Y1/Y2: Summer Term Fiction 1A: Fairy tales Main texts: Hansel and Gretel retold by Anthony Browne, Rapunzel retold by Sarah Gibb

Wk 1 / Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday
Whole class teaching / Show chn some fairy tale books you have at school and name the stories. Do they know any of them? Which is their favourite? Talk about folk tales and how they are passed verbally from parents to children. Explain about the famous Brothers Grimm (1786-1759 and 1785 -1863) who collected lots of the folk stories we know and wrote them down (see resources). Then show them Anthony Browne’s version of Hansel and Gretel and another version of the same story if you have one. Tell them that writers often change the stories a bit when they write a new version. Ask them to take you through half of the AB book and see how much they can tell you of the story by just looking at the pictures. Summarise the plot together (e.g. see resources). Stop when you get to the part where the chn are left in the forest for the second time (6 on the summary – see resources). Discuss the story so far.
Comprehension 1- Group Reading/ Spoken language 1/ Word reading/Transcription 1 / Continue to look at the pictures and summarise the rest of Anthony Browne’s Hansel and Gretel. Or read the plan resource (points 7-12) as you go and see if you can improve on it and make it clearer. Return to the 2 questions from the plenary yesterday - Why did Hansel and Gretel’s stepmother want to get rid of them? Is it fair? Or - When Hansel and Gretel were alone in the forest how did they feel? Hot seat one or more of these characters and explore their feelings.
Spoken language 2 / Composition 1 / Explore how contractions work and how to spell them by looking at the summary of the first part of the story in the 6 squares. Explain how some words are pushed together and some letters replaced by apostrophes.
Write the contractions from the story vertically on the flip chart –they’re, they’ll, doesn’t, it’s, can’t.
Then next to them write the full version, i.e.they are, they will. Show chn which letters are dropped and replaced by the apostrophe. Then look at plan resource ‘Using apostrophes for contracted forms’ for how to spell other examples. Also point out capital letters and full stops especially to ‘Easy’ group.
Grammar 1/ Word reading/ Transcription 2 / Read the whole of the story summary (1-12) with chn. Point out that it is written as if it is happening now (in the present tense). Show them the version where the verbs are underlined. Go back over it part of it changing the verbs to the past tense. ‘Hard’ group should have whiteboards and write the new spelling of the verbs in a list as you go, e.g. lived, were, had, decided, etc. Keep reminding ‘Easy’ group about how to punctuate sentences. We need a capital letter at the start and a full stop at the end.
Grammar 2 / Read through the story sentence starters taken from Anthony Browne’s Hansel and Gretel (see resources). Then read and enjoy the book together. Take time looking at the pictures and seeing how they add to the text. If possible read it using a visualiser so chn can enjoy the detail of the pictures. Chn can draw their own simple characters. Discuss the characters with chn then ask some volunteers to come up and to improvise the beginning of the story for 2 or 3 minutes. Spoken language 3/ Comprehension 2
Objectives / Dimension / Resources
Spoken language / Pupils should be taught to:
b. ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge
a. listen and respond appropriately to their peers / 1. Monday: Discuss questions about the first part of the Hansel and Gretel summary and in Group Reader
In small groups discuss texts. They need to listen to other people and then be prepared to respond by saying what they think. They need to use relevant words and phrases from the story. Ask and answer questions (see resources) – see Comprehension 1. / Summary of Hansel and Gretel (see resources)
Hamilton Group Reader Hansel and Gretel
Pupils should be taught to:
d. articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions / 2. Tuesday: Discussing a dilemma. Describing feelings about being left in the forest
Talk in 2s or 3s about how they would feel if they were left in the forest. What would they be scared of? What would they do to try to get out of the situation (see Composition 1)?
Plenary: Medium/Hard group read their sentences out loud and get positive feedback. / Frame to draw picture and write about being lost in the forest (see resources)
Pupils should be taught to:
i. participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates
j. gain, maintain and monitor the interest of the listener(s) / 3. Friday: Improvising a story using puppets
Print off the Hamilton Trust Hansel & Gretal characters. Give the chn a set in groups of 5 and get them to cut them out and then make them into puppets. Chn then tell all or some of the story of Hansel & Gretel in groups of 5. Plenary: Watch this gentle animated version of the story made by film maker Lotte Reineger in 1955. Discuss and compare it to Anthony Browne’s version. / Use Hamilton Trust characters or drawings by chn
Comprehension / Develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read/understanding by:
Y1c. becoming very familiar with key stories and fairy stories
d. making inferences on the basis of what is being said and done
Y2c. becoming increasingly familiar with and retelling a wider range of fairy stories and traditional tales
d. answering and asking questions / 1. Monday: Group Reading - Read versions of Hansel and Gretel and answer some questions
Easy/ Medium – Read the Hamilton Reader group reader version of Hansel and Gretel with the chn in small groups helping them to pick out words they can decode. Discuss the pictures and compare story to the beginning of Anthony Browne’s book (see resources).
Medium/Hard – Give the chn the first part of the summary of Hansel and Gretel (plan resource with 6 squares) and ask them to read it carefully as a group and discuss the questions (see resource). They then make notes under the questions about what they think.
Plenary: Take one of the questions and share what the chn thought, e.g. Why did Hansel and Gretel’s stepmother want to get rid of them? Is it fair? Or - When Hansel and Gretel were alone in the forest how did they feel? / Information about The Brothers Grimm (see resources)
Summary of Hansel and Gretel (see resources)
Hamilton Trust Group Reader Hansel and Gretel
Y1/2 Participate in discussion about what is read to them / 2. Friday: Improvising a story using puppets
Chn re-tell the story of Hansel and Gretel in sequence, and using the puppets as characters. They must check that they have the events in the right order. Are the characters different from Anthony Browne’s? / See Spoken language 3
Word reading
Transcription / Pupils should be taught to:
Y1a. apply phonic knowledge/skills
b. respond speedily with correct sound
Y2a. cont. to apply phonic knowledge
b. read accurately by blending the sounds in words / 1. Monday: Group Reading - Read versions of Hansel and Gretel
Easy/Medium - Use phonic skills to decode Hamilton Trust’s version of Hansel and Gretel.
Medium/Hard - Give the chn the first part of the summary of Hansel and Gretel (plan resource with 6 squares) and ask them to read it carefully as a group (see Comprehension 1). / Summary of Hansel and Gretel (see resources)
Hamilton Trust Group Reader Hansel and Gretel
Y1 Apply simple spelling rules and guidance, as listed in English Appx 1
Y2 Spell by: d. learning to spell more words with contracted forms / 2. Wednesday: Practising reading, spelling and writing contractions
Read and write contractions (plan resource) and start to become familiar with use of apostrophes (see Grammar 1). / Examples of contractions (see resources)
Grammar / Develop their understanding of the concepts set out in Appendix 2 by:
Y1c. beginning to punctuate sentences using capital letter/full stop, question mark or exclamation mark
Y2a. learning how to use apostrophes for contracted forms / 1. Wednesday: Practising using contractions and replacing the letters with apostrophes
Easy - Chn look at the sequence of pictures they did yesterday and stuck in their books then write a sentence to go with one of the pictures. They make sure they use capital letters and full stops.
Medium - Working in pairs, the chn edit the sentences about Hansel and Gretel and replace the underlined words with contractions (see resources). Hard - As for Medium but use harder resource.
Plenary: Play this past and present spelling game at / Sentences about Hansel and Gretel (harder and easier) to practise contractions (see resources)
Y1 Develop their understanding of the concepts in Appendix 1 by:
d. using a capital letter for names of people, places, the days of the week, and the personal pronoun ‘I’
Y2 Learn how to use:
c. the present and past tenses correctly and consistently including the progressive form / 2. Thursday: Changing verbs from present to past tense. Using capital letters appropriately
Easy - Chn can practise using capital letters with this online game at
Medium - In pairs, give the chn the first page of the summary of the story with the verbs underlined. Chn cross out the verbs written in the present tense and have a go at writing them above in the past tense, they shouldn’t worry too much about the spellings but just have a go. Can they make it make sense all the way through? What do they notice about the spellings?
Hard - As for Medium but work right through the story.
Plenary: Browse fairy tale books. / Summary of the story with the verbs underlined (see resources)
Composition / Y1 Discuss what they have written with the teacher or other pupils
Y2 Develop positive attitudes towards and stamina for writing by:
a. writing narratives about personal experiences and those of others (real and fictional) / 1. Tuesday: Illustrating a story, sequencing the pictures. Describing feelings about being left in the forest
Easy/ Medium - Chn illustrate the first part of the Hansel and Gretel story (in the 6 boxes), then cut up the boxes and order the story then stick them in their books.
Medium/Hard - Write 3 or more brilliant sentences about how they would feel if they were left alone in the forest. What would they be scared of? What would they do to get out of the situation? Draw a picture of themselves (and a sibling/ friend if they want to) in the forest.
Plenary: Medium/Hard group read their sentences out loud and get positive feedback. / Frame to draw picture and write about being lost in the forest (see resources)
Wk 2 / Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday
Whole class teaching / This week chn will do lots of speaking, listening and storytelling. Show chn Rapunzel by Sarah Gibb. Ask them if they know the story. They may have watched Disney’s Tangled. Read blurb on the inside cover. Remind chn that this is another story retold by Brothers Grimm and now retold again by Sarah Gibb. Read it and enjoy the detail of illustrations. Next show chn the story summarised in pictures (see resources). Have a go at telling the story again together. Talk about how there are lots of versions of the popular fairy stories and we all get very attached to the one we know and have been told before. (NB: The German word Rapunzel is defined variously as field salad, corn salad, or lamb's lettuce.) Spoken language 4 / Take one of the pictures from the summary of Rapunzel (see resources) and working together write a paragraph about it. Include some dialogue – questions and exclamations – showing Y2’s how to punctuate it correctly. Also remind chn about the work from last week on past and present tense; notice how the spelling changes and the use of -ed for regular verbs. Include the use of and to join simple sentences within your paragraph, e.g. The young wife was feeling ill and she asked her husband to go and pick some fresh salad. The witch saw the gardener picking the salad and she was very angry. Remind chn about capital letters and full stops.
Composition 3 / Grammar 3 / Make a list of the ‘problems’ or conflicts in the story. The chn will enjoy thinking of some much better solutions and discussing the anomalies of the story! E.g. If he was a gardener why didn’t he grow his own salad? How did the witch get Rapunzel into the door-less tower in the first place before there was anyone to let down her hair? Why go to all the labour of weaving a silken rope to escape when the prince could have just brought an ordinary one! or She could have cut her own hair. But of course there wouldn’t have been a story if all that had happened!
Word reading/Transcription 3/ Composition 4 / Briefly show chn this website where 2 versions of Rapunzel written at different times by The Brothers Grimm are compared at (or see resources)
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm012a.html. This is useful to show how authors edit and change their own work to make it better. Read a few brief extracts to the chn noticing how the fairy in the first version becomes a sorceress in the second, etc. Discuss the version of the story that chn prefer. What are the key events in the story? Note these on the f/c. Print out Hamilton character masks for chn.f During art or DT help chn make and decorate a simple mask with a stick for one of the characters.
Spoken language 5 / Show the chn one of Sarah Gibb’s illustrations showing the story in silhouette (see resources). They are a bit like the silhouettes in the Hansel and Gretel animation. Enjoy discussing the detail. There is a 2013 version of Rapunzel based on the Lotte Reiniger films (only 51 sec) at

Ask the chn how this story teller changes the story! When the prince tries to climb her hair he pulls her out of the tower and she falls on top of him!
Spoken language 6
Objectives / Dimension / Resources
Spoken language / Pupils should be taught to:
g. use spoken language to develop understanding thro’ exploring ideas
h. speak audibly and fluently
i. participate in role play, improvisations and debates / 4. Monday: Telling the story of Rapunzel
Working in pairs or 3s, chn take it in turns (helped by their partners) to tell the story of Rapunzel using the picture summary. Can they remember what happens? Talk about the problems in the story.
Plenary: Revisit the book and discuss it. Which part did they find the scariest? Should the young man have taken the salad? Why? Which is their favourite part/Illustration? etc. / A picture summary of Rapunzel (see resources) - one for each pair
Pupils should be taught to:
i participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates / 5. Thursday: Discussing retelling the story of Rapunzel
Easy/Medium - Role-play: In groups of 5, each child takes a character and using masks from resources they act out the story, making sure they have the events in the correct sequence.
Medium/Hard - Give 3 groups of 5 chn three pictures each from the picture summary of Rapunzel. They work out a short improvisation about just their bit that they can repeat. They make brief notes to help them plan and remember. Tell them they will be performing their scenes tomorrow.
Plenary: Re-read Rapunzel or another version. A fun one if you have it in school is Rapunzel - A groovy fairy tale by David and Lynn Roberts set in the 1980s and full of period detail. / Masks for the Rapunzel characters (Hamilton Trust resources)
Pupils should be taught to:
Y1d. articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions
Y2f. maintain attention and participate actively in collaborative conversations, staying on topic and initiating and responding to comments / 6. Friday: Practising and performing Rapunzel
Easy/Medium - Draw a picture of their favourite part of the story. They tell a partner why it is their favourite and write a sentence about it.
Medium/Hard - Working together in their groups, the chn do a final rehearsal of their scene from yesterday and make sure it makes sense. They can write themselves short reminders about what they are going to say, or ideally remember it by heart. There will need to be a lot of co-operating and listening to others. Give a time limit of 2-3 min for the finished improvisation. Then with support chn have a go at joining the scenes together.