Exploring Fairy Tales: Characteristics, Magic, and Classroom Teaching Strategies

Fairy Tales

A fairy tale, or wonder tale, is a kind of folktale or fable.

In these stories, we meet witches and queens, giants and elves, princes, dragons, talking animals, ogres, princesses, and sometimes even fairies.

Marvelous and magical things happen to characters in fairy tales. A boy may become a bird. A princess may sleep for a hundred years. A seal may become a girl. Objects too can be enchanted—mirrors talk, pumpkins become carriages, and a lamp may be home to a genie.

Elements

One of the elements of fairy tales is that they often start and end with special expressions like "once upon a time," "a long, long time ago," and "they lived happily ever after."

When you read or listen to those words, you know that the story could be a fairy tale.

Setting

The setting is where the story takes place. Little Red Riding Hood is set in the forest, and part of Cinderella is set in the castle of the prince.

Characters

• Good character: Cinderella.
• Bad characters: Cinderella's mean stepsisters, the evil witch in Hansel and Gretel.

Very often, one of the characters is royalty, which means that the person is a king, a queen, a prince, or a princess. A good example of this is The Princess and the Pea.

Characters may also be animals, like the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, or the bears in Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Magic

Magic is one of the main elements of fairy tales. In Cinderella, there is a fairy godmother who helps Cinderella go to the ball in a fancy dress and carriage.

Conflict

A problem that must be solved.

Teaching Fairy Tales

Fairy tales provide a wealth of possibilities for teaching English topics. Each fairy tale has its own magical setting and is split into several scenes. Within each scene, there are sets of vocabulary that you can exploit.

Aims

• For the learners to hear in English what are probably familiar stories in their own language.
• Point of departure: Common knowledge and cultural background.
• To allow the children to see English in an imaginative context.
• To introduce various vocabulary sets such as family, food, clothes, parts of the body, etc.
• To help the older school children notice language areas such as the past simple, comparatives, etc.
• To introduce story structure: beginning, middle, and ending.

Goals

• Children develop comprehension skills through listening.
• They learn the narrative structure of a story.
• They learn how to identify plot, characters, and setting.
• They learn how to solve problems.

Five Hot Tips When Using a Fairy Tale in Class

1. Create a mystical atmosphere with your body language, voice, and lighting, if possible.
2. Don’t overdo the scary characters with very young learners.
3. Involve the children as much as possible. Get them guessing the next episode throughout the story.
4. Don’t use it just to systematically pre-teach vocabulary. Arouse their interest? YES—with the picture on the front cover: “Who’s this?” “Is this the wicked witch or the friendly fairy?” “Does the princess look sad or happy?” etc.
5. Don’t use it just as a time filler. The children will get much more out of it if it is done over a series of lessons or if it ties in with a larger topic.