Tales, Legends, & Fables

Genre Study:

Tales, legends, and fables are characteristically similar genres with some minor differences between the three of them. Tales are distinguished as either fairy tales or folktales. Fairy tales usually contain some magic, an evil character, and they end happily ever after. Folktales are usually stories that have been told for a long time by some group of people. Legends are slightly different from tales because they combine a real event or a real person’s unusual life story with the exaggeration and some heroic actions. Fables are different in the sense that they usually have talking animals, only about two or three characters, and they are short stories that teach a lesson or moral. When selecting tales, legends, or fables for classroom instruction it is important to consider having a variety of versions of a story, having stories from different cultures, and having stories that encourage further reading or writing. Tales, legends, and fables are all great genres to use for storytelling activities, readers’ theatre activities, writing activities, and creative thinking strategies. Quality tales, legends, and fables are ones that have multiple versions and sometimes versions written from different cultural perspectives. Also, students will benefit from texts that encourage them to reread the text, find another story that is similar, or promote writing or talking about the text.

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Selected Titles:

Scieszka, J., & Smith, L. (1989). The true story of the three little pigs. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Viking Kestrel.

            This story is a fractured fairytale that takes an original story and changes up the point of view and narrator to make a story that students love to hear and laugh about because they already know about the original story. The text is leveled at 3^rd grade and the language that is used is everyday conversational language. This text would preferably be used in the classroom as a read aloud text and students can use reading strategies such as compare and contrast or retelling for post-reading activities. A major theme addressed in this book is how sometimes stories are told much different based on the perspective of the person telling the story. Students can learn to understand that often times a situation looks much different from the viewpoint of another person. In order for students to get the full understanding and support when reading this text, they will need to be familiar with the original version of the three little pigs so they can make connections.

Stevens, J., Tomasso, R., Wallerstein, W., & Boyer, G. (1995). Tops & bottoms. San Diego: Harcourt Brace & Company.

            This text is a great children’s folktale story in which there are only a few characters that teach a lesson about hard word and success. The story is told from the third person, and readers in the 3^rd grade generally understand the main ideas and concepts of the text. This book is a great source for a read aloud and reading comprehension activities because it is an engaging story that a reader can incorporate different voices for characters and they can even make their own versions of the story in different contexts about hard work and success. The overarching theme of the book is that no matter what types of possessions or financial status someone has they can always find a way to work hard and not be lazy so they can be satisfied. Students will find it easy to understand the theme of the book because it is presented in a friendly, clear, and concise manner. I would recommend using this book in the classroom as a read aloud and then providing supplementary activities so students fully understand the meaning of the book.