WK Teens Working With Fairy Tales

Teaching Young Learners
Using Fairy Tales with Young Learners

Teens 13-17
This INSETT session aims to explore the potential of fairy tale in the teenage EFL classroom by
investigating a number of versions of the story of Little Red Riding Hood and a range of
associated tasks.

Teaching Session Plan Training Session Notes

Write Fairy Tale on the whiteboard. Fairy tales can provide a useful bridge
Elicit thoughts related to the phrase and between young learner and adult material if
write responses on the board. handled sensitively it is often a question of
putting an innovative spin on a familiar
theme.
Ask Course Participants (CPS) if they Fairy tales = familiar theme and plot which
have heard of the story of Little Red scaffold the unfamiliar language.
Riding Hood (Le Petit Chaperon Rouge
in French/Little Red-Cap in Germany/ The focus on meaning rather than form can
Caperuchita Roja in Spanish/The False encourage participation and reduce anxiety
Grandmother in Italy/Lon Po Po in and apprehension.
China).
Distribute Worksheet 1 to CPs. Invite

them to complete it individually.
Pair CPs and invite them to compare This gives support to weaker students and
their version notes and experiences of students who are not overly familiar with the
the story. story.
Ask for plenary feedback.

Distribute a version of the story, either a This provides opportunities for practice of a
book or from the Internet, to each pair range of reading sub-skills.
with Worksheet 2. Invite students to
complete worksheets.
Invite CPs to put completed worksheet Students are often very interested in seeing
on display board. CPs circulate, view the other versions, as it is an opportunity to
worksheets and books. gauge their own performance against other
peoples.
Ask for plenary feedback on how
British Council 2013

suitable that activity is for teenage Asking students to complete the work in pairs
students. Who has done it already (or spreads responsibility and so reduces
something similar)? How did it go? Ask anxiety.
CPs to complete a task evaluation
sheet.

Continue with an alternative activity to When using the tasks with students, put
lead on from the story. Elicit opinions students into groups of 3.
about the fairness of the outcome in
their story. Which character came out of Assign roles within the groups: Dictionary
the situation best? checker/ note taker/ final copy-writer.
Distribute one task to each group.
Distribute selected tasks to CPs (in pairs) Allocate a period of time for brainstorming/
and invite them to discuss the task and drafting/ final copy writing.
complete a diary entry for each Display final copies on the wall.
character. Invite students to circulate with post-it notes
to stick on the final copies commenting on
Completed diary entries can then be spelling/ grammar/ content.
displayed around the room for other CPS
to comment on and use to give group
feedback on what they think of the task
and to complete an evaluation for.
Work through some, or all, of the tasks
below. Complete a task evaluation sheet
for each task discussed and decide how
effective you think the tasks will be with
your students
Debriefing.
Ask CPs to complete feedback form.
Tutors share insights and experiences
from conducting the session.

Materials
OHTs
OHT pens
A number of versions of Little Red Riding Hood
1 pack tasks per pair
Worksheets

Tasks
1. Dear Diary
2. Alien Translator
3. A Wolf of Good Character
4. An Unusual Character
5. The Tale of Squicious Griffing Flot
6. Hello, Hello, Hello
7. Story Telling Chain
8. Wolfy Interview
9. Good Advice
10. Reference
11. Wanted

Worksheet 1
Do you know the story of Little Red Riding

Hood?
Fill in the table below.
Dont talk to your partner about your answers yet!
The Characters
The Plot
The Ending
Now compare your notes with your partners.

Worksheet 2
Look at your version of the Little Red Riding Hood story. Find the answers to the
following questions in your story:
What happened exactly?

Circle the correct answers to the questions below:
1 Who made Red Riding Hoods cloak?
a) Grandma
b) Her mother
c) We dont know
d) None of the above (Give answer)
___________________________________________________________
2 What did the wolf say to Little Red Riding Hood when he met her the first time?

a) Why dont you take Grandma some flowers?
b) Why dont you relax a bit, look at the world and see how lovely it is?
c) Come and play with me.
d) Why dont I go ahead and tell Granny youre on your way?
e) No need to rush on a warm day like this!
f) None of the above (Give answer)
___________________________________________________________
3 What did Little Red Riding Hood take to Grandma?
a) Eggs and honey

b) Cakes
c) Custard tart and a pot of butter
d) A loaf of fresh bread, sweet butter and a bottle of wine
e) Homemade tarts, pickles, a bottle of stout and the paper with the
weekend television programmes in it
f) None of the above (Give answer)
___________________________________________________________
4 What happened to the wolf in the end?
a) The woodcutter chopped the wolf in half with an axe

b) Red Riding Hoods father got him
c) The woodcutter hit him on the head with an axe and he ran away to another
district where he gave up trying to eat people and tried to grow vegetables
instead
d) Red Riding Hood shot him and made herself a wolf skin coat
e) None of the above (Give answer)

Task Evaluation Sheet
TASK NUMBER / TITLE:
RESOURCES REQUIRED TO COMPLETE TASK:
AIM/S OF TASK:
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS WITH TASK:
STRATEGIES FOR MINIMISING POTENTIAL PROBLEMS:
POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF TASK:
STRATEGIES FOR MAXIMISING POTENTIAL BENEFITS:
ALTERNATIVE / SUPPLEMENTARY TASKS:
OTHER COMMENTS:

Dear Diary
TASK 1a
OK... so thats the story of Little Red Riding Hood we all know and love.
But have you ever stopped to think about what Little Red Riding Hood really wanted to do
that day?
I mean, how would you feel if you had to put on a really old-fashioned red cloak and little
white socks and WALK all the way to Grandmas house through a wolf-infested forest?
What would your friends have said if theyd seen you dressed like that? How could your
parents do that to you?
What were they doing that was so important that they couldnt drive you to Grandmas?
Why didnt they go and see Grandma? After all, she was a sick, old lady.
And now your pictures going to be in the Daily News - how embarrassing!
Write your diary for the day you went to Grandmas...
TASK 1b
But have you ever stopped to think about what Grandma was doing that day?
What was she doing when the wolf knocked on the door? Why did she let him in?
Did you know that Grandma was a member of the National Society for the Protection of
Wolves?
She was very unhappy when the wolf was taken off to prison.
Write a letter from Grandma to the judge pleading for mercy for the wolf.
TASK 1c
But have you ever wondered what the wolfs real story is?
Maybe hes fed up with being seen as the villain of the story. After all, he was only doing
what comes naturally for wolves and looking for a nice juicy girl to eat. People dont realise
how difficult it is to get a decent meal these days with so many girls on diets. Perhaps he
had a difficult childhood.
Poor old Wolfy eventually came to trial for his crime.
Write a letter from the wolf to the judge explaining how people have got it all wrong and
what a nice wolf you are really.

Alien Translator
TASK 2
Procedure:
1. Cut up the grid into individual cards.
2. Display the picture of the alien on the OHP, interactive whiteboard or as a visual.
3. Invite students to tell you who/what he is, where he comes from, what language he
speaks etc.
4. Give each student a separate card.
5. Tell the students: You have been approached by a visiting alien who has just read the
story of Little Red Riding Hood. He is a bit confused about some of the words in the
story. Explain the word on your card to him in the simplest way you can without using
your hands! By the way, there are no trees on his/her planet!
6. Encourage other students to guess and write their answers down (no shouting!)
7. Award points for each correct guess.
Axe Woods
Woodcutter Cloak
Bridge Wolf
Cottage Grandma

A Wolf of Good Character?

TASK 3
Look at the words below. Which characters in the story do you think
they describe?
Write your answers in the boxes. You can use words more than once.
Check with your partner and see if you have the same answers.
Discuss your answers.
Can you agree on four more words to describe each character?
sly helpful crafty
mean brave courageous
polite pretty kind
wicked clever frightened
sick wily thoughtful
Little Red Riding Hood
Grandmother
Mother
The wolf
The huntsman
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An Unusual Character?
TASK 4
Little Red Riding Hood
Characters are usually... arent usually...
Little girls
Grandmothers
Mothers
Huntsmen
Wolves
TASK 4B
Imagine that you are an unusual wolf. You think that wolves have a
bad name and you want to change that. You are actually a vegetarian!
You like to help poor old ladies and one day you decide to take a
parcel of food to a poor old granny you have heard is sick.
What happens when you get to her house and knock on the door?
(Ive heard that she is an unusual Granny!)

TASK 5
The Tale of Squicious Griffing Flot
Once upon a time there was a squicious blip. She wore a griff flot and
her name was Squicious Griffing Flot. One day she decided to mirk
some scrawb to Grandblopper. The squicious blip left the joop and
scriffed off. She greebed down the road, over the rumph and through
the zargrid. In the zargrid she hinned a proop. Where are you
greebing to, squicious blip? The squicious blip said, Im greebing to
my grandbloppers joop. When she kinflood at her grandbloppers
joop she firtled the pinge and klibbed in. Now a proop doesnt look like
a grandblopper any more than King Kong looks like Michael Jackson
so she grobbled out her lungepin and groffed him.
The moral of this story is:

Squicious blips arent as
murgroyd as they used to be!
(source unknown)

The florgrid tale of Squicious Griffing Flot
1 What did the squicious blip wear?

2 What was her name?
3 Where did she go?
4 What did she mirk to Grandblopper?
5 What did she do when she kinflood at Grandbloppers joop?
6 What did the squicious blip do before she klibbed in?
7 What did she do after she grobbled out her lungepin?
8 What is the moral of this story?
9 Where did she greeb after she greebed over the rumph?
10 Where did she hin a proop?
11 What did she say to the proop?
12 What did the proop say to her?
13 What did she hin in the zargrid?
14 When the squicious blip klibbed into her grandbloppers joop,
where was the zargrid?
15 What did the squicious blip do to the pinge?
16 Does a proop look like a grandblopper?

The florgrid tale of Squicious Griffing Flot
Read the story again and then complete the table below:
Word in story Part of speech Possible replacement word
Squicious
Blip
Griff
Flot
Mirk (to mirk)
Scrawb
Joop
Scriffed (to scriff)
Greebed (to greeb)
Rumph
Zargrid
Hinned (to hin)
Proop
Grandblopper
Kninflood (to kinfloo)
Firtled (to firtle)
Pinge
Klibbed (to klib)
Grobbled (to grobble)
Lungepin
Groffed (to groff)
Murgroyd

TASK 6
Hello, Hello, Hello!
Complete the policemans report on the recent incident involving a vicious wolf, a
sweet grandmother, a brave woodcutter and a small girl.
I was proceeding on my beat in the woods on a quiet afternoon when

all at once

TASK 7
Story telling chain

Procedure (for 10 students):
1. Cut up the grid into individual cards.
2. Distribute cards to students - each student receives 1 card from each category.
3. Students look at their cards and have one minute to think.
4. The student who has received the Red Riding Hood character card begins the story by
introducing the story with a sentence incorporating the words on their cards.
5. Beginning with the student on the first students right, each student must incorporate the
vocabulary on their cards into their sentence.
6. Each sentence must continue logically from the preceding sentences.
7. The story must incorporate the basic traditional elements of the fairy tale.
8. Any student who pauses for more than 5 seconds is out.
(The story can be recorded for later transcription and follow-up work.
Story telling chain
Character Place Thing Wild card
Red Riding Woods Glasses Homework

Hood
Wolf River Cloak Television
Grandma Supermarket Cakes Computer
Woodcutter Garden Basket Skateboard
Rabbit Train Station Axe Telephone box
Taxi Driver Swimming Pool Nightdress Wooden spoon
Chef Bedroom Teeth Walkman
Teacher School Chair Bus
Doctor Village Door Teddy bear
Shopkeeper Car Park Bridge Banana

TASK 8
WOLFY INTERVIEW-
GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY????
Procedure:
1. Divide the class into 5 groups:
JOURNALISTS
FLATMATES
BANK MANAGERS
MOTHERS
JUDGES
2. The journalists have 5 minutes to prepare their questions and the other
groups have 5 minutes to discuss their roles.
3. The judges act as observers throughout this stage.
4. Regroup the students with one student from each role group.
5. The journalists have 10 minutes to gather information about the wolf.
6. The judges continue to observe.
7. The judges then have 3 minutes to confer and decide on the wolfs guilt or
innocence and his fate!

JOURNALISTS BRIEF
1. You are a journalist who has been sent out to find out THE TRUTH about the
wolf.
2. You are going to interview the wolfs flatmate, bank manager and girlfriend.
3. Prepare the questions you are going to ask each of them:
Flatmate
Bank Manager
Mother

TASK 9
Good Advice
Little Red Riding Hoods mother warned her not to wander off the path
but she forgot.
What advice would you give a young girl who had to walk through the
city, through the woods and to Grandmas house?
Task A
Write a letter to Little Red Riding Hood warning her about the dangers
of being out alone and advising her about how to stay safe.
Task B
Design a poster aimed at warning little children about the dangers of

being out alone.

TASK 10
Reference
Read the story of Little Red Riding Hood
She has applied for the job of bodyguard to a famous

celebrity. She has asked you to be a referee for her and write
a letter to the celebrity explaining why you think she would be
a good bodyguard. Give details of her character and
experience.

TASK 11
WANTED!
On the following sheet design a WANTED poster for the wolf.
Before you begin make notes below about the information that should
be included:

Notes

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Teaching Young Learners

Using Fairy Tales with Young Learners

Distribute Worksheet 1 to CPs. Invite

Ask for plenary feedback.

British Council 2013

British Council 2013

British Council 2013

3. A Wolf of Good Character

5. The Tale of Squicious Griffing Flot

6. Hello, Hello, Hello

7. Story Telling Chain

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Do you know the story of Little Red Riding

Dont talk to your partner about your answers yet!

Now compare your notes with your partners.

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What happened exactly?

1 Who made Red Riding Hoods cloak?

a) Eggs and honey

a) The woodcutter chopped the wolf in half with an axe

British Council 2013

Task Evaluation Sheet

TASK NUMBER / TITLE:

RESOURCES REQUIRED TO COMPLETE TASK:

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS WITH TASK:

STRATEGIES FOR MINIMISING POTENTIAL PROBLEMS:

POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF TASK:

STRATEGIES FOR MAXIMISING POTENTIAL BENEFITS:

ALTERNATIVE / SUPPLEMENTARY TASKS:

British Council 2013

British Council 2013

1. Cut up the grid into individual cards.

4. Give each student a separate card.

7. Award points for each correct guess.

British Council 2013

A Wolf of Good Character?

Can you agree on four more words to describe each character?

sly helpful crafty

mean brave courageous

polite pretty kind

wicked clever frightened

sick wily thoughtful

Little Red Riding Hood

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Little Red Riding Hood

Characters are usually... arent usually...

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The Tale of Squicious Griffing Flot

The moral of this story is:

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The florgrid tale of Squicious Griffing Flot

1 What did the squicious blip wear?

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The florgrid tale of Squicious Griffing Flot

Word in story Part of speech Possible replacement word

Mirk (to mirk)

Scriffed (to scriff)

Greebed (to greeb)

Hinned (to hin)

Kninflood (to kinfloo)

Firtled (to firtle)

Klibbed (to klib)

Grobbled (to grobble)

Groffed (to groff)