Fairy Tales: Identifying Story

Elements
Second Grade Reading

by Sarah Marten June 24, 2015

Story elements help to bring beloved fairy tales to life in this literacy lesson. Your students will learn to identify
the title, author, setting, characters, problem, and solution in a fiction text.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to identify the elements of a fictional text.

Materials and preparation Key terms

Famous Fairy Tales worksheet set title

Fairy Tale Graphic Organizer worksheet (one author
per student) character
Poster board/white construction paper (one per setting
pair or group) problem
Markers solution
Projector or interactive whiteboard story elements
fiction

Attachments

Famous Fairy Tales (PDF)

Fairy Tale Graphic Organizer (PDF)

Introduction (5 minutes)

Begin this lesson by having the following headings written on the dry erase board: title, author,
characters, setting, problem, and solution. Alternatively, project the Fairy Tale Organizer onto the
wall or whiteboard.
Review the definitions of the terms written or projected in the classroom.
Tell your students they are going to use their knowledge of story elements to create classroom posters.
Remind the class that story elements are the fundamental parts of a story. For example, the setting is
where the story takes place.
Ask the students to think about the story elements of a common fairy tale, such as Cinderella.
EL

Beginning:
Define the story elements in English and student's home language (L1) prior to the lesson.
Read Cinderella with ELs prior to the lesson, explicitly referring to the story elements.
Intermediate:
Provide students with a word bank with story elements and connecting visuals to refer to throughout the
lesson.

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling (15 minutes)

Using the dry erase board, or projected organizer, ask students to recall the story elements from
Cinderella. Call on volunteers until all of the elements have been identified and written on board or typed

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 into projected organizer.
Pass out the copies of the Fairy Tale Organizer.
Arrange students into groups or pairs.
Explain to your students that they will be reading a fairy tale of their choice in their group (or pair).
Encourage students to use the Famous Fairy Tales worksheet set to choose a story.
Have each pair or group of students read the title and briefly summarize each story.
Organize a plan to have students select and collect the fairy tale they want to read in their group or pair.
EL

Beginning:
Provide a simplified text a set of visual vocabulary cards of important words from the story.
Intermediate:
Select a fairy tale for the student prior to the lesson and provide student with a word bank with important
terms and phrases to provide support as they are reading.

Guided Practice (25 minutes)

Make sure each student has a copy of the Fairy Tale Organizer and a fairy tale in their groups or pairs.
Instruct students to take turns reading the fairy tale aloud in their group or pair.
Before the students start reading, explain that they will fill out the Fairy Tale Organizer once they have
completely finished reading their chosen fairy tale.
Walk around the room and monitor groups as they are reading to ensure that each student is taking a
turn at reading aloud.
As your students finish reading, monitor the groups as they complete the Fairy Tale Organizer.
Once all of your students have completed the Fairy Tale Organizer, direct their attention back to you.
Explain to the class that they will be creating a poster displaying the story elements that they identified
in their organizer as a group or pair. To help your students better understand each story element,
consider having a model Fairy Tale Organizer created ahead of time for the fairy tale used to introduce
this lesson.
EL

Beginning:
Allow student to read story in a teacher-led small group.
Provide student with a partially filled out graphic organizer and have student finish the graphic organizer
with support from the teacher and peers.
Intermediate:
Pair student with a sympathetic non-EL student.
Encourage student to summarize each paragraph after reading, using the following sentence frames for
support:
One of the characters in the story is ____. I know this because ____.
I believe the setting of the story is ____. I know this because ____.
The problem of the story was ____ and it was solved because ____.

Independent working time (15 minutes)

Explain to the students that all the information on the organizer must be represented on the poster in
some way.
Encourage students to use drawings and bright colors to create their poster. Have your students use
pencils to sketch out their poster elements. Approve each student's sketch before he colors it in.
Monitor your students as they create their posters.
EL

Beginning:
Allow students to create posters in a small, teacher-led support group.
Intermediate:
Allow students to work with partners to create posters.
Encourage students to refer to their word bank with terms and phrases as needed.

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Related books and/or media

Find interactive books for each child’s level.

Differentiation

Enrichment: Ask students who need a greater challenge to complete the Fairy Tale Organizer for an
additional story.
Support: Arrange students who need support into a small group to complete the Fairy Tale Organizer
together. Ask each student to make their own poster.

Assessment (5 minutes)

Assess your students' understanding of story elements by reviewing their completed posters. For a more
formal assessment, have your students identify all of the story elements after independently reading
their chosen fairy tales.
EL

Beginning:
Have student read the information on the poster orally to a peer or teacher.
Provide the following sentence starters to support students as they describe what they created:
The title of the story I was read was ____.
The main characters are ____.
The supporting characters are ____.
The setting is ____.
The problem was ____.
The solution was ____.
Intermediate:
Ask students to explain what they created to two other students in the classroom using the
following sentence frames for support:
I chose to draw ____ because ____.
My drawing of ____ shows the story element ____because __.

Review and closing (5 minutes)

Wrap up the lesson by asking your class to recall and identify the story elements of any fiction, or make-
believe, text.
Reference the posters after reading stories as a class. This will help strengthen your students'
understanding of the parts of a story.
EL

Beginning:
Have students complete a think-pair-share with a neighbor, answering one of the following questions:
Who was one of the characters in the story?
What was your favorite part of the story?
Where did the story take place?
Intermediate:
Encourage students to use their word banks as they recall the elements of a story as a whole group.
Provide the follow sentence frames to spark deep conversation:
My favorite story element to draw was ____ because ____.
If I could change the beginning or ending of the story, I would choose to change the ____because
____.
Another interesting setting for the story would be ____ because _____.

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 Famous Fairy Tales
T here's a reason these fairy tales are still around after so many years:
T hey're great stories! Share these classic fairy tales with your child and
then help her put the story events in order.
Table of Contents
Little Red Riding Hood Story
Little Red Riding Hood
Princess and the Pea
The Princess and the Pea Story
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
The Boy Who Cried Wolf Story
Stone Soup
Stone Soup Story
Rumpelstiltskin
Rumpelstiltskin Story
Story of the Three Little Pigs
The Three Little Pigs Story
Story of the Frog Prince
The Frog Prince Story
Fairy Tale Graphic Organiz er
There once was a girl known as Little Red Riding Hood, and she always wore
a red riding cape wherever she went. One day, she decided to go visit her
dear grandmother, who lived deep in the woods. When her mother packed
a basket of treats, she warned her not to talk to strangers along the way. As
Little Red Riding Hood happily strolled through the woods, she did not notice
the sneaky wolf stalking her through the trees. The wolf, pretending to be
lost, asked Little Red Riding Hood for directions. The wolf seemed harmless
enough, so Little Red Riding Hood not only spoke to him, she also revealed
where she was going! The wolf rushed ahead to beat her to her grand-
mother’s house, gaining entry by pretending to be her dear granddaughter.
Having locked her grandmother in the closet, the wolf waited for Little Red
Riding Hood to arrive.
When she knocked on her grandmother’s door, she was greeted by a strange
voice. “Come in dear,” said the wolf. As the wolf lay in bed, wearing one of her
grandmother’s nightgowns, Little Red Riding Hood thought her grandmother
sounded and looked strange. “What big ears you have,” she said. “Better to hear
you with my dear,” replied the wolf. “What big eyes you have,” said Little Red
Riding Hood. “Better to see you with my darling,” the wolf replied. “Your teeth,
your teeth are large and as sharp as knives!” Little Red Riding Hood exclaimed.
“The better to eat you with!” growled the wolf as he jumped up and lunged at
the girl. Luckily Little Red Riding Hood had practiced self-defense, and grabbed

with his tail between his legs. Little Red Riding Hood freed her grandmother
from the closet, and her grandmother made Little Red Riding Hood promise
not to talk to strangers ever again.
Little Red Riding Hood
Fairytale Bonus activity: Color in the Big Bad Wolf once you’ve gotten
the story back in order.

cut and reorder

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Once upon a time, there was a prince looking to marry a princess. One day,
his father and mother asked all the princesses in the land to come over to
their castle. Unfortunately, the prince did not get along with any of them.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. The prince opened the door to see
a beautiful princess standing in the rain. Even though she didn’t look like a
princess with her clothes and hair all wet, the prince invited her in from the
cold. She told the prince and his family that she was a princess.

The queen was doubtful. As the queen prepared the bed for the visitor, she
placed a tiny pea under 20 mattresses. Only a true princess would be able to
feel the pea! When the princess awoke the next morning, she had a terrible
pain in her back. When the prince and his family heard of this, they knew she
was indeed a real princess. The prince had found the princess of his dreams,
and the two soon got married.
!
Once upon a time, in a beautiful village near lush rolling hills, there
was a boy who watched over the village’s sheep. Being alone up in the
hills was very boring. To liven up his day, the boy thought it would be
fun to scare the villagers and scream, “Wolf, wolf!” The villagers

When they reached the top, they realized they had been tricked by the
mischievous boy. He laughed and laughed until the villagers angrily
walked back down the hill. Even the sheep were not amused. The boy
continued to call wolf, and the villagers warned him that the next time

and laid down for a nap.

One lazy afternoon, the boy heard a terrible sound. Before he could
even prepare himself, a wolf appeared right before him, and was chas-
ing all the village’s sheep! The boy screamed, “Wolf, wolf!”, but having-
lied so many times, the people of the village just ignored him. With no

was left crying on the hill.

!
One day, in a small village next to a flowing river, two hungry wander-
ers showed up looking for ingredients to make a delicious soup. Since
the two had no money, none of the villagers were willing to give them
any vegetables or meat. With no ingredients, the two went down to
the river and filled their pot with water. They then placed a large stone
in the pot and began boiling the water. Soon, a curious villager asked
them what they were doing. One of the men answered, “We are cook-
ing stone soup, but we are still missing a few ingredients to finish it
properly.” The villager said she did not mind giving them some ingre-
dients, if she could have some as well. The two men said they would
be happy to share with the entire village once the soup was ready.
After the word spread, many villagers brought spices, vegetables and
meat to add to the soup. In the end, everyone enjoyed the hearty
soup!
!
Once upon a time, there was an old carpenter who wanted to impress the king. Since he did not
have great wealth, he told the king that his daughter could spin straw into gold. After hearing this,
the king called for the daughter and locked her into a room full of straw. “Turn this straw into gold,
or I will leave you in this room forever,” he said, The carpenter’s daughter did not know what to
do! She did not know how to spin straw into gold.

As she cried, a small creature appeared and asked her why she was crying. “If I don’t turn this straw
into gold, I will be locked in here forever,” she wept. The creature said he could spin the straw into
gold, but wanted her necklace in return. She agreed, and the creature began magically turning the
straw into solid gold coins.

The next day, the king was overjoyed to find the room full of gold! He moved the girl into a bigger
room, filled with more straw. “Turn all this straw into gold, or I will lock you in here forever!”
commanded the king.

Just as she was losing hope, the strange creature appeared again that night. She asked him again
to work his magic, but this time, he wanted the young woman’s ring in return for his work. She gave
the creature her ring, and once again he spun all the straw in the room into gold. When the king
walked in the next morning, he was ecstatic. The gold was piled high, up to his eyes! The king
moved the girl into an even bigger room. This time, however, he told the carpenter’s daughter that
he would marry her if she succeeded one last time.

Like the night before, the creature appeared again and offered his help. With no more jewelry to take,
the creature demanded the young woman’s first-born child. She reluctantly agreed, and once again
the creature turned the straw into gold. The king soon married the carpenter’s daughter, and they
had a beautiful baby together.

One stormy night, the creature returned to claim his reward. She offered the creature jewels and
riches instead. “Anything you want, but please, not my child!” she cried. The creature thought it over.
If you can guess my name, I will disappear forever. I’ll give you one week to think!” he said.

The young woman had a trick up her sleeve! She sent a messenger to follow the creature home. On
the way there, he overheard the creature singing a song that revealed his name.

The messenger rushed back to tell his queen the good news. When the creature returned a week later,
the carpenter’s daughter screamed out the name the messenger had heard: “RUMPELSTILTSKIN!” In
a puff of smoke, the creature disappeared forever.
Oh no, the story has been all jumbled up. It’s up to
you to cut out the images and make the story make
sense again.
Bonus Activity: Color in the images with your favorite colors.
Once upon a time, there were three little pigs who were sent out by their
mother to make their place in the world. As they reached the edge of the forest,
they decided it would be a good place to build their homes. Peter was the oldest,
and the laziest of the three. He chose to build his house quickly out of straw so
he could sleep for the rest of the day. Joe was the second oldest, and just a bit
less lazy than Peter. He decided a straw house would not be warm enough, but
he didn’t want to work that hard on building a house,either. Joe decided to build
his home out of wood, and spent the rest of the day watching television. Mark
was the youngest and the hardest working of the bunch. He remembered
what his mother had told him about succeeding by working hard, and decided
to take time to build a sturdy house out of brick. Although it was hard work, after
two days he had built a nice brick home. His brothers laughed at him for wasting
precious time that could have been spent napping or watching TV.
Later that week, a big bad wolf came knocking on Peter’s straw hut. “Let me in
little pig!” cried the wolf. “Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin,” mocked Peter.

Since the house was built out of straw, it quickly blew apart. Peter dashed down
to Joe’s home and locked the door behind him. “Let me in little pigs!” yelled the

home of sticks blew apart, and the brothers ran to Mark’s sturdy house to hide.
The wolf once again demanded to be let in, but this time a confident Mark said,

failing many times, the poor wolf sulked back into the forest. The two older
brothers thanked Mark for saving the day, and promised to be a little less lazy
next time.
In a faraway land, a princess was enjoying the cool evening breeze outside her
family’s castle. She had with her a small golden ball, which she loved to play
with as a way to relax. On one particular toss, she threw it so high in the air
that she lost track of it, and the ball went rolling towards a spring. The ball
plopped into the water and quickly sank out of sight. The princess began
began sobbing in despair, and wished for her toy to return to her.
Then, a small frog popped out from the spring. “What’s wrong beautiful princess?”
asked the frog. The princess wiped away her tears and said, “My favorite golden
ball is gone, and nothing I do will bring it back.” The frog tried his best to comfort
the princess, and assured her that he could retrieve the ball if she would grant
him just one favor. “Anything! I will give you all my jewels and handfuls of
gold!” exclaimed the princess. The frog explained that he had no need for
riches, and only wanted a simple kiss from her in return.The thought of
kissing a slimy frog made the princess shudder, but in the end she agreed, as

into the spring and located the golden ball. In a blink of an eye the frog had
retrieved the ball and returned it to the princess. Keeping her word, the princess
kissed the frog. Suddenly, the ground began to rumble and a haze of smoke
filled the air. To the princess’s surprise, the frog was really a handsome prince
trapped by an evil witch's curse. Her kiss had freed the prince from a lifetime
of pain and misery. The prince and princess became great friends, and
eventually wed in a beautiful ceremony by the spring.
The Frog Prince
Fairytale Bonus activity: Color in the the scenes with your favorite colors!

cut and reor

der
important details like characters, setting and
plot. Use this graphic organizer to show the
important details of your favorite fairy tale.
important details like characters, setting and
plot. Use this graphic organizer to show the
important details of your favorite fairy tale.

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