Genres - Oral Traditions

Fairy tales are stories with imaginary characters such as witches, giants and elves, dragons, ogres, or fairies. Fairy tales. . . . usually begin with "Once upon a time" and end with "And they lived happily ever after." have good and evil characters. have heroes which are often princesses or princes. generally contain magic. have a problem and a solution. have events happening in "threes" or "sevens".

A folktale is a story based on either a real or fictional person. Folktales . . . . often begins with "Long, long ago" or something similar. have main characters with extraordinary abilities such as great strength.

A fable is a very short story that makes an educational or cautioning point. Fables . . . . often end with, "And the moral of the story is . . ." use animals as characters that speak and act like humans have a conflict and a resolution (a problem and a solution)

A myth is usually a very old story that explains features of the natural world such as why the sun rises each morning, where thunder comes from, or why the ocean has waves. Myths. . . . often include gods and goddesses and other supernatural characters who have the power to make unexpected things happen. try to answer serious questions about how things began or occurred.

What do fairy tales, folktales, fables, and myths all have in common?

• fictional stories
• told and retold for generations before they were written down
• very old

Have the students use response cards. Name the following titles and have students hold up the response card that tells which of the following Oral Traditions the title could best be described as.

1. Mike Fink (river-boatman) folktales
2. The Ant and the Grasshopper fables
3. Hansel and Gretel fairy tales
4. Davy Crockett (king of the wild frontier) folktales
5. The Little Engine that Could fables
6. The Shoemaker and the Elves fairy tales
7. Beauty and the Beast fairy tales
8. Pecos Bill (helped in taming of the Western frontier) folktales
9. The Sun God Apollo Drives his Chariot Across the Sky myths
10. Annie Oakley (amazing talent and luck led to a starring role in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show) folktales
11. Rapunzel fairy tales
12. Achilles Heel myths
13. Little Red Riding Hood fairy tales
14. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs fairy tales
15. Paul Bunyan (fictional lumberjack of huge size and strength) folktales
16. Little Mermaid fairy tales
17. The Boy who Cried Wolf fables
18. The Princess and the Pea fairy tales
19. Tuli drives an earth-laden sled pulled by flea-infested dogs: when the dogs stopped to scratch, the earth shakes myths
20. Town Musicians fairy tales
21. Persephone travels to the underworld changing summer into fall myths
22. Brer Rabbit (a fictional character, the hero of the Uncle Remus stories) folktales
23. Sacajawea (lead Louis and Clark to Pacific Ocean) folktales
24. The Emperor's New Clothes fairy tales
25. John Henry (built railroads) folktales
26. The Fox and the Grapes fables
27. The Native American Great Spirit Makes Earth myths

Ask students to name additional titles that fall into these 4 categories, and have students use response cards to categorize.

Have students create a chart with the four types of literature that are known as Oral Tradition. Place each of the following titles under the correct category.

Which category would you place The Dragonslayers in? List the reasons why:

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Fairy Tale Webquest http://www-ma.beth.k12.pa.us/jhoke/jhwebquest/proc.htm