Skip to content
Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy
Teachers
Pupils
New
New
Year 1

Comparing fairy tales

I can compare some well-known fairy tales.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils
New
New
Year 1

Comparing fairy tales

I can compare some well-known fairy tales.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Comparing means exploring similarities and differences about something
  2. Characters, such as heroes and villains, tend to appear in most fairy tales
  3. Some fairy tales' main characters are people and some are animals
  4. Some fairy tales have magical aspects or creatures, such as the porridge pot or the troll
  5. Most fairy tales aim to teach a lesson to the reader

Common misconception

Pupils may struggle to understand the main theme in a story.

Talk about the themes in well-known fairy tales and link these to the lesson learnt at the end of the story. For example, the theme in 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff' is courage. The goats' courage helps them get to the other side of the river.

Keywords

  • Fairy tale - a children's story about magical elements

  • Compare - to identify how things are the same and different

  • Setting - where the story takes place

  • Theme - a main idea that the writer wants to focus on

If possible, make the task more interactive by printing images of different features from two fairy tales (magical objects, characters, settings) and put pupils into groups to sort these images into similarities and differences. Groupwork will encourage more discussion amongst pupils.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Video

Skip video

Loading...

Starter quiz

Download starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
What do storybooks often have in them?
Correct answer: illustrations
videos
facts
Correct answer: words
Q2.
What do we call the name of a book?
author
illustrator
Correct answer: title
illustration
Q3.
What is the person who draws the pictures for a book called?
author
Correct answer: illustrator
title
illustration
Q4.
Which of these are characters from the story "The Magic Porridge Pot"?
bamboo forest
castle
Correct answer: Jin
Correct answer: Grandmother
Q5.
Which of these is a setting in the story of "The Magic Porridge Pot"?
Correct answer: bamboo forest
Correct answer: mountain village
Jin
castle
Q6.
Match the main characters to the title of the well-known story.
Correct Answer:the Tiger,"The Tiger Who Came to Tea"

"The Tiger Who Came to Tea"

Correct Answer:the caterpillar,"The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

Correct Answer:the goats,"The Three Billy Goats Gruff"

"The Three Billy Goats Gruff"

Exit quiz

Download exit quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
Fairy tales are always...
Correct answer: fiction.
non-fiction.
poems.
rhyming.
Q2.
Order the events that take place in the story ‘The Magic Porridge Pot'.
1 - Jin lives with her Grandmother in a village in the mountains.
2 - Jin meets an old lady who gives her a magical porridge pot.
3 - Jin uses the magic porridge pot to make porridge for all of the villagers.
Q3.
What do fairy tales often include?
Correct answer: magic
robots
aliens
Correct answer: heroes and villains
Q4.
Match the theme to the fairy tale.
Correct Answer:courage,'The Three Billy Goats Gruff'

'The Three Billy Goats Gruff'

Correct Answer:jealousy,'Snow White'

'Snow White'

Correct Answer:sharing,'The Magic Porridge Pot'

'The Magic Porridge Pot'

Q5.
What is the same about the stories 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and 'The Magic Porridge Pot'?
Correct answer: Both stories end happily.
Both stories include a giant.
Correct answer: Both stories include magical objects.
Both stories include a fairy godmother.
Q6.
Which of these is the main theme in 'The Magic Porridge Pot'?
patience
Correct answer: sharing
courage
jealousy

Additional material

Download additional material
We're sorry, but preview is not currently available. Download to see additional material.