Once Upon a Link: A PowerPoint Adventure With Fractured Fairy Tales

Student Objectives

Sessions 1 and 2: Exploring Fairy Tales

Session 3: Comparing Different Versions of Fairy Tales

Session 4: Planning Original Fractured Fairy Tales

Session 5: Organization of Hyperlinked Stories

Session 6: Voice, Word Choice, and Fluency

Session 7: Presentation and Conventions

Session 8: Presentation and Evaluation

Extensions

Student Assessment/Reflections

 

STUDENT OBJECTIVES

Students will

• Become more familiar with the six traits of writing through a review of a variety of fairy tales and fractured fairy tales
  
  
• Practice the six traits in original writing
  
  
• Evaluate the work of their collaborative group and the work of their peers according to the six traits of writing
  
  
• Apply their knowledge of story structure in the creation of coherent hyperlinked stories
  
  
• Develop visual literacy skills in creating effective presentations using color, font, and images in addition to text
  

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Sessions 1 and 2: Exploring Fairy Tales

1.

Introduce students to a variety of fairy tales and fractured fairy tales. Read several stories aloud or distribute copies of the titles you have chosen for students to read silently.

2.

Have students work with a partner to choose several books or online stories and examine these texts for the six traits of writing. Ideas What is the theme? What are some details the author uses to develop and support the theme? Organization How is the story structured (beginning, middle, end)? What patterns do you notice in the story? Voice Is the voice of the author strictly narrative or does it show feeling, conviction, emotions, humor, etc.? How does the choice of words contribute to the voice? (Provide examples.) Word Choice What words in the text do you find especially interesting, unexpected, or powerful? Are there any repeated phrases? What metaphors or similes does the author use? Fluency Read some of your favorite sections out loud. How do the words flow together? What transitions and connector words contribute to the flow of the story? Conventions Focus on one or more conventions such as capitalization, punctuation, grammar, spelling, and paragraphing. Discussion of conventions should be grade specific.

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Session 3: Comparing Different Versions of Fairy Tales

1.	Ask students to choose a classic tale on which they would like to base an original fractured fairy tale. Have them work in small groups (three or four students who have chosen the same story) to compare the classic version of the tale with two or more fractured versions.
2.	Have students compare their two favorite versions of the fairy tale in terms of the six traits of writing. Which aspects are the same? Which are changed? What elements need to be present for the story to be recognizable as a variation on a certain classic tale (e.g., a Cinderella story or a Frog Prince story)?

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Session 4: Planning Original Fractured Fairy Tales

1.	Have students access the Fractured Fairy Tales tool and read the sample fractured fairy tale and the three traditional fairy tales.
2.	Arrange students in small groups to discuss ideas for fractured versions of one or more of the three fairy tales by brainstorming alternate plots and endings. Students can either write collaboratively, or work on individual fractured fairy tales and then combine their efforts, incorporating the plotlines and endings developed by each member of the group.
3.	Using the LCD projector and the Fractured Fairy Tales tool, model the creation of a fractured fairy tale. As you move through the questions on the Choose My Changes part of the tool, conduct the demonstration as a shared writing project, with students providing suggestions.
4.	Have students work in their small groups to create their own plans for a fractured fairy tale. Remind them to print out the completed plan.

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Session 5: Organization of Hyperlinked Stories

1.	Distribute copies of the Organization Chart for Fractured Fairy Tales. Be sure students also have the planning sheets they printed out from the Fractured Fairy Tales tool in Session 4.
2.	Using your overhead transparency of the organization chart, model how to fill in the sheet. Incorporate the changes suggested by students during the shared writing project in Session 4 and invite additional suggestions. Focus on the alternate plotlines and endings, as these will be new ways of writing for students.
3.	Have students work in small groups to organize their own fractured fairy tales, using their copies of the Organization Chart for Fractured Fairy Tales and their printouts from the Fractured Fairy Tales tool.

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Session 6: Voice, Word Choice, and Fluency

1.	Using the LCD projector, model the use of the PowerPoint Template for Fractured Fairy Tales, showing how the links work in Slide Show mode. Encourage students to navigate through their own copies of the template.
2.	Using your completed copy of the Organization Chart for Fractured Fairy Tales from Session 5, write a rough draft of the shared writing fractured fairy tale into the template. Demonstrate how to place the text on each page.
3.	Have students work in their small groups with the PowerPoint template to construct a rough draft of the hyperlinked tale they planned in Session 5. Suggest that they take turns typing the text from the organization chart into the PowerPoint template.
4.	Once the rough drafts are completed, have students edit their hyperlinked tales. Remind them to focus on the following traits Voice Does this sound like me? Would this make the reader feel something? Do I show feelings rather than tell? Do the images contribute to the voice? Word Choice Did I use interesting words? Did I use specific nouns? Did I use lively verbs? Fluency Do my sentences begin in different ways? Does my story sound good when read aloud? Does it have a rhythm or flow? Are some sentences long and some short?

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Session 7: Presentation and Conventions

1.	Distribute copies of the PowerPoint Tool Tips handout. Using the LCD projector, demonstrate the use of various tools available in PowerPoint software. Have students work in their small groups to try out each feature as you conduct the demonstration. Note: It is not necessary to demonstrate all the features described on the handout. Depending on your students’ experience with PowerPoint, you may prefer to focus on a few basic skills, such as inserting, sizing, and positioning clip art and changing the size and font of the text.
2.	Have students work in their small groups to find and insert appropriate clip art to illustrate their fractured fairy tales.
3.	If you wish students to be able to add to the clip art or produce original illustrations, distribute copies of the Drawing in PowerPoint handout and demonstrate the use of the drawing tool. Have students work in their small groups to complete the process of illustrating their stories. Note: The program must be in Slide Show mode for the drawing tool to work.
4.	Demonstrate the use of different font styles, sizes, and colors, calling attention to the feelings that these fonts can evoke. For example, bold face signifies important text, ALL CAPITALS can be used to denote yelling, Arial is easy to read, Comic Sans MS seems childlike, and so on.
5.	Have students work in their small groups to apply appropriate font effects to the text of their fractured fairy tales.
6.	Once students have completed the graphic features of their stories, have them do a final edit of the text, focusing on conventions.
7.	Remind students to save their completed presentations.

Note: Prior to Session 8, you will need to transfer all of the students’ hyperlinked fractured fairy tales to a computer with projection capabilities.

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Session 8: Presentation and Evaluation

1.	Have students gather in their small groups. Distribute copies of the Presentation Rubric and the Six Traits Rubric for Fractured Fairy Tales. Each group should have enough copies of the rubrics to evaluate all the presentations.
2.	Using the LCD projector, present one of the fractured fairy tale projects on the screen. Have the group that created the story introduce the presentation and comment on their use of images and their reasons for the alternate plotlines and endings. (Rather than demonstrating every possible alternative, students can show one or two different choices to provide an impression of the options.)
3.	As each group finishes its presentation, instruct the other groups to evaluate the presentation using the Presentation Rubric and the Six Traits Rubric for Fractured Fairy Tales. To save time, two group members can work together to fill out the Presentation Rubric and the other two can complete the Six Traits Rubric.
4.	When all the fractured fairy tales have been presented, have students reflect on their own work on the project using the What I Learned About My Writing self-evaluation sheet.

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EXTENSIONS

• Use one or more of the lesson ideas from Fractured Fairy Tales & Fables with John Scieszka. Students can visit the site to Publish Online, posting an original fractured fairy tale.
  
  
• Have students visit the Once Upon a Mad Libs Junior site and create their own Mad Lib fairy tales.
  

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STUDENT ASSESSMENT/REFLECTIONS

• Keep anecdotal notes as students work together on their projects in their small groups. Pay special attention to student conversation about the six traits and to their use of multiple literacy skills as they create their PowerPoint presentations. Use the information on the rubrics as a guide.
  
  
• Collect and review students’ peer assessments from Session 7 (the Presentation Rubric and the Six Traits Rubric for Fractured Fairy Tales). Also use these rubrics to grade the projects from your perspective.
  
  
• Collect the What I Learned About My Writing self-evaluation forms. Compare these forms with your own evaluations. Include copies for students to keep in their writing portfolios.

 

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