Name _________________________

Re-imagining Fairytales: The Frog-Prince and Rebels From Fairy Tales

Lesson Components
What teacher and student behaviors are planned and expected

Comments/Notes/
in Retrospect
Reflections

Context:
7th Grade Honors English
About 18-22 students
Mythology, Folktale, and Fairy tale Unit

Virginia SOL(s):
7.5) The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of fictional
texts, narrative nonfiction, and poetry.
b) Compare and contrast various forms and genres of fictional text.
Common Core State Standard(s):

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature,

including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 68 text complexity band
proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Objectives (KUD format):

Understand:
1.) Students will understand the value of a fresh perspective on events.
Know:
2.) Students will know how to comprehend the motivations of characters in both
versions of The Frog-Prince fairytale.
3.) Students will know the definition of perspective and point of view.
4.) Students will know how to compare and contrast the benefits and drawbacks of
being different characters in each of the texts.
Do:
5.) Students will be able to comprehend the motivations of characters in both
versions of The Frog-Prince fairy tale.
6.) Students will be able to compare and contrast the benefits and drawbacks of
being different characters in each version of the fairytales.

Assessments: Methods for evaluating each of the specific objectives listed above.
Diagnostic: Students will demonstrate their comprehension of perspective and
understand the benefits and drawbacks of being an animal character by doing a freewrite exercise. (KUD 1, 3, 4, 6) (SOL 7.5 b)
Formative:

Took out DRTA element

and replaced with Venn
diagram
Added specific
directions for Text II

Name _________________________
Students will show their understanding of characters motivations and perspectives
by filling out a DRTA activity for Text I. (KUD 2, 3, 5) (CCSS 7.10)
Students will show their understanding of the perspective of the frogs in Text II by
marking up their text and answering the corresponding questions. (KUD 2, 3, 5) (CCSS
7.10)
Students will show their knowledge of comparing and contrasting the descriptions of
humans and animals in both texts through class discussion. (KUD 4, 6) (SOL 7.5 b)
Students fill out a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the two texts. (KUD 4, 6)
Summative: Students will ultimately be assessed (today or in a future lesson) on
these standards by...

Procedures: Detail student and teacher behavior. Identify possible student

misconceptions. Include:
I.
Welcome/greeting/announcements
[Pass out frontloading activity free-write]
Hi everyone! Hope you all have had a good week so far. Today were going to
continue thinking about fairytales and actually compare and contrast two different
versions of a fairytale.
II. Hook/ bridge/ opening to lesson
[10 minutes]
So I noticed that when you all were talking about fairy tales before, you guys brought
up the fact that a lot of fairy tales involve animals. So before we go into this next
story, I want you all to take a look at the pre-reading activity I had passed out to you.
Can someone please read the prompt?
Student: If you could wake up tomorrow and be transformed into any type of
animal, what kind would it be and why? In what type of habitat would you live, and
what would be some of the activities of your daily life?
Thanks. So everyone please take about 5 minutes to respond to the prompt. If you
choose, you can think of human as an animal, though there should be a good
reason why you would choose this type of animal over all others. Try to be as
imaginative and descriptive as possible in your writing.
[I go around to help students as they are working on their questions.]
Okay so now that you all have written your responses, take about a minute or two to
share with your partner your animal and why you would like to be this animal.
Students share their responses with each other.
I bring the class back together.

CI said I could have

related the Do Now
more directly to lesson. I
think it was good for
calming down the
students, though, since
they came in a little bit
rowdy.

Name _________________________

So is there anyone who wants to share the type of animal they would like to be and
why?
A couple of students share their responses with the class.

III. Instructional steps

[Part I-- 20 minutes]
Great. Those are all great, imaginative descriptions of animals you might want to be.
So Im going to pass out two different versions of The Frog-Prince by the Brothers
Grimmone is the original and the other is a re-write and I want you guys to be
thinking about the idea of perspective. This is because Ill be giving out another
version of the text that will deal with the fairy tale from another perspective. Can
anyone tell me what perspective refers to?
Students give out definitions and I write the following on the board: a particular
attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.
While reading, I would like you guys to think about the different perspectives that are
at work in the story. How do characters view each other? Which perspective is
dominant?

Also talked about 1st,

2nd, 3rd person

For the text you are assigned please fill one side of the Venn diagram and identify the
following elements.
Form
What form does the story take? (Novel, short story, song, poem, etc.)
Point of View
Who is speaking? What type of narration is it (1st person, 2nd person, 3rd
person)? Whose eyes do we see through?
Time Period
When does the story take place?
Portrayal of humans
How does the author portray the human characters in your version of
the fairy tale? What are their lives like? Are they wealthy, poor, good, bad, etc.?
What actions do they take, and are these actions negative or positive?
Portrayal of Animals
How does the author portray the appearances, personalities, and lives of
frogs in your story? Are their lives seen as a desired states of being? How do
other characters view the frogs?
Definitions of a happy ending?
What constitutes a happy ending, or state of happiness, in your story?
What types of actions are the characters taking? Who are they interacting with?

Took out DRTA part

because it seemed to be
too much along with the
Venn diagram

Name _________________________

You dont need to use complete sentences, but they should be detailed answers that
draw from the text itself. If necessary, you can point to the exact point in the text
from which you drew your answers. For the poem, there are specific markings I would
like you to make on the text as you read. So please take about minutes to read both
stories and jot down your answers and then we will go over them as a class. If you
finish with one of the stories, then move on to the next one.
[Approximately 20 minutes pass and I rotate around the room to help those who
need it.]

Just gave students one

version of story and told
them they would
become experts on it

[Part II 15 minutes]
So how do the two texts view or describe the human and the frog life? How does the
vision of the frogs life in the poem compare with the life of the princess in the first
story? What does it take for a frog to become a human?
Students engage in class discussion.
Additional questions I might add or substitute if I feel like they can handle the
complexity:
Which perspective do you think that the text favors? What is the definition of a happy
ending in this fairy tale? What is the ultimate motive of the frog-prince in this story?
What is his real identity? What types of rituals does he have to undergo in order to
become a human? Compare and contrast the human and frog life. Would you want
to be a human after having been turned into a frog?
So I would like you all to then answer the question about happiness and the frogs
view of it at the end of your sheet.

IV. Closing
Well thank you all for this discussion. I hope you all had fun with it and please turn in
your papers before your leave.

Materials:
White board
Pre-reading activity

CI said I should wrap

things up by referring
back to objectives

Name _________________________
The Frog-Prince DRTA
Rebels from Fairy Tales
Venn Diagram: http://www.studenthandouts.com/Assortment-01/GraphicOrganizers/Blank-Venn-Diagrams-Instructions.html
Directions Sheet

Differentiation: Detail specific actions/materials you will use to differentiate

instruction in this lesson for at least one of your three case study students.
Providing guidance with vocabulary in the poem

Technology Use: Detail specific technology being used in the lesson with
explanation for why it is being used.
n/a

Appendices

Perhaps could use

electronic venn diagram
next time to move
things around

Name _________________________
Pre-reading Activity: Free-Write

If you could wake up tomorrow and be transformed into any type of animal, what kind of
creature would it be and why? Describe the habitat you would live in and the activities that
would constitute your daily life.

Pre-reading Activity: Free-Write

If you could wake up tomorrow and be transformed into any type of animal, what kind of
creature would it be and why? Describe the habitat you would live in and the activities that
would constitute your daily life.

Name _________________________

Text I: The Frog-Prince by The Brothers Grimm

One fine evening a young princess put on her bonnet and clogs, and went out to take a walk by herself in a
wood; and when she came to a cool spring of water, that rose in the midst of it, she sat herself down to rest a while.
Now she had a golden ball in her hand, which was her favourite plaything; and she was always tossing it up into the
air, and catching it again as it fell. After a time she threw it up so high that she missed catching it as it fell; and the
ball bounded away, and rolled along upon the ground, till at last it fell down into the spring. The princess looked
into the spring after her ball, but it was very deep, so deep that she could not see the bottom of it. Then she began
to bewail her loss, and said, 'Alas! if I could only get my ball again, I would give all my fine clothes and jewels, and
everything that I have in the world.'
Whilst she was speaking, a frog put its head out of the water, and said, 'Princess, why do you weep so
bitterly?' 'Alas!' said she, 'what can you do for me, you nasty frog? My golden ball has fallen into the spring.' The frog
said, 'I want not your pearls, and jewels, and fine clothes; but if you will love me, and let me live with you and eat
from off your golden plate, and sleep upon your bed, I will bring you your ball again.' 'What nonsense,' thought the
princess, 'this silly frog is talking! He can never even get out of the spring to visit me, though he may be able to get
my ball for me, and therefore I will tell him he shall have what he asks.' So she said to the frog, 'Well, if you will
bring me my ball, I will do all you ask.' Then the frog put his head down, and dived deep under the water; and after
a little while he came up again, with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on the edge of the spring. As soon as the
young princess saw her ball, she ran to pick it up; and she was so overjoyed to have it in her hand again, that she
never thought of the frog, but ran home with it as fast as she could. The frog called after her, 'Stay, princess, and
take me with you as you said,' But she did not stop to hear a word.
The next day, just as the princess had sat down to dinner, she heard a strange noisetap, tapplash,
plashas if something was coming up the marble staircase: and soon afterwards there was a gentle knock at the
door, and a little voice cried out and said:
'Open the door, my princess dear,
Open the door to thy true love here!
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.'
Then the princess ran to the door and opened it, and there she saw the frog, whom she had quite forgotten.
At this sight she was sadly frightened, and shutting the door as fast as she could came back to her seat. The king,
her father, seeing that something had frightened her, asked her what was the matter. 'There is a nasty frog,' said she,
'at the door, that lifted my ball for me out of the spring this morning: I told him that he should live with me here,
thinking that he could never get out of the spring; but there he is at the door, and he wants to come in.'
While she was speaking the frog knocked again at the door, and said:
'Open the door, my princess dear,
Open the door to thy true love here!
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.'
Then the king said to the young princess, 'As you have given your word you must keep it; so go and let him
in.' She did so, and the frog hopped into the room, and then straight ontap, tapplash, plashfrom the bottom
of the room to the top, till he came up close to the table where the princess sat. 'Pray lift me upon chair,' said he to
the princess, 'and let me sit next to you.' As soon as she had done this, the frog said, 'Put your plate nearer to me,
that I may eat out of it.' This she did, and when he had eaten as much as he could, he said, 'Now I am tired; carry me
upstairs, and put me into your bed.' And the princess, though very unwilling, took him up in her hand, and put him
upon the pillow of her own bed, where he slept all night long. As soon as it was light he jumped up, hopped
downstairs, and went out of the house. 'Now, then,' thought the princess, 'at last he is gone, and I shall be troubled
with him no more.'
But she was mistaken; for when night came again she heard the same tapping at the door; and the frog
came once more, and said:
'Open the door, my princess dear,
Open the door to thy true love here!

Name _________________________
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.'
And when the princess opened the door the frog came in, and slept upon her pillow as before, till the morning
broke. And the third night he did the same. But when the princess awoke on the following morning she was
astonished to see, instead of the frog, a handsome prince, gazing on her with the most beautiful eyes she had ever
seen, and standing at the head of her bed.
He told her that he had been enchanted by a spiteful fairy, who had changed him into a frog; and that he
had been fated so to abide till some princess should take him out of the spring, and let him eat from her plate, and
sleep upon her bed for three nights. 'You,' said the prince, 'have broken his cruel charm, and now I have nothing to
wish for but that you should go with me into my father's kingdom, where I will marry you, and love you as long as
you live.'
The young princess, you may be sure, was not long in saying 'Yes' to all this; and as they spoke a gay coach
drove up, with eight beautiful horses, decked with plumes of feathers and a golden harness; and behind the coach
rode the prince's servant, faithful Heinrich, who had bewailed the misfortunes of his dear master during his
enchantment so long and so bitterly, that his heart had well-nigh burst.
They then took leave of the king, and got into the coach with eight horses, and all set out, full of joy and merriment,
for the prince's kingdom, which they reached safely; and there they lived happily a great many years.

Name _________________________

Text II: Rebels from Fairy Tales

We are the frogs who will not turn to princes.
We will not change our green and slippery skin
for one so lily-pale and plain, so smooth
it seems to have no grain. We will not leave
our leap, our spring, accordion. We have
seen ourselves in puddles, and we like
our grin. Men are so up and down, so thin
they look like walking trees. Their knees seem stiff,
and we have seen men shooting hares and deer.
Theyre queerthey even war with one another!
Theyve stretched too far from earth and natural things
for us to admire. We prefer to lie
close to the water looking at the sky
reflected; contemplating how the sun,
Great Rana, can thrust his yellow, webbed foot
Through all the elements in a giant jump;
Can poke the bottom of the brook; warm
the stumps for us to sit upon; and heat
our backs. Men have forgotten how to relax.
They bring their noisy boxes, and the blare
insults the air. We cannot hear the cheer
of crickets, nor our own dear booming chugs.
Frogs wouldnt even eat mens legs.
We scorn their warm dry princesses. Were proud
of our own bug-eyed brides with bouncing strides.
Keep your magic. We are not such fools.
Here is the ball without a claim on it.
We may begin from the same tadpoles,
but weve thought a bit, and will not turn to men.

Rana= A genus of frogs

After Reading: Underline descriptions of frogs; place a box around descriptions of humans
Check your comprehension:
1. What does the frogs accordion refer to?
2. How does the poem use imagery to describe the sun?
3. What are the noisy boxes?

Name _________________________

Compare and Contrast: Venn Diagram

Please use the following guidelines and questions when filling out your Venn diagram.
Form
What form does the story take? (Novel, short story, song, poem, etc.)
Point of View
Who is speaking? What type of narration is it (1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person)? Whose eyes do
we see through?
Time Period
When does the story take place?
Portrayal of humans
How does the author portray the human characters in your version of the fairy tale? What are
their lives like? Are they wealthy, poor, good, bad, etc.? What actions do they take, and are these actions
negative or positive?
Portrayal of Animals
How does the author portray the appearances, personalities, and lives of frogs in your story? Are
their lives seen as a desired states of being? How do other characters view the frogs?
Definitions of a happy ending?
What constitutes a happy ending, or state of happiness, in your story? What types of actions are
the characters taking? Who are they interacting with?

Name _________________________
Compared to the previous text, write a paragraph about what the poet says about a happy state of being.
Draw from one or both texts to make your argument. Please use complete sentences.