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Lesson Topic: Intro to folktale unit
Grade Level: 2-5, can be adapted to meet standards
Estimated Time: 1 class period
Objectives: To learn what a folktale is. To read and discuss folktales as part of K-5 literature standards. To learn vocabulary and themes around a genre, and to recount stories from different cultures to determine themes and central messages. To engage in collaborative discussions.
WIDA Standard 2: The language of Language Arts, folklore story elements and type of genre.
NH Common Core Standards: K-5 Reading Standards: Stories, Literature, Range of Text Types:
Folklore/RL Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure/SL: Comprehension and Collaboration,
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
Some: Relate elements to favorite folktales and know common themes.
Most: Name folktales and know some elements of specific folktales.
All: Know definition of folktale and folktale elements.
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Prior Knowledge Assumed: Group discussion and participation strategies, formats, and rules
(Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards), some knowledge of personal folktales
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Materials needed: Any kind of props to set the scene for discussion, paper and writing tools to write class definition of folktales. Sample folktale books to pass around.
Modifications: Use a Think-Pair-Share or Three Column Chart if students need more time or support. (Think-Pair-Share: ask a question, ask students to think quietly for 1 minute; pair with a buddy to discuss; share as a group.)
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Agenda: Opening/Grabber: Have class sit around in a circle on the floor, maybe even with a fake campfire. Say: Pretend you are in a life with no tv, no computers, no technology, and maybe
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even no books. You have three brothers and four sisters and you all have to do chores all day long. Imagine what your life might be like, and how you would pass the time. How would your parents teach you stories or lessons? (Basically, set the scene for the following questions.)
Procedure:
1.
Talk about what a folktale is and why they were written.
2.
Brainstorm about what you think a folktale is. Write ideas on the big paper to come up with class definition.
3.
Why do you think people wrote these stories?
4.
Were they first written down or were they told by mouth?
5.
When do you think they were told?
6.
Why do you think they were so popular at that time?
7.
Did they have technology?
8.
Do these stories seem to be real stories? Do you think they could really happen?
9.
What folktales do you know? When did you hear them and who told them? What do they seem to have in common? (Pass around samples of different folktales to promote comparisons and discussion.)
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Closure: Write class definition of folktale drawing on discussion and also provide the following:
The Folktale
A folktale is a story that is passed down through generations by word of mouth. Storytellers recount folktales, adding their own personal touches to entertain listeners and to teach a moral or lesson. Myths, tall tales, legends, fables, and fairy tales are all folktales. Below are descriptions of some common elements they share.
Setting: The setting is where the story takes place. It can be a place that exists or an imaginary place.
Characters and conflict: Characters in folktales can be people or talking animals who sometimes have exaggerated or magical abilities. The conflicts are usually everyday problems that regular people might have.
Style: The style of a folktale is informal and conversational.
Theme: The theme of a folktale, or the folktale's moral, is a lesson about human nature from which listeners or readers can learn.
Follow-Up: Reading of specific folktales
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Assessment Method(s): Participation and class definition, completion of charts if used, knowledge of other folktales (teacher questions, discussion, application in group activities.)
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Intelligences Addressed: Your lesson should have three or more of these addressed in each lesson in order to meet all learning styles:
Visual
Auditory
Linguistic
Interpersonal
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Lesson Topic: Folktale - The Story of a Pumpkin
Grade Level: Can be adapted for 2-5
Estimated Time: 2 class periods
Objectives: Students will complete a graphic organizer to demonstrate understanding of folktale elements. Students will make predictions throughout the story. Students will determine themes and elements of The Story of a Pumpkin . Students will work collaboratively in small and large groups.
Standards: WIDA Standard 2: The language of Language Arts, folklore story elements and type of genre.
NH Common Core Standards: K-5 Reading Standards: Stories, Literature, Range of Text Types:
Folklore/RL Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure/SL: Comprehension and Collaboration,
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
Some: Have specific historical knowledge that relates to this specific tale.
Most: Find and name common themes between story elements and other folktales. Make predictions based on story, and understand how cultural elements of the story reflect values.
All: Place Bhutan on a map. Fill in Elements of Folktale graphic organizer to demonstrate knowledge of elements.
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Prior Knowledge Assumed: Elements of folktales. Use of graphic organizers. Collaboration and group work and whole class discussion techniques.
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Materials needed: Map, Story of a Pumpkin and technology to display visually, folktale kit with elements from the story: pumpkin, cucumber, animals, etc., folktale graphic organizer.
Modifications: Modeling and completing graphic organizer as class, group work, visuals, variety of assessment ideas.
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Agenda: Opening/Grabber: - Use an example of a situation that could cause jealousy in student’s lives and talk about what that may cause them to do. Have you ever been jealous?
Why? What did you do? What did you want to do?
Procedure:
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1. Discuss with the students that we are about to read a book that originates in the country of
Bhutan.
2. Have students gather around a map or globe and have students find Bhutan.
3. Ask the students if they have ever been to Bhutan or knew someone who was from there or
if any of them are from Bhutan. What are some things you know about the country?
4. Read The Story of a Pumpkin to the class. Have the story displayed visually on a
screen and stop periodically to make predictions and fill in the Elements of Folk Tales
Graphic Organizer.
5. Alternatively, have the students perform a Readers’ Theater. (Script available at
http://storyofapumpkin.wordpress.com)
6. Discuss:
The setting and picture elements.
What did the woman in the story want more than anything and why?
Why did the farmer and his wife start to call the pumpkin, “Son”?
Why did the pumpkin visit the king? Predict: What do you think will happen?
What is the relationship of the sisters? Why do you think the second youngest agreed to marry the pumpkin?
What happened when the king agreed?
What happened when the husband and wife stayed at the palace? Predict: What will happen next?
Why did Didi act the way she did and what was her mistake?
What do you think the lesson is?
What do you like best about the story?
7. Break students into groups. Have each group pick an item from the folktale kit and, in
groups, discuss its relevance to the story and to the folktale elements. Each group will present
to class.
Closure: What were the common themes among the groups? Does this remind you of any folktales you know?
Follow-Up: Students will be assessed at the end of the unit and can choose from a variety of assessments:

Do a country presentation based on cultural elements of the folktale.

Write your own folktale.

Compare and contrast two folktales and provide some sort of visual representation or presentation.

Act out the folktale.

Write an alternate version of the folktale based on another character’s perspective.

Create a visual representation through storyboard, comic strip, drawing, painting, or collage and provide explanation.

Convert the folktale into alternate media form.

Imagine another project idea.
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Assessment Method(s): (Be creative and vary your assessment methods) teacher questions written product projects oral presentation discussion application in group activities
Project must show that students have met objectives and have an understanding of folktale elements and themes.
Participation in large and small groups.
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Intelligences Addressed: Your lesson should have three or more of these addressed in each lesson in order to meet all learning styles.
visual linguistic bodily/kinesthetic naturalist auditory spatial interpersonal kinetic musical intrapersonal
The lesson itself addresses visual, linguistic, auditory, and interpersonal intelligences. The project may address any of the others.
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PROBLEM
SOLUTION
CULTURAL
ELEMENTS
MAGIC MORAL
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HUMAN CHARACTERS
AND THEIR DESCRIPTION
NON-HUMAN
CHARACTERS AND
THEIR DESCRIPTION

Website Sources for Folktale Lesson Plan: http://lessons.atozteacherstuff.com/344/folktale-unit/ http://www.psdr3.org/services/showme_assessment/pdfdocs/3funwith.pdf
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/heathercondon/files/graphic_organizer-all_types.pdf
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/course/course1/unit/folktale.shtml
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/exploring-world-culturesthrough-91.html?tab=4#tabs
For lists of Multicultural Folktales and Literature: http://www.ipl.org/div/pf/entry/48493
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From NH Common Core Reading Standards for Literature K-5
Grade 2 (RL)
Literature: Key Ideas and Details
Ask and answer such questions as who , what , where , when , why , and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
Craft and Structure
Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters. Include discussion about speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.
Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.
Grade 3
Key Ideas and Details
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Craft and Structure
Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed
 by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).
Grade 4
Key Ideas and Details
Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in
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the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).
Craft and Structure
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean).
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.
Grade 5
Key Ideas and Details
Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
Craft and Structure
Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text
(e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).
Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics.
The Story of a Pumpkin Lesson Plan was compiled by Emily Kerr, University of New Hampshire
- Manchester graduate student and Adult ESOL teacher who served as an intern with the New
Hampshire Humanities Council literacy program, Connections .
The Story of a Pumpkin was created by adult Bhutanese students in ESOL classes in collaboration with the New Hampshire Humanities Council.
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