Folktales Teacher Resources

Brian Jacques’ novel Redwall provides the focus for a series of lessons involving the analysis of folklore. Adopting the persona of a character, groups write letters in the voice of their character, assemble a collage using Microsoft...

"The Hare and the Water," a Tanzanian folk tale, lends a global perspective to literary analysis. Learners spend the first two days reading and storyboarding. On day three, they examine folk tale elements (worksheet included), and design...

Have your class explore the art of storytelling through this instructional activity on fairy tales and folktales. Learners interact with a variety of fairy tales and folktales. They practice telling stories out loud as well as writing...

Folklore is composed of stories that convey cultural heritage and traditions. Many types of tales are listed as well as what they portray in various contexts and situations. Give your learners a brief description or definition of...

Students study the elements of folktales. They write, perform and produce their own African folktales using camcorders and movie software.

Young readers use graphic organizers, such as Venn diagrams and story maps, to analyze a variety of folktales and the elements of a story. They use writing, sequencing activities, and creative art to identify the morals learned from a...

Students examine the art of storytelling. In groups, they write their own African folktales, design costumes, props and scenery, and videotape folktale presented in dramatic form.

Introduce the concept of myths to your class. Using the link to "Myths Around the World," read a story aloud and have learners list characteristics of a myth. Readers then choose their own myths from the site and work in groups to answer...

Students define elements of stories from around the world that include helpful animals. They explore animal character motivations and use graphic organizers to compare and contrast animal stories from different cultures.

Every culture has its own stories to tell. An interesting educator's guide shares a large collection of fairytales and folktales, some from different cultures and some re-creations of classics. A summary and brief teaching ideas...

Wonderful worksheets and activities complementing six sequential lessons are what you'll find in this unit on folklore. Pupils create folktales using literary devices and included story starters, compare and contrast different folklores,...

Story elements such as conflict, character analysis, resolution, and moral are discussed and charted as elementary children read folktales involving animals. An element of science is also introduced as learners discover what a keystone...

The Cleveland Museum of Art presents this interdisciplinary model unit that asks class members to explore how the same themes are presented in the folktales and art of several cultures.

Do you know why woodpeckers have red heads? Why the possum has no hair on its tail? Why a cat has nine lives? Find out by downloading this resource that uses Zora Neale Hurston's collection Mules and Men as the basis of a study of...

Every elementary age child learns about the different genres of literature, this PowerPoint will give them a clear idea of what to look for when identifying Folklore and Fairy Tales. Each slide describe the characteristics of Folklore,...

Students answer questions about a folktale that is read to them. For this listening skills lesson, students practice listening to folktales and answering questions about what they hear. They listen to repetitive readings of the same...

Here is a must-have resource for studying fairy tales, myths, and folktales with your class! It includes instructional ideas, activities, and materials to support a month-long review of these three unique genres of writing.

Designed with many of the Common Core standards in mind, this 10-lesson unit is brimming with ELL strategies, teacher's notes, and the best of core instructional methods for teaching the common elements of folktales, and exploring...

Stories are passed down orally in many cultures. Learn about the ways that storytelling can shape a society with a reading passage about Native American folklore and myths. After they finish reading, kids complete five reading...

A great way to learn to understand people and their environment is to study their folktales. Stories from China, Vietnam, India, Iran, Persia, and Palestine offer an opportunity for readers to investigate the cultures of Asia. A list of...

Who would've thought that a video on vampire imagery could also be such a fantastic resource on cultural folklore, European history, and human anatomy? This video illustrates how the vampire image has evolved throughout history across...

Students consider the structure of folktales. In this writing skills lesson, students list the attributes of folktales that they read in class. Students then complete handouts based on the elements of the tales as well as types of tales...

Students create and perform folktale plays. In this reader's theater and Asian literature lesson, students work in groups to rewrite Asian folktales into scripts and perform the folktales for their class in a Reader's Theater. Lesson...