Once Upon a Fairy Tale: Teaching Revision as a Concept

1. Ask students to list fairy tales they know. Ask students to identify the characteristics that makes the stories fairy tales, including the beginning, the use of magic or unrealistic elements, a problem that must be overcome, a happily-ever-after ending, setting in a different time or place, and so forth.
   
   
2. Define a fractured fairy tale:

A familiar fairy tale that has been altered in some way to create humor. The story will need to have enough of the original to be recognizable but changed enough to create humor.

3. In small groups, have students read at least 2 or 3 fractured fairy tales, developing a list of what main change the writer made from the original. They should make a second list of what secondary changes occurred as a result of the primary change. For example, in Ruby the author changes the setting and the characters; so the character of Little Red Riding Hood is a mouse who lives in the big city. Because of those primary changes, the mode of travel changes, the language changes, and the helper changes.
   
   
4. When students have read several tales, combine their small-group suggestions to create a class list of primary changes authors made, including changes in:
   
   
   • setting (both time and place)
     
     
   • character
     
     
   • resolution of the story
     
     
   • point of view
     
     
5. Be sure students also notice that these changes necessitate other changes in:
   
   
   • language
     
     
   • tone
     
     
   • smaller details of the story
     
6. In this discussion, remind students that writers didn't develop original stories, they revised stories known to readers. The students should notice the kinds of changes writers made.
   
   
   • Did they entail spelling?
     
     
   • Did they entail punctuation?
     
     
   • Or were they more related to ideas in the story, or organization of the events, or the voice of the storyteller?
     
7. Encourage students to notice that the changes fit this second category and that these revisions are much more substantial.
   
   
8. Return to the original list of stories made by the class, and add any titles that students now recall. Have each student choose a story from the list and at least one major change they could make to the story from the list of options the class developed.
   
   
9. For a few minutes, have them freewrite on how the major change might affect the story in other ways (not writing the story yet).
   
   
10. In small groups, invite student to share ideas for revising the original story and consequences of those revisions. Peers should give input on additional consequences or possibilities students might not have considered while writers take notes on their ideas to use in drafting.

1. Review the discussion from the previous session, and select a fairy tale for the class to work on and one aspect to focus on for revision.
   
   
2. Share a model of a fractured fairy tale with the students. Discuss what they notice in the fractured fairy tale.
   
   
3. As a class, use the interactive Story Map, and draft a fractured fairy tale.
   
   
4. After the class has practiced drafting a fractured fairy tale, assess the class draft using the rubric. This process will give students a chance to work with the rubric so they know what will be expected in their own writing.
   
   
5. Next, have students review their notes from the previous session, and draft their own versions of the stories they have chosen, keeping in mind the definition of a fractured fairy tale and the main and secondary changes they have considered. They may want to use the interactive Story Map to help them as they begin drafting.
   
   
6. At the end of the session, have students reflect orally or in writing on how the change they selected was influencing their writing. What other changes did they need to consider? Have them consider how revision can cause chain reactions-one change might make other ones also necessary.

1. Begin this session by introducing the Peer Evaluation for Global Revision handout. Use its questions to comment on the class draft from the previous session and make suggestions for revision.
   
   
2. Use the accompanying example of the draft and its global revision to talk about the kinds of changes that can come from peer responses and how they improve the story.
   
   
3. With their individual drafts of a fractured fairy tale, students should then meet with partners to share their drafts. Using the questions suggested on the peer evaluation handout, have peers make suggestions about ideas, organization, and voice. Writers should pose the questions to the peers and then write down suggestions.
   
   
4. Considering those suggestions, students should revise-change or alter-the draft they have so that they come to the next class with a revised draft that addresses the issues raised in their peer evaluations.
   
   
5. At the end of this session, have students reflect on how sharing their writing with others and listening to others' responses creates a perspective that also prompts revision. What kinds of changes do they need to make in order to consider audience concerns? How should this help them when they revise in the future?

1. Separate global revision from local revision by making sure they occur on different days. Sometimes students complain about this, but once they understand that changes in ideas, organization, and voice will make comments about conventions and sentences invalid, they usually come around.
   
   
2. Have students familiarize themselves with the questions on the Peer Evaluation for Local Revision handout by using them to make suggestions either for the class story or the accompanying model example.
   
   
3. Then, working with peers, ask students to address the questions on their Peer Evaluation handout for local revision and to use the comments and suggestions to polish their writing for sharing and turning in during a later session.
   
   
4. Teachers can accompany this lesson with mini-lessons on sentence fluency or conventions such as using dialogue and punctuating it effectively. If students need more details on punctuation, for instance, the ReadWriteThink lesson Inside or Outside? A Mini-Lesson on Quotation Marks and More would make a useful mini-lesson at this point. Additional suggestions are included  in the Extensions section.

When students have completed a revised and edited version of their stories, allow class time for them to share the stories either aloud or through silent reading with others.