decoding skills by forcing them to find the word on their own, and it gave them confidence when they recognized words in the various Fairy Tales–which can often be difficult for little ones to read.
Fairy Tale Comparisons:
Comparing Fairy Tales using both different versions of the same tale, or similar stories, such as Sleeping Beauty, Snorking Beauty and Sleepless Beauty, is a great way for children to understand elements of fiction and practice critical thinking skills.
- My List of Books: Fairy Tales and Fairy Tale Comparisons
- The True Story of the Three Little Pigs vs. The Three Little Pigs Lesson Plan
More Fairy Tale Printables
Additional Resources:
- Channels with Faerie Tale Theater on YouTube here.
- Fractured Fairy Tales on Hulu (free) These have a Rocky and Bullwinkle opening, there are limited commercials, each runs about 19 minutes.
- StoryNory Fairy Tales Audio only.
- Loved, loved, loved Faerie Tale Theater when I was a kid.
A Note about Fairy Tales and Walt Disney:
Walt Disney loved Fairy Tales. That’s why he chose the story of Snow White for his first full-length animated film. For many kids his movies are their only exposure to Fairy Tales. Like other storytellers, he told his own versions and added his own elements. Exposing kids to other versions of the stories, both through books and movies broadens their intellectual scope.