Unit Guide

Looking at Fairy Tales

Katie Zimmerman

In this Second Grade unit (may be used from Kindergarten to Fifth grade), students will use what they learn about fairy tales and fiction/nonfiction stories to create their own Fractured Fairy Tale at the end of the unit. Students will gain a better understanding of the difference between fiction/nonfiction stories and the elements of a fairy tale story. They will then apply that understanding to their own stories. The activities listed start with having a variety of fairy tale books available for your students to look through and read. The students will then break into small groups and do a story walk through several of the books in order to write down elements that they notice within each fairy tale. The activities included: looking through various fairy tales trying to find common elements; sequencing a fairy tale (together then within small groups); developing a better understanding of character traits; looking at fractured fairy tales through videos; and finally writing their own Fractured Fairy Tale. When writing the Fractured Fairy Tale, students may work independently or with one/two partners. Writing their own Fractured Fairy Tale helps the students gain a better understanding of how to apply the elements that are used to create a fairy tale.