Writing a fairy tale

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• CKV
• Middelbare school
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• Leerjaar 4

Fairy Tales

Fun Fact

On the left: Neuschwanstein.

On the right: Disney castle in Paris.

Disney castle was inspired by the original.

Introduction of the CKV lesson

Learning Objectives with a Fun Fact about Neuschwanstein and the Disney castle in Paris. The architecture of the Disney castle in Paris is different from the other parks because the Paris castle is based on a real castle.

Which fairy tales do you know? Name one or two.

How does a fairy tale usually begin?

How does a fairy tale often end?

Write down 5 words you know around the topic fairy tales.

What elements are in a fairy tale?

Students activate prior knowledge about Fairy Tales. They try to analyse certain elements that fairy tales have in common that makes a typical fairy tale.

Fairy tale characters

Hero

Innocent / Victim

Sidekick

Fairy godmother / Caregiver

Trickster

Villain

Hero

The hero is the central character who faces a challenge or conflict and undergoes a journey or transformation. In fairy tales, the hero often starts out ordinary or disadvantaged and succeeds through courage, persistence, or moral growth.

Function in fairy tales:
Drives the story forward and embodies the values the tale promotes.

Innocent / Victim

The innocent or victim is a character who is wronged, threatened, or placed in danger, often through no fault of their own. This role creates emotional engagement and highlights injustice or vulnerability.

Function in fairy tales:
Gives the audience someone to care about and often motivates the hero’s actions.

Great Mother / Caregiver

The great mother or caregiver offers protection, nurture, or magical assistance. This archetype can be benevolent (fairy godmother) or, in its dark form, controlling or destructive (witch or stepmother).

Function in fairy tales:
Represents safety, guidance, or authority, and often reflects cultural ideas about care, power, and dependency.

Villain

The villain opposes the hero and represents danger, temptation, or moral wrongdoing. In fairy tales, villains are often clearly defined and exaggerated, leaving little ambiguity about their role.

Function in fairy tales:
Creates conflict and defines what must be overcome for order or justice to be restored.

Sidekick

The sidekick supports the hero emotionally or practically and often provides humour or encouragement. This character rarely drives the plot but helps the hero endure the journey.

Function in fairy tales:
Humanises the hero, lightens the tone, and helps maintain audience engagement.

Trickster

The trickster is clever, unpredictable, and morally ambiguous. This character uses wit, deception, or humour to disrupt situations, sometimes helping and sometimes hindering others.

Function in fairy tales:
Challenges authority and rules, exposes hypocrisy, and introduces playfulness or irony into the story.

Your Fairy Tale

Choose between:

• A Lost Fairy Tale from Disney’s Archives

• Before Once Upon a Time, or, After Happily Ever After.

A Lost Fairy Tale from Disney’s Archives

Once upon a time, a few young nosy students were looking in Disney's old archives when suddenly their eyes fell onto a very old and dusty script. Their eyes started gleaming when they were reading the first page. They took the script with them and started running to the boss with the big ears and the high pitched voice. "Look we've found a new fairy tale in the archives!"

Task:

Pitch this fairy tale to Disney (or Mickey Mouse) as a brand-new production.

You will do this by creating a PowerPoint-style presentation that explains the story and shows how it works as a fairy tale today.

Before Once Upon a Time / After Happily Ever After

“Have you ever wondered what happened before Hansel and Gretel were born ?”

Or

“Have you ever wondered what happened after Snow White left the dwarfs and started a new life with the prince?”

choose a well-known fairy tale

decide whether your story is a prequel (before) or a sequel (after)

create a podcast episode in which you tell and explain this story

Your podcast should show that you understand:

how fairy tales work

how stories can be adapted or appropriated

how cultural values influence storytelling