English Language Arts and Reading.3.9.A

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The student is expected to

demonstrate knowledge of distinguishing characteristics of well-known children's literature such as folktales, fables, fairy tales, legends, and myths;

multiple genres TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts.

A teacher may wish to pair SE 3.8.D with SE 3.9.A and assess both SEs at the same time. With SE 3.8.D, students explain the influence of the setting on the plot. With SE 3.9.A, students demonstrate knowledge of distinguishing characteristics of well-known children's literature such as folktales, fables, fairy tales, legends, and myths. Before reading the fable The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, engage students in a dialogue about the characteristics of a fable, including a moral, animals as main characters, and animals with human characteristics. After reading, ask students to identify the characteristics of fables in this story. Ask students to consider what purpose fables may serve.

Further Information

This assessment example requires students to demonstrate knowledge of the features that qualify a text as a fable. It is important for students to develop this knowledge with all literary forms. As such, students are expected to know why well-known children’s literature such as folktales and fables differ from each other or how myths, legends and tall tales have their own distinctive traits.

material written and produced to inform or entertain children and young adults
Students should be able to explain the particular features of literary texts. Students are expected to know why well-known children’s literature such as folktales and fables are different from each other or how myths, legends, and tall tales, even if they share some commonalities, have their own distinctive traits. For example, students should know that although folktales and fables are considered fiction, folktales are derived from oral stories with unknown origins while fables are often cautionary stories shared as a means of teaching moral lessons.
a short tale in prose or verse that teaches a moral, especially a tale using animals and inanimate objects as characters (e.g., the tale of the wolf in sheep’s clothing teaches that appearances can be deceiving.)
a traditional story that includes extraordinary characters (e.g., magical creatures, princesses and evil queens) and magical events; usually has a happy ending
a story, tale, or legend of unknown origin that becomes well known through oral tradition and repeated story telling (e.g., the Pied Piper)
a traditional story that has been passed down and told as a matter of history but cannot be verified and has important significance to the culture from which it originated
a traditional story that provides an explanation for a cultural belief or a mystery of nature

Research

Freeman, J. (2016). Story is king: how to be a great storyteller. School Library Journal, 62(6), 40+. Retrieved from https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A453920020/PROF?u=tea&sid=PROF&xid=1ff34e81.

Summary: The author uses storytelling to build reading skills, such as plot analysis and understanding characters. She provides concrete examples for storytelling in the classrooms and gives a list of 21 classic folk and fairy tales that can be adapted for storytelling.