Treasure Hunts

Fairy Tales from Around the World

Introduction

Fairy tales are short stories that tell of unusual happenings in an imaginary world. We know these happenings do not take place in the real world. We have read five famous fairy tales whose characters can perform magical acts. The stories often teach us lessons about ourselves, others, and life. Have you ever wondered how these fairy tales got started?

Before we continue to read other fairy tales, you are going on a fact-finding mission on the Internet to learn about the origin and evolution of fairy tales. The question below will guide you on your mission to answer these questions.

Guiding Question

What are the origins of fairy tales? How does one fairy tale differ from one part of the world to the next?

Questions

1. Who wrote the Grimms' Fairy Tales?
2. Who was Hans Anderson?
3. Where were they born and when?
4. Find six countries that have a collection of fairy tales.
5. What do most fairy tales have in common?
6. How do fairy tales differ from one another?
7. What lessons do you learn from fairy tales?
8. How are fairy tales different from fables?
9. How are fairy tales different from legends?
10. How are fairy tales different from myths?
11. Name three American fairy tales.
12. Who wrote The Ugly Duckling?
13. Who wrote Pinocchio?
14. Who wrote Cinderella?

Internet Resources

The Grimm Brothers
A Virtual Tour of the Grimm Fairy Tales
Biography of Hans Anderson
Fairy tales around the world
History of fairy tales
Symbolism in fairy tales
Fairies and literature
Fables, tales, legends, myths
Fairy tales and fables
Fable, myths, legends - definitions

Activities

1.) Create a children's book about a story you read.
2.) Create a children's book about a fairy tale that you wrote.
3.) Imagine yourself living in _______________.
4.) Compare a class story with one by Hans Anderson.

Mayan Chang, Teacher, and Christine Chan, AP student, collaborated to develop this web hunt.

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