ALEX Learning Activity

  

Fairy Tale Story Mapping

A Learning Activity is a strategy a teacher chooses to actively engage students in learning a concept or skill using a digital tool/resource.

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  This learning activity provided by:  
Author: Ginger Henderson
System:Monroe County
School:Excel High School
  General Activity Information  
Activity ID: 2456
Title:
Fairy Tale Story Mapping
Digital Tool/Resource:
Printable Story Map - Setting, Characters, Beginning, Middle, End
Web Address – URL:
Overview:

In this whole group activity, the teacher will provide instruction on identifying the key elements in a familiar fairy tale (characters, setting, and plot). The students will complete a story map graphic organizer to identify key elements and delineate the plot.

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

  Associated Standards and Objectives  
Content Standard(s):
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 2
23. Identify the main story elements in a literary text.

a. Explain the plot of a narrative, using textual evidence to list the major events in sequence.

b. Describe the characters' traits, feelings, and behaviors in a story.

c. Describe the setting of a narrative, using textual evidence.

d. Identify the central message or moral of a story.

e. Identify the theme in myths, fables, and folktales.
Unpacked Content
Teacher Vocabulary:
23.
  • Story elements
  • Literary text
23a.
  • Plot
  • Narrative
  • Textual evidence
  • Major events
  • Sequence
23b.
  • Describe
  • Character
  • Traits
  • Feelings
  • Behaviors
23c.
  • Setting
  • Narrative
  • Textual evidence
23d.
  • Central message
  • Moral
23e.
  • Theme
  • Myths
  • Fables
  • Folktales
Knowledge:
23. Students know:
  • Literary text is a story that contains story elements, like a plot and characters.
23a.
  • Plot is the main events of a story (often referred to as the beginning, middle, and end of a story).
  • The sequence of events is the order in which the story takes place.
23b.
  • A story author provides descriptions of the characters' traits, feelings, and behaviors.
23c.
  • Setting is when and where a story takes place.
23d.
  • A central message or moral is the lesson that is learned through the story or the one big idea of the story.
23e.
  • Theme is the main, recurring idea in a text.
  • Myths, fables, and folktales are fictional pieces of text.
Skills:
23. Students are able to:
  • Identify the main story elements in a literary text, such as characters, settings, and plot.
23a.
  • Explain the major events of a story in order by using text evidence.
23b.
  • Describe characters' traits, feelings, and behaviors by using information from the text.
23c.
  • Describe the setting of a story by using evidence from the text.
23d.
  • Identify the central message or moral of a story using information from the text.
23e.
  • Identify the theme of a myth, fable, or folktale.
Understanding:
23. Students understand that:
  • Literary texts include story elements, and they can identify the various elements to better understand the text.
23a.
  • The plot is the main events of the story that happen in a particular sequence.
  • The plot can be explained by using words or phrases from the text.
23b.
  • Understanding each character's traits, feelings, and behaviors will help them better understand a story's plot.
  • They can learn about characters by carefully reading the story and describing the characters' traits, feelings, and behaviors.
23c.
  • They can use information from the text to learn when and where the story takes place.
  • They can use the text to describe attributes of the setting.
23d.
  • Stories will often have a central message or moral that the author intended to share with readers.
23e.
  • Myths, fables, and folktales are often written to convey a particular theme or main message.
Learning Objectives:

Students will complete a story map graphic organizer to recount the key elements of a story (characters, setting, and plot).
  Strategies, Preparations and Variations  
Phase:
Before/Engage, During/Explore/Explain
Activity:

  1. Tell students they will complete a graphic organizer (story map) about a familiar fairy tale, The Three Little Pigs. Explain that a story map helps readers identify the main parts of a story: the characters, the setting(s), and the main parts of the plot. Remind students that the word "plot" means the "big events" that happen in the beginning, middle, and end of the story. 

  2. Distribute copies of the tool Story Map. Tell students that you will read a fairy tale that they have likely heard before. Tell students to listen as you read aloud, and to wait until you pause during the reading to write on their story maps.

  3. Prior to reading, have students turn and talk to a partner about what they already know about this fairy tale’s characters, setting, and plot events.

  4. Read the eBook The Story of the Three Little Pigs aloud to students. Pause during reading to allow time for students to make notes about characters, setting, and plot events in the story map. (See notes in assessment section for details on filling out the graphic organizer.)

  5. As you read, post text-dependent questions and allow student volunteers to answer. Suggestions:

    • Who are the characters?

    • What is the setting?

    • What happens to the first pig's house?

    • "Furze" is an unfamiliar word to me. How can I use what I already know about this story to figure out what "furze" means?

    • What happens when the wolf can't blow the brick house down?

    • How is the third little pig outsmarting the wolf each time?

    • What happened to the wolf when he tried to go down the chimney?

  6. Allow time for students to turn and talk, using their completed story maps to help them retell the fairy tale in their own words.
Assessment Strategies:

Observe students' performance as they progress through completing the story map. Story maps should be completed as follows:

  • characters: three pigs, wolf

  • setting(s): pigs' houses

  • beginning: The wolf blows down the houses of the first two pigs and eats them.

  • middle: The wolf can't blow down the brick house. He tries to trick the pig, but the pig outsmarts him each time.

  • end: The wolf tries to come down the chimney. He falls into a big pot. The pig eats him. 

Drop and listen as students retell the fairy tale during the turn and talk. Students should be able to use the story map to correctly delineate the main events of the plot.
Advanced Preparation:

Make enough copies of the tool Story Map for each child. Make one additional copy to model with an ELMO, or draw the boxes on the board for modeling during the activity.
Variation Tips (optional):

This activity can be repeated with other fairy tales available on Project Gutenberg, such as:
Notes or Recommendations (optional):

The teacher will need to create a free account at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Signup in order to access the story map.
  Keywords and Search Tags  
Keywords and Search Tags: characters, fables, fairy tales, literature, plot, reading, setting, story elements, story events, story map