creating a unique fairy tale based on three little voices and one big bad voice
This lesson idea was built for WritingFix after being proposed by Nevada teacher Dana Rankin at an SBC-sponsored inservice class.
The intended "mentor text" to be used when teaching this on-line lesson is the picture book The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka. Before writing, students should listen to and discuss the writing style of this book's author.
Washoe County teachers, click here to search for this book at the county library.
Teacher Instructions & Lesson Resources :
Step one (sharing the published model):The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka is a humorous story of those three little pigs, but it is told from the point of view of that big and bad wolf. Scieszka’s originality clearly depends on his voice, as we--the readers-- are asked to re-evaluate the story from the antagonist's point-of-view. This story and writing assignment will give students an opportunity to experiment with writing from another point of view.
Practice this story before you read it out loud, with the passion and feeling it deserves. But before reading...recall the plot of the story of the Three Little Pigs with your students. Play the "Twenty-Five-Word Summary Game, where you see if any student (or small group) can write the entire plot down in 25 words or less.
After enjoying the story, point out the obvious: this story is different because it is told from the wolf’s point of view, which--by itself--isn't a characteristic of voice...but when you talk about how Scieszka made us understand the wolf so well by sharing his perspective...well then, you have voice, my friend. Point-of-view is easy...adding authentic-sounding perspective is when P.O.V. has an influence on the writing trait of VOICE. Teachers might also choose to discuss the tone, mood and humor of the story as well after reading Scieszka's fractured fairy tale.
Step two (introducing models of writing): In small groups, have your students read and respond to any or all of the student models that come with this lesson. The groups should certainly talk about the voice, since that's the focus of this lesson, but you might prompt your students to talk about each model's idea development as well.
We're looking for student samples for most grade levels for this prompt! Help us get some, and we'll send you free books for your classroom! Visit the student models page for this lesson for more information.
Step three (thinking and pre-writing): Students are to select three original little animals and one big bad animal to become characters in an original fairy tale. The interactive button game on the student instruction page has lots of fun possibilities, but students can certainly come up with ideas on their own. If you're interested in writing across the curriculum, you might get creative here when assigning this writing; if science is being studied, for example, you could assign the story of the three little bacteria and the big bad virus.
Student writers are to be inspired by the original story of The Three Little Pigs, but they are to try and tell an original story with their original characters. Have them talk in small groups about plots that might unfold in their original fairy tales. Have them inspire each other with original ideas.
Next, they need to choose one of their four characters to serve as their original tale's narrator. Should it be one of the little animals? Or should it be the big bad animal? Before they leave their small groups, have them discuss the possibilities.
Then...they write...trying to capture their chosen narrator's point-of-view. Remind them that a narrator--like the one in The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!--has the ability to make his/her audience sympathetic with his/her side. Challenge them to do the same.
As students compose, you might ask them to use this two-page drafting sheet, which requires them to check their own use of voice when their rough drafts are finished.
Step four (revising with specific trait language): Two tools for revision are provided below. You can use one or both, depending on how much time you have to spend on this assignment.
To promote response and revision to rough draft writing, attach WritingFix's Revision and Response Post-Its to your students' drafts. Make sure the students rank their use of the trait-specific skills on the Post-Its, which means they'll only have one "1" and one "5." Have them commit to ideas for revision based on their Post-It rankings. For more ideas on WritingFix's Revision & Response Post-Its, click here.
Step five (editing for conventions): After students apply their revision ideas to their drafts and re-write neatly, require them to find an editor. If you've established a "Community of Editors" among your students, have each student exchange his/her paper with multiple peers. With yellow high-lighters in hand, each peer reads for and highlights suspected errors for just one item from the Editing Post-it. The "Community of Editors" idea is just one of dozens and dozens of inspiring ideas that is talked about in detail in the Northern Nevada Writing Project's Going Deep with 6 Trait Language Workbook for Teachers.
Step six (publishing for the portfolio): When they are finished revising and have second drafts, invite your students to come back to this piece once more during an upcoming writer's workshop block. Their stories might become a longer story, a more detailed piece, or the beginning of a series of pieces about the story they started here. Students will probably enjoy creating an illustration for this story as they get ready to publish it for their portfolios.
Interested in publishing student work on-line? We invite student writers to post final drafts of their original at WritingFix's Community of Student Writers. This is a safe-to-use blog for students and teachers. No writing is posted until it is approved by the moderator. Contact us at publish@writingfix.com if you have questions about getting your students published.
Check out our lesson on Jon Scieszka's book Science Verse by clicking here!
