Fairy TalesMiddle School

Communication Arts Task

byDana Humphrey

MAP Senior Leader

Fort Zumwalt School District

St. Louis Regional MAP Center

Purpose: This task will be used as a culminating activity after a series of lessons deal-ing with fairy tales and the characteristics of a fairy tale. This task will be used to as-sess a student’s understanding of the components of a fairy tale, dialogue structure,and conflict resolution.

Show-Me Standards Addressed:Knowledge Standards: CA1, CA4Performance Standard: 2.1

Grade Level Range: 7-8

Subject Area: Communication Arts

Time Needed for Task: Pre-Assessment Activity: one 45 minute class periodAssessment Activity: two or three 45 minute class periods.

Materials Needed: Pre -Assessment Activity Sheets (which include Good CharacterCreation Sheet, Evil Character Creation Sheet, and Setting Creation Sheet) The Stu-dent Task Packet (which includes the student prompt, student response sheets, andtwo scoring guides) grammar handbook, dictionary, thesaurus, paper, pencil or inkpen

Administrators Directions: Provide students with the Student Prompt and ScoringGuide. Have students read the prompt and address any questions they might have.Emphasize to students they must include at least seven characteristics of a fairy tale intheir stories and use quality writing techniques. Tell them they will create a rough draft,self-edit and/or peer edit, then, do a final draft. Discuss both scoring guides with stu-dents so they will know how they will be assessed. Assess the student’s product usingboth scoring guides.

Pre-Assessment Instructions: Students should have read several examples of com-mon fairy tales and discussed the characteristics of fairy tales. For their benefit, re-view the characteristics of a fairy tale prior to the administration of the task. Thesheet has been included for your reference. Emphasize the following: In fairy tales,the good characters are “really” good, evil characters always have a personal stake inthe conflict, there is a theme of good vs. evil, and good always wins over evil. Havestudents complete the following sheets: Good Character Creation Sheet, Evil CharacterCreation Sheet, and Setting Creation Sheet. Tell them they will use this information towrite their fairy tales.

Fairy Tale

You have been selected by the TKL PublishingCompany to write a fairy tale for publication in anupcoming edition of Favorite Fairy Tales. Yourfairy tale should be based on your setting andcharacter creation sheets. Your fairy tale must in-clude at least seven characteristics of fairy tales,dialogue between the characters, a plot of goodvs. evil, and a conflict resolution of good winningover evil. You will follow the writing process ofcreating a rough draft, editing, and creating a fi-nal copy. Make sure your final draft contains all ofthe elements specified above and:

Student Prompt: Fairy Tale

* Has an effective beginning, middle, and end.* Contains a strong controlling idea.* Progresses in a logical order.* Uses effective cohesive devices (such as transitions) between and/or within paragraphs.* Clearly addresses the topic and provides specific and relevant details/examples.* Uses precise and vivid language.* Contains sentences which are clear and varied in structure.* Has voice, freshness of thought, and/or individual perspective.* Clearly demonstrates an awareness of audience and purpose.* Contains few errors in grammar/usage, punctuation, capitalization, and/or spelling.

Rough Draft: Fairy Tale

Reproduce as needed.

Final Draft of Fairy Tale

Scoring Guide for Fairy Tale Components

3 The fairy tale, for the most part, is based on the informationcontained in the setting and character planning sheets, includes 5-6characteristics of fairy tales; has sufficient dialogue between thecharacters; contains a plot of good vs. evil; has a conflict resolution ofgood winning over evil.

2 The fairy tale is based on some of the information contained inthe setting and character planning sheets, includes 3-4 characteris-tics of fairy tales; has little dialogue between the characters; maycontain a plot of good vs. evil but it lacks development; may or maynot have a conflict resolution of good winning over evil.

1 The fairy tale is based very little or not at all on the informationcontained in the setting and character planning sheets, includes fewerthan 3 characteristics of fairy tales; has unclear or nonexistent dia-logue between the characters; has an underdeveloped or nonexistentplot of good vs. evil; may have a conflict resolution of good winningover evil which may be difficult to understand.

4 The fairy tale is based on information contained in the settingand character planning sheets; includes at least seven characteristicsof fairy tales; has rich vivid dialogue between the characters; con-tains a clear, well developed plot of good vs. evil; has a distinguish-able conflict resolution of good winning over evil.

Scoring Guide for Writing Techniques and Style

Exemplary Response:

The exemplary response is described by the 4 score point in the following scoring guide.

4 Points

The paper:

* Has an effective beginning, middle, and end.* Uses paragraphing effectively.* Contains a strong controlling idea.* Progresses in a logical order.* Uses effective cohesive devices (such as transitions, repetition, pronouns, parallel structure) between and/or within paragraphs.* Clearly addresses the topic and provides specific and relevant details/examples.* Uses precise and vivid language.* Contains sentences which are clear and varied in structure.* Uses writing techniques (such as imagery, humor, point of view, voice) which reveal some complexity, freshness of thought, and/or individual perspective.* Clearly demonstrates an awareness of audience and purpose.* Contains few errors in grammar/usage, punctuation, capitalization, and/or spelling.

3 Points

The paper:

* Has a clear beginning, middle, and end.* Uses paragraphing correctly.* Contains a controlling idea.* Is generally written in logical order.* May use cohesive devices.* Addresses the topic and uses relevant details/examples.* Uses language which is usually precise.* Contains sentences which are clear and may vary in structure.* Attempts to use writing techniques which reveal some complexity, freshness of thought, and/or individual perspective.* Demonstrates an awareness of audience and purpose.* May contains errors in grammar/usage, punctuation, capitalization, and/or spelling which are not distracting to the reader.

2 Points

The paper:* Has a beginning, middle, and end.* Shows evidence of paragraphing.* Contains some sense of direction, but may lack focus.* May not progress in a logical order.* At times seems awkward and lacks cohesion.* Addresses the topic, but may contain some details that are not relevant.* Uses general and/or inconsistent language.* Contains sentences which are generally clear, but lack variety in structure.* May attempt to use writing techniques which reveal some complexity, freshness of thought, and/or individual perspective.* Demonstrates some notion of audience and purpose.* Contains errors in grammar/usage, punctuation, capitalization, and/or spelling which may be distracting to the reader.

1 Point

The paper:* May lack evidence of a beginning, middle, and end.* Contains little or no evidence of paragraphing.* Is difficult to follow and lacks focus.* Does not progress in a logical order, may digress to unrelated topics.* Is awkward and lacks cohesion.* May address the topic, but lacks development.* Uses imprecise language.* Contains sentences which are unclear and lack variety in structure.* Does not use writing techniques which reveal some complexity, freshness of thought,

and/or individual perspective.* Demonstrates little or no awareness of audience and purpose.* Contains repeated errors in grammar/usage, punctuation, capitalization, and/or spelling which are distracting to the reader.

StudentReference

Sheets

Types of Characters

Talking animalsWitchesDwarfsRoyaltyTrollsFairiesGiantsOgresStepparentsStep-siblingsMagicians

Settings

ForestsCastlesCloudsOther lands

Conflicts

GreedJealouslyLoveDeprivation

The Use Of:

ThreesMagicPoison objectsRhymes and songs

Characteristicsof

Fairy Tales

Evil Character Creation SheetCreate a character for a fairy tale by answering each questionwith vivid details.

1. What is the name of your “evil” character?

2. What age is this character?

3. What color of eyes does this character have?

4. What does this person’s hair look like?

5. What words describe this person’s voice?

6. Describe the clothing this person usually wears.

7. List any special qualities this person has.

8. What qualities make this person unlikable?

9. What is this person’s occupation?

10. What can this person do that others cannot?

11. What type of friends does this person have?

12. What do most people do when they see this character?

13. What does this character enjoy?

Create a “good” character for a fairy tale by answering each ques-tion with vivid details.

1. What is the name of your “good” character?

2. What age is this character?

3. What color of eyes does this character have?

4. What does this person’s hair look like?

5. What words describe this person’s voice?

6. Describe the clothing this person usually wears.

7. List any special qualities this person has.

8. What qualities make this person likable?

9. What is this person’s occupation?

10. What can this person do that others cannot?

11. What type of friends does this person have?

12. What do most people do when they see this character?

13. What does this character enjoy?

Good Character Creation Sheet

SettingCreation Sheet

Answer each question to create a setting for your fairytale. Remember that fairy tale settings are not alwaysrealistic.

1. What is the name of the place where the story istaking place?

2. Write four vivid details to describe this place.

3. What is the weather like in this place?

4. What types of “creatures” live in this place?

5. What types of sounds are heard?

6. What types of smells are in this place/

7. Is this a place most people would like or fear tovisit? Why?

8. What makes this place strange, unusual, ordifferent than other places?