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Year 2

Revisiting the genre of traditional tales

I can explore the features of a traditional tale.

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New
New
Year 2

Revisiting the genre of traditional tales

I can explore the features of a traditional tale.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Traditional tales are stories that are retold again and again and can be retold in different ways.
  2. Traditional tales can be set in real or fictional places.
  3. Some traditional tales have magical aspects such as magical potions.
  4. Lots of traditional tales involve talking animals or characters being turned into animals.
  5. Traditional tales often have heroes and villains. The villain is the stepmother.

Keywords

  • Traditional tales - stories that are retold again and again in different ways that often include fictional or magical aspects

  • Fictional - existing only in a made-up story and not existing in real life

  • Magical - made by magic

  • Theme - a central idea in the story

  • Prediction - making a guess using what we already know

Common misconception

Children may think that all traditional tales have exactly the same features.

Talk about different traditional tales and examine similarities and differences, such as some traditional tales contain magic, some do not. Make use of physical and visual copies of traditional tales children are familiar with.


To help you plan your year 2 english lesson on: Revisiting the genre of traditional tales, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

You may wish to teach this unit as a whole class or in small group reading sessions. If it is taught in a small group, you may wish to print the slides as a reference only and as a base for your discussion.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

You need a copy of the 2011 Oxford University Press edition of ‘The Children of Lir' by Maire Buonocore and Isabelle Arsenault for this lesson.

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
What do storybooks often have in them?
Correct answer: illustrations
videos
figures
facts
Correct answer: words
Q2.
What do we call the name of a book?
author
illustrator
Correct answer: title
illustration
Q3.
What is a character?
where the story takes place
what happens in the story
Correct answer: a person or animal in a story
a picture in a book
Q4.
What is the plot in a story?
where the story takes place
Correct answer: what happens in the story
a person or animal in a story
a picture in a book
Q5.
Which of these are settings in the story of 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff'?
troll
castle in the clouds
Correct answer: bridge
goat
Correct answer: meadow
Q6.
Match the word to the definition.
Correct Answer:fiction,stories created by authors that did not happen in real life
tick

stories created by authors that did not happen in real life

Correct Answer:non-fiction,real events, information or knowledge
tick

real events, information or knowledge

Correct Answer:caption, a brief description next to an image
tick

a brief description next to an image

6 Questions

Q1.
Traditional tales are always …
Correct answer: fictional.
non-fiction.
poems.
rhyming.
Q2.
What do traditional tales often include?
Correct answer: magic
robots
real information
Correct answer: heroes and villains
Q3.
Match these words with an example.
Correct Answer:character,King
tick

King

Correct Answer:setting,lake
tick

lake

Correct Answer:plot,The Queen turned the children into swans.
tick

The Queen turned the children into swans.

Q4.
Who can perform magic in 'The Children of Lir'?
the children
the King
Correct answer: the Queen
Q5.
What is a villain?
a good character
Correct answer: a bad character
a kind character
a small village
Q6.
Which of the following is a sensible prediction about 'The Children of Lir'?
I predict the swans turn into princesses at midnight.
Correct answer: I predict that the Queen is jealous of the King's children.
I predict that the King sends his children away.