The makers of OFF!® Repellents have created a collection of some amazing reinterpreted fairytales, in a variety of formats, to inspire families to spend more time having fun outdoors. They’re called the “The Never Starting Tales,” and they are definitely something worth sharing with your students and/or your own family.
When I first learned of “The Never Starting Tales,” I decided to read them with my own children first, both boys who are 5 and 6 years old. They enjoyed them so much, especially since they were a twist on the classic stories they had heard in the past. As we read through them together, and enjoyed the videos and audio formats, I realized that these stories would be a phenomenal way to engage my fifth graders through distance learning. I even thought of ways to get my students to learn and practice English Language Arts while playing outside by using “The Never Starting Tales.”
Here are three ways to use “The Never Starting Tales” with your students to encourage learning and creativity, even outdoors!
Speaking and Listening
Encourage your students to choose the audio version of one of their favorite tales. This version does not have pictures or animations. Before listening, ask students to listen for information that will need to prepare them to answer these questions:
- What is the main difference between the classic story and this reinterpreted one?
- Which character is most like you and why?
- What is the theme of the story?
Finally, ask students to create a scene from the story, only based on what they heard. The scene must be outdoors, and they can use anything from their backyard or front yard to create the scene. They can take a picture and share it with you.
Tableau
A tableau is a group of models or motionless figures representing a scene from a story. Tableaus are so much fun to create and they really help engage students. Since this would be an assignment done at home, encourage your students to partner up with a sibling, parent, or another family member that lives with them. They can create a tableau depicting one of “The Never Starting Tales.” Encourage students to create their tableau outside. If they are doing it on their own, they can also create models to go with their own poses. They can take a picture and send it to you.
Creating Your Own Reinterpretation
The theme of every “Never Starting Tale” encourages the reader to venture outside. For this assignment, ask students to think of another classic fairy tale that they could reinterpret to convey the same message. When they’re done rewriting it, they can use one of the other two options above to share it with you and the class.
WeAreTeachers Lesson Plans
Education is looking a little different right now, and it’s important that we continue to encourage our students to get outdoors in their own backyards to enjoy the day while also learning. Let’s get our kiddos to start an adventure through reading. WeAreTeachers has some pretty engaging lesson plans to help engage our students and families, and encourages our kids to go visit the outdoors in their backyards.
My own boys enjoyed listening to these stories and completing some of the activities. We had a great adventure.
“The Never Starting Tales” are available for free on NeverStartingTales.com.
There are six audio books, six ebooks, and 2 videos to share with your students and/or your family.
