The Dark Reality of Fairy Tales in Middle School English

Lisa Magnani, Australian International School

To share my teaching and learning journey of…

The Year Seven English Curriculum at AISS

Context and Purpose of Traditional Fairy tales

Values, Morals and Stereotypes in Fairy Tales

Little Red Riding Hood – a study

Visual Literacy and Fairy Tale Images

The Year Seven Cohort at AISS

The Teaching Team

Links between English and Humanities

Year Seven English Curriculum

Term 1 – All About MeWho do I think I am and how do I represent myself to others?

Term 2 – Twisting the TaleHow do narratives present an understanding of the world to us?

Term 3 – Growing UpHow do the challenges we face shape us?

Term 4 – Fantasy Why do we use our imaginations to create other worlds and what are the consequences?

Twisting the Tale:

This unit serves as an introduction to the techniques of narrative writing. This unit builds upon the first unit by looking at narratives as representations of people, places and events. Students will explore this through multiple versions of the same tale, looking at the way elements such as point of view, work to make us feel particular ways about the subject of the narrative.

Students could explore the different values being supported by stories and how/why these values change with time. Students analyse and compose a variety of narratives from a range of cultures.

Learning Activities:

Urban Myths

Elements of Fairytales

Symbol

Plot, Character and Setting

Values, Moral and Stereotypes

Study: Little Red Riding Hood

Movie: Hoodwinked

www.surlalunefairytales.com

Prior knowledge

Cultural applicability Elements of a Fairytale Traditional vs. Modern Adaptations

Values, Morals and Stereotypes

Purpose and context of fairy tales

5 different versions…

1. This version is probably closest to the way the story would have been told before it was written down. It would have been told by storytellers to ordinary people – villagers, farm workers and peasants – for entertainment.

2. Written by Perrault in 1697. It was written for upper class readers in France. The language of story is more formal and the ‘rude’ bits have been left out because polite, young upper class girls should not have read or heard about such vulgar things.

3. Written in the nineteenth century by the Brothers Grimm. The story has been made sweeter and nicer for children to read. Although the story still has the purpose of warning children about strangers, it also provides a model of good behaviour and manners for young ladies.

4. Written by James Thurber in 1939, in which he makes fun of the earlier versions.

5. Written by women in Liverpool in 1972 who wanted to show that Red could be brave and capable, but that it is not always easy. The wolf is presented as very frightening and Red has to overcome her fears and to learn that she can be independent and rely on her own strength and abilities.

Term 1 – Visual Literacy

• Features of an image• Symbols in the Image• Techniques used to create the image

Pam Duncan – Approaches to Learning

Molly Bang – Picture This: How Pictures Work

Microsoft Office PowerPoint 97-2003 Pres

Write a narrative which disrupts the original story of a well known fairy tale for a publication

called ‘Fractured Fairy Tales’.

To do this task you will need to:

1.Locate a fairy tale and identify how it represents character/places/events and the values it conveys2.Plan a rewrite or ‘lost chapter’ which will disrupt the meaning of the original story

•400 – 600 words

Teaching team

Students

Moving forward

Questions and Feedback