Writing Fairy Tales

Once Upon a Time: Writing Your Own Fairy Tale      By Nancy Lowen 

Picture Window Books        2009

Fairy and Folk Tale books are constantly in demand.  They are ideally situated to leverage students’ previous knowledge as they learn the elements of story structure. This provides a fertile ground for scaffolding students into authorship as they negotiate and play with how to apply story structure, elements, and conventions.

This book is  designed to provide the tools for second graders (my estimation) to begin to think like authors as they as they craft and arrange the building blocks of story elements to make their own creations.

The book uses “Red Riding Hood” as an example. It walks readers through the story while it points out the elements structure and features of fairy tales, and how they are applied in this case. The following elements are emphasized.

- Setting, characters, plot, and dialog

- The use of  warnings as a common convention in  fairy tales

- The use of magical elements

- Greed as a common theme in this genre 

- The use of tricks as a story convention

-Making the reader privy to a secret that the main character doesn’t know about.

- The use of repetition & of differing approaches to problem solving

- The convention of happy endings. (Here I would disagree with the author. She is  thinking in post Perrault terms. The original stories were quite, if you would excuse the pun, quite Grimm. Then again, what are you going to tell second graders?

                                                                                                    

The back section has a very, very brief section of tips on getting started in writing your own stories.

Of course this book sounds useful, but it handicaps itself by giving very limited options in terms of story creation. However, we all have imaginations that can easily reach beyond this handicap. This has the potential to translate into a powerful author’s experience for the kids as they extend beyond the strictures and structures of this book.

I feel that the greatest value of this book is in the template of story structure, elements, and conventions that it presents. Students can readily present ideas, concepts that go beyond the author’s treatment on creating your own stories.

Another ideal use would be to present this book to older students and have them recreate it for another genre. 

Don't Forget to Write

Don't Forget to Write            826             Published in 2011           288 pages


Simply Superlative! This is a collection of 50 wildly inventive creative writing lessons for elementary school children. The lessons were created by educators, authors, and 826 staff, and all of them were field tested in 826 workshops.  There is a wide variety of genres and styles treated in this volume.

The appendix features a cross indexed list that details the specific common core standards that are addressed in each lesson. This cross referencing covers K-7th grade. Additionally, there are a couple of self assessment rubrics in the appendix.

Just Write

 

Just Write Here's How    By Walter Dean Myers     Published in 2012    176 pages


Brilliant, Brilliant book! Walter Dean Myers provides an extraordinary guide to the writing process for young people. Though this book is written for kids, it provides a wealth of information for readers of all ages.

The genesis of this book started with an email that Walter Dean Myers received from a middle school student, Ross Workman. Ross wanted some writing advice from Myers. Though skeptical at first, Myers soon realized that this kid was serious, thoughtful, and hard working. The two resolved to collaborate on the novel "Kick".

Just Write grew out of the experience. Myers is able to illustrate his points with examples from working with Ross. He also provides great information about how he developed the ideas and characters in some of his classic books.

You also get an afterword by Ross Workman that provides his perspective on the experience of collaborating with Myers.

This book is a compelling read for anyone interested in creating a story, and it would make an invaluable resource for teaching the writing process to students.

Upper Elementary to Adult