Writing Fractured Fairy Tales

Since we’ve covered some short story basics, this week students receive instructions for their big writing projects: fractured fairy tales.

Fractured Fairy Tales Creative Writing Lesson Plan

1. We briefly discussed setting and plot.

2. We watched some short fractured fairy tales. You can find various options on YouTube. My favorites are from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, but they are ridiculous.

Here is another:

3. I read The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by John Scieszka.

We reviewed what makes a good character (what the writer did right); we also reviewed point of view and perspective. 

4. I gave students the requirements for the assignment (see printables download).

We discussed the different ways they could fracture a fairy tale (this is also in the printable file).

5. Each student chose a fairy tale to twist.

Students used the printable activity pages to write all the information from the original story on the page provided (main characters, setting, etc.).

Then students wrote what they were going to KEEP and what they were going to CHANGE from the traditional tales.

6. I set them free to go write. During this time I was available for additional brainstorming and to answer their questions.

Fractured Fairy Tale Lesson Printables

You can download the printables used this week by clicking on the image below.

Fractured Fairy Tales Book List

You can read additional stories to your students (or substitute The True Story of the Three Little Pigs). You could also have these available for students to browse for extra inspiration. Some students may not be familiar with traditional tales, so it helps to have a stack of those, too.

• The Poisoned Apple: A Fractured Fairy Tale by Anne Lambelet
• The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka
• Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty? by David Levinthal
• The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett
• Previously by Allan Ahlberg
• The Frog Prince, Continued by Jon Scieszka
• The Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires
• Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems
• The Runaway Tortilla by Eric A. Kimmel
• Flossie and the Fox by Patricia McKissack
  This isn’t a fractured fairy tale, but it is worth reading to your class as it hints of Little Red Riding Hood with a stronger character, new setting, and different outcome.

More Creative Writing Lessons

If you are looking for more creative writing lessons, try these:

• Creative Writing Lesson 1
• Creative Writing Lesson 2
• Creative Writing Lesson 3
• Creative Writing Lesson 4
• Creative Writing Lesson 5
• Creative Writing Lesson 6
• Creative Writing Lesson 8