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Folk Tales & Fairy Tales

There are different types of stories - this slideshow looks at folk tales and fairy tales.  Understanding different types of books is important - it helps us find books that we want to read.  To view this slideshow, click on the ADVANCE BUTTON (arrow pointing right) in the media of the Slideshare media player. This slideshow is best-viewed on a high-speed Internet connection.

Learning About Genres

Reading children’s literature is also a valuable way to introduce children to aspects of culture and the human experience. Stories that explain customs and traditions in have been passed down from generation to generation. In addition to providing students an opportunity for visual experiences beyond their daily lives, folk tales offer students entertaining and imaginative ways to think about our lives.   For a downloadable, printable worksheet (.pdf) to compare and contrast these types of stories, please click HERE.

Folk tales and fairy tales are used to introduce children to the concept of “genre”.  They provide children with a context to think about a story. In many ways, it works as an “anticipated set” that is included in some lesson plan formats. As students develop an understanding of genre, they make connections between other books they have read.

Properly nurtured, this enables students to find additional reading material that is likely to be enjoyable because they learn how to compare and contrast what they have read.
This works at 2 levels. In some cases, students will want to find a book that contains many of the same elements of a story and its presentation that was enjoyable.

In other cases, it introduces critical thinking by guiding students to think about how they might enjoy a story based on how it differs from something they have already read.
We use folk and fairy tales to introduce the concept of genres - both are fiction.  Once students understand this, we can expand that understanding by introducing other genres. 

Note how, as described, most descriptions of the genres introduce students to that category and compares and contrasts it with another.  As children get older, they are ready to enjoy the following types of books:

Fiction

• Traditional Literature. Stories handed down orally through the ages. Folk and fairy tales are examples. These stories have no known author.
• Fantasy. Stories that contain fantastic/unworldly elements. In many ways, these stories are similar to traditional literature but authors are known.
• Science Fiction. Fantasy that incorporates technology or scientific informalities and seek to peek into the future or distant past.
• Realistic Fiction. Portray characteristics or events in a manner that, while fiction, could be true to life.
• Historical Fiction. Realistic stories, as in realistic fiction, that takes place in the past.

Nonfiction

• Informational. Provides ideas, facts, principles related to physical, biological, or social world.
• Biography. Biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs recall the life of real people and personal historical events.

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