Imagination Magic Hero

The History of Fairy Tales Many of the fairy tales that are repeated today date back to the 17th century and earlier. The term "fairy" was thought to have been taken from the French "contes des fee", and many of the fairy tales we read today are based on tales from French literature which often featured the ethereal creatures. Writers like the Grimm Brothers,, Perrault, and Hans Christian Anderson are often the first authors named when discussing the history of fairy tales, their origin goes back much further than the 17th century, and many of these stories are actually just retellings of age-old tales, many created by women and retold throughout history.

Why do Children and Adults Love Fairy Tales? Fairy tales offer us fantasy: experienced better and more beautiful world, a believable secondary “other world”. Fairy tales offer us recovery: we need to see our world clearer with new eyes, to regain our childhood imagination and openness. Fairy tales offer us consolation: this is the joy of the happy ending.

The Values of Fairy Tales in Education Fairy tales bring joy into child life which works toward physical health, mental brightness, and moral virtue. Fairy tales are play forms. Fairy tales contribute to that joy of activity, of achievement, and of cooperation. Fairy tales give the child a power of accurate observation. Fairy tales strengthen the power of emotion, develop the power of imagination, train the memory. Fairy tales extend and intensify the child's social relations.

A Part of Every Culture Tales from the oral tradition are part of the fabric of every culture. –The 1001 Arabian Nights is a collection of the Scheherazade tales from the Middle East. –Joseph Jacobs collected the British tales such as “The Three Little Pigs” and “The Little Red Hen.” –Tales of Asian, African, and Native American tradition abound and are available to children.

Once Upon a Time at Teaching Heart Examples of using fairy tales in the classroom: Writing: Do a short paragraph on a fairy tale character from the first person perspective....What it is like to be_________ (one of the characters). Each student takes on the identity of a fairy tale character and describes a typical day. Drama: Keeping the same character from the writing assignment, have each child dress up like their character and present their paragraph to the class. Talk about what a hero is. Talk about imagination....what is real and what is make-believe. Science: Introduce inventors/explorers who had ideas that most people thought were only imagination....Columbus, Wright Brothers, etc. Talk about how imagination sparks creativity and discovery. Social Studies: Where are castles located throughout the world? Where do you think each fairy tale might have taken place? Math: Compose word problems suitable for their level, using the fairy tale theme...(i.e. If Snow White and 5 Dwarfs took a nap, how many dwarfs would be awake?) Talk about the types of housing that you find in each fairy tale. Make a graph of the findings.

References Tunnell, O. M. & Jacobs, S. J. (2004). Children’s literature, briefly, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.