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Year 4

Engaging with 'Hansel and Gretel'

I can summarise the fairytale of 'Hansel and Gretel'.

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Year 4

Engaging with 'Hansel and Gretel'

I can summarise the fairytale of 'Hansel and Gretel'.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. We can form judgements about characters and learn morals based on the actions and events in the story.
  2. The story of 'Hansel and Gretel' is an example of how good triumphs over evil in fairytales.
  3. 'Hansel and Gretel' contains many of the features of fairytales.

Keywords

  • Characteristics - features or qualities belonging to a person, place or thing

  • Judgements - drawing sensible conclusions

  • Moral - a lesson that can be learnt from a story or experience

Common misconception

Children might think that characters in fairytales are always either good or evil.

Some characters are more complex to understand and can show a range of characteristics which offers a great opportunity for debate.


To help you plan your year 4 english lesson on: Engaging with 'Hansel and Gretel', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

In the first learning cycle, use printed images from the book to support children to sequence and retell the story orally.
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Teacher tip
content-guidance

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of upsetting content
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

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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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In the fairytale 'Hansel and Gretel', what job did Hansel and Gretel's father do?
Correct answer: woodcutter
builder
chef
Q2.
At the start of the fairytale 'Hansel and Gretel', who do Hansel and Gretel live with?
their white cat
their father
Correct answer: their father and their stepmother
Q3.
In the fairytale 'Hansel and Gretel', whose idea was it to leave Hansel and Gretel alone in the forest?
Hansel's idea
Gretel's idea
Correct answer: their stepmother's idea
their father's idea
Q4.
Starting with the first, order these events from the first half of the story 'Hansel and Gretel'.
1 - Hansel and Gretel live with their father and stepmother and they have no food.
2 - The stepmother hatches a plan to leave the children in the forest.
3 - Hansel collects small stones in the middle of the night to leave a trail.
4 - The parents leave the children in the middle of the forest alone.
5 - Hansel and Gretel follow the small stones and make it back home.
Q5.
How did Hansel and Gretel’s parents feel when they found their way back home?
They were both so relieved that the children made it home safely.
Correct answer: Their father felt relieved and their stepmother pretended to be happy.
They were both so disappointed that their plan hadn’t worked.
Q6.
Match the keywords to the correct definition.
Correct Answer:fairytale,a children’s story about magical and imaginary things
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a children’s story about magical and imaginary things

Correct Answer:folklore,the tradition of sharing stories orally
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the tradition of sharing stories orally

Correct Answer:features,distinctive characteristics that belong to something
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distinctive characteristics that belong to something

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In the story 'Hansel and Gretel', why did Hansel's plan to leave a trail of "breadcrumbs" not work?
Correct answer: The birds ate all of the "breadcrumbs".
The parents picked up the "breadcrumbs".
Gretel ate all the "breadcrumbs".
Q2.
In the story 'Hansel and Gretel', how did the witch trick Hansel and Gretel to make them come inside her house?
She gave them poisonous food so that they would become ill.
Correct answer: She showed was kind them and gave them treats to eat.
She told them she would take them home safely.
Q3.
Match the fairytale feature to the example from 'Hansel and Gretel'.
Correct Answer:imaginary/magical characters ,the witch
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the witch

Correct Answer:enchanted settings,an edible house
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an edible house

Correct Answer:good vs evil,innocent Hansel and Gretel vs the evil stepmother and witch
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innocent Hansel and Gretel vs the evil stepmother and witch

Correct Answer:‘happily ever after’,Hansel and Gretel find their way home to their father
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Hansel and Gretel find their way home to their father

Q4.
Match the keyword to the correct definition.
Correct Answer:characteristics ,features or qualities belonging to a person, place or thing
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features or qualities belonging to a person, place or thing

Correct Answer:judgements ,drawing sensible conclusions
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drawing sensible conclusions

Correct Answer:moral,a lesson that can be learnt from a story or experience
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a lesson that can be learnt from a story or experience

Q5.
Which two words best describe the stepmother in the story?
kind
Correct answer: selfish
Correct answer: evil
caring
Q6.
Which of these best describes the moral of the story 'Hansel and Gretel'?
always trust and follow strangers
Correct answer: be resourceful, stand up for what's right and be cautious of strangers
children should never explore the woods