Fairy tales

Objective & content

This sheet on fairy tales opens on a conversation: Zara and Ollie choose a story for the class play, talk about Cinderella, Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel, then invent a modern Frog Prince. Every tale, object and character on the sheet is named there first, with the words of a story such as spell, wicked and rescue. By the end, pupils can tell a fairy tale in a few sentences, from Once upon a time to happily ever after.

Pedagogical guide

The tasks go from understanding the words to using them: six multiple-choice questions on the conversation, six story objects to name from a box of eight (glass slipper, magic wand, beanstalk), eight words to match with their meanings and nine sentences to complete. Page 3 practises fairy-tale opposites (wicked and kind, poor and rich) from a box, with a worked example, and ends on "Who's who?": six riddles in the first person to match with six character pictures. Grammar stays on the A2 floor (present simple, let's, shall) and is never tested.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Pupils name the fairy tales they know; write the English titles on the board.
2. (10 min) Read the conversation aloud in pairs, one pupil as Zara, one as Ollie, then answer the six questions.
3. (10 min) Page 1 pictures and page 2: name the objects, match the meanings, complete the sentences.
4. (10 min) Page 3: the opposites, then the six riddles.
5. (10 min) Correct with the answer key on page 4; pupils read a riddle aloud and the class names the character.

Adaptations

[S] Start from the French titles of the tales the pupils know and find the English titles together.

[A] Pupils write their own riddle ("I have ... Who am I?") for a partner to solve.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy per pupil of the three pupil pages, in colour or black and white. Page 4 is the answer key with teacher notes: keep it. Pupils should know the tales in their own language. To take it further, groups write and act Zara and Ollie's modern fairy tale.