Day(s) Lesson Activity: Weeks 4-6

1
To begin this part of the project, have students revisit a fairy tale that is well known to them. Once
this fairy tales has been chosen, have the students retell the elements of the story. As students tell the
elements, write down their ideas that allows students to later use and refer back to for guidance and
support. Once the story elements are identified, ask students, "what elements can we change without
changing the message or lesson of the story?" Using the Changing Detail activity page, identify the
elements that can be changed. After these elements have been identified as a "changeable detail" ask
students to identify another element that could replace it.

By the end of this activity, students will see that changing the characters (from humans to animals),
the setting of the story (from in the rainforest to under the sea), or the clothing worn (Americanized
t-shirt, blue jeans and sneakers to a Russian folk dress and valenki felt boots) does not change the
essential message or lesson of the fairy tale.
Place students in small peer collaborative groups of no more than 5 students. These are not
randomized groups. Students should ne strategically placed together in order to receive the best end
result and positive experience during the activity.
Once in each group, students in each group will choose one of the three fairy tales that was shared
over the previous three weeks that they want to create a new version that resembles their culture or
country without changing the message or lesson of the original story.

4-5

Student groups will let the teacher/facilitator know the fairy tale they have chosen by the end of this
day.
As a collaborative small group, students will complete the Fairy Tale Outline activity in order to
have an outline of the original fairy tale. Once they can correctly filled out the elements on the
outline, students will being work on the Changeable Detail activity page. The task for today is to
identify all of the elements in the original story that they want to change. Students will use the
changeable detail worksheet to fill out the groups ideas on what elements should be changed
(setting, characters, character names, clothing, sayings, etc)
Over the next two days, students will then add and change the elements to create a new version of
the fairy tales that currently resembles the culture or country of the students. Using the Changeable
Detail activity page, students will add ideas for different elements that they could use in their new
version (original setting Paris, France in front of the Eiffel Tower, new setting Washington, DC
in front of the Washington Monument; original characters names Pierre and Bernard, new
character names Bradly and Andrew)
This activity should be used to come up with as many different ideas as the students can think of.
Students need to remember that they need to use elements that are apparent and regular in their
culture or country. The end fairy tale should resemble a fairy tale told in their culture or country.

During this day, students in their groups need to determine and decide on the new version elements
to use. Collaboratively, students need to choose elements that everyone in the group agrees on. If
groups are at a standstill and are unable to determine what new elements they want to use in their
new version, the teacher/facilitator can intervene and either choose for the students or help them
come to a shared decision through a democratic way (voting)
At the end of the day, students will have determined which new elements they will be adding to and
changing in the fairy tale.

7-8

Over the next two days, students will be work on writing their new version of the story from the
original.

9-13

14-15

To start, students will fill out a new Fairy Tale Outline making sure to include their new elements
that resemble their culture or country. Students need to be as detailed as possible so that once they
complete the Fairy Tale Outline, they are able to turn the outline into a true story with a beginning,
middle and end.
After the outline is completed, students will need to decide how they want to tell their new story.
Depending on the limitations of the classroom, students can create a PowerPoint presentation, record
a video, make a play, or actually write a book and record a read aloud making sure to display the
pictures.
Once their method has been decided, they have the next several days to work together and complete
their new fairy tale version.
Over the next two days, students will present their new versions of the fairy tale to their class. While
presenting, those that are performing or reading aloud will be recorded so that they can share their
new version with their paired classroom in another country.
On the final day, the paired classrooms will exchange the new versions of the stories that were
created through ePals. After receiving the new version of the fairy tale, original classrooms will be
able to see how a familiar story can be changed to resemble a different culture or country without
changing the essential message or lesson of the original fairy tale.