Fairytale Lesson Plan

Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8

In the BrainPOP ELL movie Little Red Fairytale (L3U6L2), Ben retells the classic fairytale, “Little Red Riding Hood,” as a puppet show. Ben’s version includes funny twists and a surprise ending!. Students enjoy the show as they listen carefully for reported speech. In this lesson plan, adaptable for grades 3-8, students illustrate and retell the plot of the movie, identify common elements of fairytales, and compare and contrast different versions of the same fairytale.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Grade: 02

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.6

Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.

Grade: 02

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.7

Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

Grade: 02

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.9

Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.

Grade: 03

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.2

Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.

Grade: 03

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.7

Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)

Grade: 04

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.3

Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).

Grade: 04

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.7

Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text.

Grade: 05

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.3

Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).

Grade: 05

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.9

Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics.

Grade: 06

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.7

Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch.

Grade: 02

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.2

Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.

Grade: 03

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.4

Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.

Grade: 04

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.2

Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Grade: 04

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.3b

Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.

Grade: 07

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.3b

Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

Students will:

Discuss and identify common elements of fairytales.
Illustrate and retell the plot of the movie using a comic strip template.
Compare and contrast different cultural versions of the same fairytale.

Materials:

BrainPOP ELL
Comic Strip Template
Puppets, or the materials to make them

Vocabulary:

Fairytale, genre, in common, setting, plot, characters, illustrate, retell, version, compare, contrast

Preparation:

For Activity 2, Illustrate and Retell, make copies of the Comic Strip Template.
Bring in puppets or invite students to bring puppets to school.

Lesson Procedure:

Fairytale Elements. Discuss the nature of fairytales with the class. Ask students to brainstorm how all fairytales are alike, and jot down their ideas in a concept web. To differentiate and add more support, prompt students by asking where the stories are set, who the characters often are, and what kind of things happen in fairytales. Brainstorm a list of fairytales that they know. Brainstorm a list of fairytales that they know.
Illustrate and Retell. After watching the movie Little Red Fairytale (L3U6L2), distribute the Comic Strip template. Have students retell the story of Little Red with illustrations. When they are finished, invite students to use their comic strips to relate the story to a partner or the class.
Same Story, Different Cultures. Choose a fairytale that has different cultural versions, and have students share the versions they know from their countries. Complete a Venn Diagram or matrix together, comparing and contrasting different versions of the same fairytale.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY
Puppets are effective tools for facilitating dialogue among language learners. If you have puppets, bring some in or have students create their own with socks or brown paper bags. Ask students to share what they know about puppet shows and to discuss ones they have seen. You might show examples of puppet shows from the Internet. In pairs or small groups, have students write dialogue to create a puppet show of their own. They may want to adapt another familiar fairytale. Volunteers present their puppet shows to the class.

RELATED

BrainPOP ELL Movies
Mobylocks Fairytale (L2U6L5)

BrainPOP JR Movies
Character
Plot
Setting
Jon Scieszka