Children write fairytales

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02.10.1997, updated 08.05. 2000

Children write fairytales

Suggestions for English lessons in Year 5/6

(also and especially for classes containing children from other countries)
Fairytales could almost be the only component of literary tradition which is accessible and well-known to children today. At the same time they are stories that bring back memories from when they were very young and which are emotionally charged and important for the development of a child: children need fairytales.
The building blocks and the form taken by fairytales are international - admittedly always new and different, yet often strangely familiar. Anyone who reads fairytales again at the age of ten or twelve may encounter some peculiar aspects in a familiar context and vice versa.

If you discover anything interesting, you can let other people know via this workshop; send us texts, for example,in which memories and points of view from your class are recorded.

Preparation:

Talk to the children about their experiences with fairytales - about whether and how they got to know fairytales (told from memory? read to them? by whom? in what circumstances? on cassette? as a fairytale film?); whether and how they remember some fairytales. (Were there or are there any favourite stories? Can the children still tell one?) Does the tradition still exist anywhere in the world of public fairytale telling?

Have fairytales told or read out in your class; ask the children to choose a fairytale that is as little known as possible and that is nice but not too long. (Particularly in classes consisting of children from different countries, there will be interesting things to be heard.) Take enough time so that each child can either tell or read out a fairytale while also getting practise in listening.

Even when listening to unknown texts, well-known and familiar aspects will recur. During this period of reading, gradually build up a collection of fairytale themes - as building blocks for your own fairytales.

Alternative:

You can obtain fairytale themes by asking the children to draw pictures for fairytales and by pinning these on the board.

Or: put a large, sturdy cardboard box in the classroom in which things can be collected: gold coloured sweet wrappers, silver buttons, toy swords, shiny stones, dried leaves, nuts, feathers... all things that are supposed to be or represent fairytale themes. Things that you can't find but which you need can be made out of cardboard or plasticine. Then each child can help his or herself.
Work on basic fairytale structures with the children. You will - depending on the types of text that the children have brought along - also be able to make distinctions from fables or from legends.
Write down the fairytale themes you have collected on small pieces of paper and get each child to pick out some at random.

Two long openings that can also be shortened:
The Two Sons and The Eagle's Feather
And two short ones:
Rosy Lips and The Single Son

Fairytale openings:

An alternative is the preparation of fairytale openings - this perhaps being particularly recommended if the children do not find it very easy to get the knack of telling fairytales.

The drafts will - when possible in small groups - be discussed, worked on in detail and developed further. Do you have access to computers in your school? If so, let the children work on them as this by no means needs lengthy introduction. Copying up on computer supports the reworking of texts with the ultimate target of a mistake-free, well-written and well laid out piece.
How well does this turn out for the children? An annotated example from a Year 5 class.

Some texts from other cultures can be found in the fairytale bazaar. A collection of such texts is desirable for many reasons. Please help us to collect them!
Please pay attention to Documentation Tips.

Tales from other cultures:

And if there are children from foreign countries in your class, they can - if they like - write out a fairytale they have been told: one which they remember or one that someone in the family still knows.In this way these children have the opportunity to bring elements of their own tradition into school. And their fellow pupils get the opportunity to make new discoveries as well as encountering familiar aspects in different contexts.

The fairytale style:

What do we do if the children are not familiar with the fairytale style? And what do we do if the children do not want to use this style as they consider it to be childish?

An annotated example.

Parody and travesty:

It is possible to use the fairytale style, yet add new and "unsuitable" aspects (Once upon a time there was a computer scientist...) - or fairy tale elements can be expressed using modern day language, e.g. using slang expressions (then the King just turned into a stupid old fart - or whatever the in-word of the day may be!). However popular this practise, the possibilities arising from such changes seem to me to have been exhausted, and the majority of those "humorous" texts are quite simply bad. But perhaps your pupils have found examples which would refute this judgement/prejudice?

Drawing painting, illustrating:

If the art teacher is willing to help, pictures can be drawn which - together with the texts - can decorate the classroom. If possible, do not simply put the texts up on display - make multiple copies of it as well. In this way a book of fairytales is created that each child can take home.

Unusual openings:

Do you consider the whole concept to have been too conventional up to now? If so, then why not try using some surprising story openings like: "Once upon a time there was a book of fairytales which not one child had read for a very long time....."

Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble:

Or try new combinations of well-known characters; get Little Red Riding Hood to bump into the wicked witch from the gingerbread house...

Into Fairyland:

Or - and this is perhaps particularly suitable if a book is being written that is meant to offer more than the addition of individual texts - have a story told about a trip to Fairyland.

A lot more can still be done with fairytales. You can, for example, produce a fairytale on the stage - perhaps as a shadow play with a narrator? This could involve the English, Art and Music departments working together; or you can think up a project in which the classroom becomes an oriental caravanserai, where the fairy story tellers all come together.

And with that we now come to your contributions!

This workshop relies on your contributions and those of your pupils!
Use the Noticeboard and the Bazaar.
You can also send your contributions on paper by post to:
Landesinstitut für Schule und Weiterbildung, Referat Z 2,
z. H. Herrn Rudolf Hickert,
Paradieser Weg 64,
57494 Soest
Germany
Do you have any suggestions for others on the subject of "Reading and Writing fairytales"? Would you like to comment on/criticize/correct or develop the suggestions you have before you? Write to us!
Have new fairytales been written in your class that you and the children would like to publish? Send us the texts!
Have fairytales from other countries been written in your class which you would like published here? If so, send the texts to us.

Finally a few tips (German editions)

...on how to quickly find your feet in the classroom: Praxis Deutsch, Heft 103 / 1990: Märchen heute.
Siegfried Schödel (Hrsg): Märchenanalysen. Stuttgart (Reclam) 1977
Grundschulunterricht, Heft 3 / 1997: Märchen

...and for your own enjoyment: Eckard Henscheid:
Die drei Müllerssöhne. Märchen und Erzählungen. Zürich (Haffmans)1989
Hans Traxler:
Die Wahrheit über Hänsel und Gretel. Reinbek (rororo) 1983

head © Landesinstitut für Schule und Weiterbildung, Soest


		Children write fairytales
		Suggestions for English lessons in Year 5/6 (also and especially for classes containing children from other countries) Fairytales could almost be the only component of literary tradition which is accessible and well-known to children today. At the same time they are stories that bring back memories from when they were very young and which are emotionally charged and important for the development of a child: children need fairytales. The building blocks and the form taken by fairytales are international - admittedly always new and different, yet often strangely familiar. Anyone who reads fairytales again at the age of ten or twelve may encounter some peculiar aspects in a familiar context and vice versa.

If you discover anything interesting, you can let other people know via this workshop; send us texts, for example,in which memories and points of view from your class are recorded.		Preparation: Talk to the children about their experiences with fairytales - about whether and how they got to know fairytales (told from memory? read to them? by whom? in what circumstances? on cassette? as a fairytale film?); whether and how they remember some fairytales. (Were there or are there any favourite stories? Can the children still tell one?) Does the tradition still exist anywhere in the world of public fairytale telling?

		Have fairytales told or read out in your class; ask the children to choose a fairytale that is as little known as possible and that is nice but not too long. (Particularly in classes consisting of children from different countries, there will be interesting things to be heard.) Take enough time so that each child can either tell or read out a fairytale while also getting practise in listening. Even when listening to unknown texts, well-known and familiar aspects will recur. During this period of reading, gradually build up a collection of fairytale themes - as building blocks for your own fairytales.

		Alternative: You can obtain fairytale themes by asking the children to draw pictures for fairytales and by pinning these on the board. Or: put a large, sturdy cardboard box in the classroom in which things can be collected: gold coloured sweet wrappers, silver buttons, toy swords, shiny stones, dried leaves, nuts, feathers... all things that are supposed to be or represent fairytale themes. Things that you can't find but which you need can be made out of cardboard or plasticine. Then each child can help his or herself. Work on basic fairytale structures with the children. You will - depending on the types of text that the children have brought along - also be able to make distinctions from fables or from legends. Write down the fairytale themes you have collected on small pieces of paper and get each child to pick out some at random.

Two long openings that can also be shortened: The Two Sons and The Eagle's Feather And two short ones: Rosy Lips and The Single Son		Fairytale openings: An alternative is the preparation of fairytale openings - this perhaps being particularly recommended if the children do not find it very easy to get the knack of telling fairytales. The drafts will - when possible in small groups - be discussed, worked on in detail and developed further. Do you have access to computers in your school? If so, let the children work on them as this by no means needs lengthy introduction. Copying up on computer supports the reworking of texts with the ultimate target of a mistake-free, well-written and well laid out piece. How well does this turn out for the children? An annotated example from a Year 5 class.

Some texts from other cultures can be found in the fairytale bazaar. A collection of such texts is desirable for many reasons. Please help us to collect them! Please pay attention to Documentation Tips.		Tales from other cultures: And if there are children from foreign countries in your class, they can - if they like - write out a fairytale they have been told: one which they remember or one that someone in the family still knows.In this way these children have the opportunity to bring elements of their own tradition into school. And their fellow pupils get the opportunity to make new discoveries as well as encountering familiar aspects in different contexts.

		The fairytale style: What do we do if the children are not familiar with the fairytale style? And what do we do if the children do not want to use this style as they consider it to be childish? An annotated example.

		Parody and travesty: It is possible to use the fairytale style, yet add new and "unsuitable" aspects (Once upon a time there was a computer scientist...) - or fairy tale elements can be expressed using modern day language, e.g. using slang expressions (then the King just turned into a stupid old fart - or whatever the in-word of the day may be!). However popular this practise, the possibilities arising from such changes seem to me to have been exhausted, and the majority of those "humorous" texts are quite simply bad. But perhaps your pupils have found examples which would refute this judgement/prejudice?

		Drawing painting, illustrating: If the art teacher is willing to help, pictures can be drawn which - together with the texts - can decorate the classroom. If possible, do not simply put the texts up on display - make multiple copies of it as well. In this way a book of fairytales is created that each child can take home.

		Unusual openings: Do you consider the whole concept to have been too conventional up to now? If so, then why not try using some surprising story openings like: "Once upon a time there was a book of fairytales which not one child had read for a very long time....."

		Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble: Or try new combinations of well-known characters; get Little Red Riding Hood to bump into the wicked witch from the gingerbread house...

		Into Fairyland: Or - and this is perhaps particularly suitable if a book is being written that is meant to offer more than the addition of individual texts - have a story told about a trip to Fairyland. A lot more can still be done with fairytales. You can, for example, produce a fairytale on the stage - perhaps as a shadow play with a narrator? This could involve the English, Art and Music departments working together; or you can think up a project in which the classroom becomes an oriental caravanserai, where the fairy story tellers all come together.

		And with that we now come to your contributions!

This workshop relies on your contributions and those of your pupils! Use the Noticeboard and the Bazaar. You can also send your contributions on paper by post to: Landesinstitut für Schule und Weiterbildung, Referat Z 2, z. H. Herrn Rudolf Hickert, Paradieser Weg 64, 57494 Soest Germany		Do you have any suggestions for others on the subject of "Reading and Writing fairytales"? Would you like to comment on/criticize/correct or develop the suggestions you have before you? Write to us! Have new fairytales been written in your class that you and the children would like to publish? Send us the texts! Have fairytales from other countries been written in your class which you would like published here? If so, send the texts to us.

		Finally a few tips (German editions)

...on how to quickly find your feet in the classroom:		Praxis Deutsch, Heft 103 / 1990: Märchen heute. Siegfried Schödel (Hrsg): Märchenanalysen. Stuttgart (Reclam) 1977 Grundschulunterricht, Heft 3 / 1997: Märchen

...and for your own enjoyment:		Eckard Henscheid: Die drei Müllerssöhne. Märchen und Erzählungen. Zürich (Haffmans)1989 Hans Traxler: Die Wahrheit über Hänsel und Gretel. Reinbek (rororo) 1983