Read Fairy Tales With Teen Students! The Brothers Grimm Tales Will Have Them Hooked And Spooked

Confession: My first teaching position was as a leave replacement teacher for 10^th and 12^th grade English, and I felt like I was in over my head.  Though the position was only for three months, it was the last three months of the school year.  Odds were stacked against me: I was a new teacher with NO CLUE what she was doing, plus my students (especially the 12^th graders) had motivationally checked out to be on summer break. 

 

When planning out the remaining weeks leading up to finals, I knew my lessons for my 10^th graders would revolve around finishing our class novel, but I was at a loss about my 12^th graders.  What material could I cover with my “too cool for school” seniors that would not result in blatantly spewed profanities or (though tame yet painful) overly dramatic eyerolls?

 

After receiving advice from colleagues and researching lesson ideas on the abyss that is the internet, I triumphantly breathed a sigh of relief when I got my internal worrisome self on board with my plan – fairy tales. 

 

No, not cute stories for single-digit-aged kids, but the often dark, gruesome tales of the Brothers Grimm. 

Living in the digital era, I searched online for PDF versions of two fairy tales – two was all I needed to make it to that finish line of prepping for finals.  I found the original version of “Rapunzel” and of “Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs.”  After reading both stories, I was pleased with the appropriate level of nightmare-esque qualities that would entertain my “reluctant-to-learn-in-the-last-weeks-of-school” students. 

 

Next, I crafted a graphic organizer for each tale covering a range of complexities that would make Mr. Benjamin Bloom proud: identifying themes, supporting an opinion with evidence, and a combination of analytical and creative thinking-focused questions. 

 

When it came time to have what I endearingly refer to as my “less-than-enthused” students read “Rapunzel,” we read it together as a class.  Several students volunteered to read aloud, and I was very thankful for their participation. 

 

Throughout the read-aloud, my students were very engaged – I think because they were in disbelief of the original tale’s plot.  Many students had questions and comments because “Rapunzel” from the minds of Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm was indeed grim – pun intended – and was a drastic difference from the bubblegum children’s story and Disney animated adaptation.  The foreboding nature of this tale provided the “wow factor” I so desperately needed to gain my 12^th graders’ interest. 

 

After facilitating a lively class discussion and disembarking from the emotional rollercoaster of consuming the eerie tale, my students worked in pairs to complete a variety of questions on the graphic organizer referenced earlier. 

 

I had the luxury of having my 12^th grade English class for a double-period every day, so after two days, we completed our reading and review of all things “Rapunzel.”  We repeated that cycle for “Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs.”  As anticipated (well, as hoped), this next tale was a crowd-pleaser that evoked the same levels of surprise in my students that “Rapunzel” did. 

To complete what I like to refer to as a “mini unit” about fairy tales, I assigned a project.  The objective of this activity was to create an Instagram post as either one of the protagonists from the tales we read.  Criteria for the post revolved around relevance to the story and required a paragraph describing the selected elements in the post. 

 

My students enjoyed working on the Instagram project.  Disclaimer: I was lenient in both the complexity of the project and my grading of it since it was a “win” for me simply to keep these students engaged and not resenting me for having them work during the last days of their high school lives. 

 

Anyway, the project, really the “mini unit” in its entirety, was a success.  Take a look at the “Fairy Tales – Brothers Grimm” material on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  My store also has a variety of versatile products for all grades and subjects!  

 

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Peace.  Love.  Reading & Writing.

 

💗 Miss M