Fairy tales are old stories told and retold again, but do they deserve a place in a modern language arts curriculum? Besides the fact that the Common Core standards require exposure to fairy tales, there

Time to get a little dirty while learning about how plants grow! After reading books about parts of plants and how plants grow, we of course had to plant our own seeds to witness this first hand. First we added soil to our cups... ...then the kiddos planted two lima beans, two pinto beans, and some grass seeds in a clear plastic Solo cup. (I like to consolidate!) The clear cups allow the kids to see the roots as the plants grow! (Which they think is really cool!) We also watched this awesome video on YouTube to see how the lima beans would grow. Since we were also learning about Fairy Tales, we read Jack and the Beanstalk and added the castle in the clouds to our plants. When I saw this idea on Pinterest, I just had to add a huge beanstalk to the corner of our classroom! Here's our anchor chart we made for our study of Fairy Tales.

Over the summer we worked as a team to redo our themes for this year. Some we kept the same but we added lots of new ones....due of course ...

Here are some of the things we did this week for our Fairy Tale/Storybook Character Unit: We talked about what a fairy tale is and what fairy tales sometimes have in them. We talked about the Story Elements in each of the Fairy Tales we read this week. Little Red Riding Hood Here is the chart I used to fill in the Story Elements as we talked about them as a class. While filling this chart out, we made our characters and set up our classroom (setting) so we could act out the story. Little Red Riding Hood Activity: They made a picture of Little Red Riding Hood and then filled in the boxes describing her. Goldilocks and the Three Little Bears We filled this in after reading the story. I had the students make this story character map for Goldilocks. Cinderella We filled this in together as a class. I laminated these Story Element Anchor Charts so I could write on them with an Expo Marker and easily wipe them off! Writing Activity: If I had a Fairy Godmother... The Three Little Pigs I read two versions of The Three Little Pigs and we compared the two stories. I had the students fill out these WANTED posters for the Big Bad Wolf. Jack and the Beanstalk We did a measurement activity. The Frog Prince Graphing Activity: Would you kiss a frog? Fairy Tale Elements Chart: After reading each fairy tale we went through and marked what fairy tale elements the book had. Storybook Character Dress-up Day: To end our unit we had the students dress up as their favorite storybook character. They came to school dressed in their costume with their book and we guessed who they were. Even all the first grade teachers dressed up! Here is just a peek at some of the storybook characters the first grade teachers have dressed us as during the years. The Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed Alice in Wonderland All Laura Numeroff book characters! Click HERE to download my Fairy Tale Unit from my TpT store!

This resource creates a display of the most common elements in Fairy Tales. Print the different elements and assemble them on a display board to create a large castle shape. The display covers Story Structure, Plot, Settings, and Characters.

Creating fairy tale story maps are a fun and engaging way to integrate literacy and social studies in kindergarten, first, or second grade.

Slight change of plans today. We did not begin our fairy tales unit with The Princess and the Pea . Instead, we opened with The Frog Prince...

Incorporate fairy tale elements with technology in the classroom with these before, during and after reading activities that you can use with the children's book, Once Upon a Time Online. An important message about digital citizenship is shared. Technology in the classroom

So, please bloggy friends tell me that you are in the throws of report cards, assessments, parent teacher conferences, and who knows what else at this point? And nevermind I am still teaching. You know, that side job that I do during the day? Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Okay. Now that this is out of the way!!! I am currently in the process of thinking/planning/creating for 4th quarter and anchor charts are one of my favorite things to use and make. There are so many great ways to use them - what's important is that you actually use them. Last year, I had charts all over the place - but my kiddos couldn't really tell you about them... This year, I've made a conscious effort to create ones that I will use and that will actually "anchor" their learning. We refer to our charts all of the time. Pinterest has some great ideas for charts. They don't have to be fancy-schmancy either - it's what you feel comfortable with. Again - the whole idea is that kids can actually use them and refer to them to help with their learning. So today, when I should have been filling out conference forms I took pictures of some of my favorite ones from this quarter and began to think about 4th quarter (don't worry, the thought that 4th quarter almost equals summer did not cross my mind one.little.bit.)! Remember when I said they don't need to be fancy-schmancy? This is my 3-D shapes chart that we used when learning about shapes. Simple but a nice visual for them to refer to. If you haven't checked out Fran @ Kindergarten Crayons, please do. She has practical ideas, offers good teaching tips and just plain.knows.Kindergarten. (I don't even know her - but her blog is seriously awesome!) When we did out Teen Numbers Unit, my kiddos did the teen number book that Fran gave as a freebie. I took her book and made it into a chart that we still use daily! Kindergarten Crayons Teen Numbers Book 3 Ways to Read to Self (um, please ignore the lovely view out my classroom window...). There are tons of these on Pinterest too - so you can make it to fit your needs. Story Structure Chart: Another Pinterest find. We use this to tell all about the stories. What's nice is the visual reminder that it gives. It helps all of my students remember story elements (just in case their little brains are on overload!!) We learned about Fairy Tales/Folk Tales this quarter. And don't be surprised - saw one like this on Pinterest and had to make one similar. We compared the Fairy Tales and summarized the characteristics of each one. Post-its are a great way to "write" on your charts and reuse your anchor charts year to year - without having to worry about wiping off marker. We've been learning about non-fiction and recording our learning about Space. I love the schema charts. One way I keep the kids interested is by asking if I can write their name on the post-it. I make a big deal that the Principals/Administration love reading who is learning and what they are learning. It (usually) helps keep them focused and interested! Reading strategies - good readers visualize. Don't be jealous of my mad illustration skills. We use the Phonics Dance, so I made smaller sizes of the picture cards and made a chart of them. Easy-peasy. This is displayed close to their desks - and they can refer to it when they need to during Writer's Workshop. From the beginning of the year - still up and displayed by the classroom library. Parts of a Book chart. I used a book that was familiar to them so it would help them to remember the parts better. Some stay up all year, some come down depending on what we are learning. Good rule of thumb - if you haven't referred to it in a month, take it down. I'm sure we can all find something else to put up on the wall right?!? What do you do for anchor charts?

This file includes everything that you need to produce a great looking anchor chart to use with your fairy tale unit. I am included pieces for 12 different elements of common fairy tales. This can be used with any fairy tale. The pieces fit perfectly on a piece of poster board. They would also lo...

"There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all." -Jacqueline Kennedy

This free fairy tale unit of study is a free unit of study you can add to your reading workshop.

This week our first grade team started our fairy tale unit. We got so many great ideas from you wonderful bloggers and I bought the fairy tale unit from Primary Perspective. Thank you all so much! Here is how week one turned out in my classroom: This week we read Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. But we focused on Cinderella and The Three Little Pigs. The Fairy Tale Journal was from Primary Perspective's Unit After we read Cinderella, the kids made magic wands and wrote about what they would do if they had one. After we talked about the fairy tale elements from the story we sequenced it. Then the kids wrote about what they would have used to build their house to keep the wolf away. Then they illustrated their houses. We finished the week by watching Cinderella. It was such a kick for me too. I haven't seen it since I was their age! Next week we are going to read and learn about Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Princess and Pea, and Rumpelstiltskin. We will also pick our favorite fairy tale and characters to write about. Stay tuned!

This anchor chart can be used in several ways to help teach the elements of a Fairy Tale in both reading and writing. One way I have used these is to make mini anchor charts for my students to keep in their Writer's Workshop Binders.

I spent last week with my family soaking up every ounce of holiday bliss and relaxation that I could!It was wonderful. Then, this week I decided to get ready to kick off 2015 at school. These two days of prep are going to make my January 5th work day no work at all!!! I think I'll just socialize with other teachers and keep them from working ;-) No, really, I plan to clean and organize my classroom. Anyway, my firsties are starting off the new year learning about silent e (magic e), fairy tales, folk tales, and tall tales, and non standard units of measure. Here's my prep work: I created this little resource that includes CVCe and CCVCe word work. I made sure to include something for Daily 5 word work and something for assessing my RTI kiddos. We are kicking off our fairy tale unit with Cinderella. I have lots of versions of this book. One of my faves is Dinorella. This is a craftivity I made last year to go with the book. Of course, I've started a Fairy Tale Pinterest board for a little inspiration. I have a thing for cute anchor charts. Right now I'm filling up the board with them. I'll add some more stuff too. Here's an easy anchor chart I pinned. The blog I pinned it from seems to have been deleted. In January we will begin a unit on measurement, so I whipped this up. I like that some students can just measure, while others can measure and compare for a little extra oomph. It's a $1 math tub ya'll, or a super engaging independent measurement activity. On a personal note...do you Instagram? Me and some other teachers are starting Whole 30 tomorrow. Check out For the Love of First Grade on Insta.. I think it was her idea. #teachersofwhole30 Happy New Year!

Here are some of the things we did this week for our Fairy Tale/Storybook Character Unit: We talked about what a fairy tale is and what fairy tales sometimes have in them. We talked about the Story Elements in each of the Fairy Tales we read this week. Little Red Riding Hood Here is the chart I used to fill in the Story Elements as we talked about them as a class. While filling this chart out, we made our characters and set up our classroom (setting) so we could act out the story. Little Red Riding Hood Activity: They made a picture of Little Red Riding Hood and then filled in the boxes describing her. Goldilocks and the Three Little Bears We filled this in after reading the story. I had the students make this story character map for Goldilocks. Cinderella We filled this in together as a class. I laminated these Story Element Anchor Charts so I could write on them with an Expo Marker and easily wipe them off! Writing Activity: If I had a Fairy Godmother... The Three Little Pigs I read two versions of The Three Little Pigs and we compared the two stories. I had the students fill out these WANTED posters for the Big Bad Wolf. Jack and the Beanstalk We did a measurement activity. The Frog Prince Graphing Activity: Would you kiss a frog? Fairy Tale Elements Chart: After reading each fairy tale we went through and marked what fairy tale elements the book had. Storybook Character Dress-up Day: To end our unit we had the students dress up as their favorite storybook character. They came to school dressed in their costume with their book and we guessed who they were. Even all the first grade teachers dressed up! Here is just a peek at some of the storybook characters the first grade teachers have dressed us as during the years. The Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed Alice in Wonderland All Laura Numeroff book characters! Click HERE to download my Fairy Tale Unit from my TpT store!

Hello Everyone! We are wrapping up our two week long Reading/Social Studies integrated unit on fairy/folk tales. We have read so many different Cinderella stories from all over the world, compared, retold, mapped, learned about different cultures, and so much more! Today we brainstormed some of the different things we found in fairy tales and responded through writing an acrostic and a hands on visual connection. I love how hard the kids worked on these and the amazing connections they made!! Way to go, kiddos!! This reader's response activity is included in my Cinderella unit. You can get your activities and patterns HERE!!! Bibbity Bobbity Boo! :) Click! (free!) Stay tuned for some fun reader's theater clips!! We are having a ball in first grade!! Thanks for stopping by for a peek!! Joyfully! Nancy

Here are 2 different fairytale checklists and an anchor chart! Perfect to have students use to see what elements of a fairy tale they can find in a story or include as they write their own!

teach traditional literature - fairytales, fables, legends, myths, and tall tales easily learning the different types and standards

This anchor is perfect for your Fairy Tale Unit! Hang this anchor up on your bulletin board and it will be a great visual for your students. I've also included a "Fairy Tales" bulletin board header and two magic wands for decoration. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You may also like my other anchor charts: Related Products → Apple Life Cycle Poster → Diphthong /aw/ Anchor Chart → Diphthong /oi/ Anchor Chart → Diphthong /oo/ Anchor Charts → Diphthong /ow/ Anchor Chart → Fractions Poster → Long Vowel Anchor Charts → Math Word Wall Posters → Mental Math Addition Strategies Anchor Charts → Mental Math Subtraction Strategies Posters → Odd & Even Numbers Poster → Telling Time Poster ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tips for customers: Click on the green ★ above to follow my store! I ♥ and appreciate your feedback. Love this product? Let me know so that I can continue to create resources you enjoy! If you enjoy this product, please leave positive feedback to gain credit for future purchases! If you have any questions or problems please contact me through Product Q & A and i'll get back to you as soon as I can. For more amazing teaching ideas and resources, please visit my: •TPT Store •Facebook Page •Instagram Page •Pinterest Board