Where can the wolf become the hero and the princess become an elephant? The answers can be found in fractured fairy tales. I use fractured fairy tales for a variety of purposes in my classroom. Most often, I use them to teach point of view as well as comparing and contrasting. My students love these stories because they are full of surprises and humor. Today I am going to share five of my favorite fractured fairy tales along with some graphic organizers to help with teaching points. Make sure to read to the end, and you will find a link to get the graphic organizers delivered straight to your inbox for free.
Five Engaging Fractured Fairy Tales
The five fractured fairy tales below seem to consistently get the most positive responses from my students from year to year.
Role Reversal
Just when students were sure that it was Goldilocks that invaded the three bears house, along comes Goldilocks and Just One Bear. In this story, one bear gets lost in the city and enters Goldilocks’ home. Just like Goldilocks in the original story, the bear tries to make himself at home. However, he did so but attempting to use objects in a different way (a cactus for a chair and a bathtub for a bed).
Character Change
What happens when Cinderella is actually an elephant? Well, it didn’t dramatically change the story line, but the characters sure look different. Say goodbye to stepsisters, a fairy godmother, and Prince Charming. Say hello to the warty sisters, Furry Godmouse, and Prince Trunky. Cinderelephant inevitably gets the most laughs from my students year after year. This book encourages great discussions about how other stories may change if a main character changes.
Setting Change
I love The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark for teaching the importance of setting. This book takes the familiar story of The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf and places it in the ocean. The overall storyline remains unchanged, but there are some definite changes such as crunching and munching instead of huffing and puffing. In addition, houses of seaweed and sand replace hay and sticks. Students can be inspired to rewrite another familiar fairy tale using a different setting.
A Different Point of View
The wolf is innocent! At least that’s what he says. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs tells the story from the wolf’s point of view. All he wanted was a cup of sugar to make a cake for his sweet grandmother. It’s not his fault that the pigs were rude, he had a cold, and the pigs made poor choices when building their houses. Students will learn how to listen to another’s point of view before making any judgements.
A Bonus Recommendation
I’m cheating a bit with this recommendation. I don’t use this book during our fairy tale unit. However, I have used it for as long as I can remember at the beginning of the year to introduce finding “just right” books and a “just right” place to read. In Goldisocks and the Three Libearians, Goldisocks enters the three bears’ house just like the original story, but her search is for a perfect book and the perfect place to read it. The ending is my favorite part, and all the characters enjoy reading together.
Which one of these books do you think you will try with your students? What are some of your favorite fractured fairy tales?
After students complete the fairy tale unit, we always celebrate with a fairy tale ball. I shared the activities from this special day on this post. You can also get to it by clicking the button below.
Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers are a great way for your students to demonstrate comprehension. I designed several graphic organizers specifically for fairy tales. Topics include changes in character, setting, comparing and contrasting, and magic. You can get five graphic organizers delivered straight to your inbox for free. (See below.) I am sharing three of them below. The other two are a surprise. Let me know which one you like best.
