Plan Your Retelling

Overview

This is lesson 3 of 5 in the unit Retelling Fairy Tale Stories. Students choose a familiar fairy tale and deliberately transform one or more story elements, then organise a complete plot before drafting. Explicit modelling, retrieval, oral rehearsal and peer feedback support students to develop an independent writing plan.

Learning intentions

• We are learning to explain how changing story elements can shape meaning.
• We are learning to organise a retelling into clear structural parts.
• We are learning to orally rehearse and improve a plot before writing.
• We are learning to use success criteria to check and revise our ideas.

Success criteria

• I can identify which fairy tale I am retelling and explain what I will change.
• I can plan a clear beginning, build-up, climax, resolution and satisfying ending.
• I can explain how my changes affect the character, problem or message.
• I can rehearse my plot, receive feedback and make a useful revision.

Curriculum links

• Comprehension: Text form, structure, style, and features — describing how characterisation, setting and plot shape meaning.
• Comprehension: Text form, structure, style, and features — explaining how structural parts contribute to the whole text.
• Comprehension strategies — identifying and summarising key ideas and explaining how details connect them.
• English capabilities: communicating ideas, making connections, and monitoring and improving learning.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Retrieve and hook. Display the opening question slide: “What would change if the wolf told Little Red Riding Hood?” Students silently recall the original story, then turn and talk about one possible change. Invite two or three responses and connect them to prior learning about character, setting, problem and ending.

2. 5–13 min · Explicit teaching and modelling. Use the transformation and plot-structure slides to review six possible changes: narrator, setting, characters, problem, viewpoint and ending. Model a brief example using Cinderella: “I will change the setting to a futuristic space station and make the stepsister the narrator.” Think aloud while placing quick notes into the five-part structure: beginning, build-up, climax, resolution and lesson or satisfying ending. Emphasise that a retelling should remain recognisable while having a purposeful change.

3. 13–18 min · Choose and plan the transformation. Distribute the fairy-tale retelling planning map. Students choose a classic fairy tale from the class collection or one they know well, write its title and identify one main transformation. They add a short note explaining why the change is interesting or what new idea it could communicate. Confer briefly with students who need help selecting a manageable story or change.

4. 18–30 min · Independent plot mapping. Students complete the planning map in order, using short notes rather than full sentences. They include the main character and goal, setting, changed element, beginning, build-up, problem, climax, resolution and lesson or satisfying ending. Pause after five minutes for a whole-class “plot check”: students point to their climax and ask, “Is this the moment when the biggest decision or change happens?” Continue circulating, prompting students to connect each event logically and avoid adding too many characters or problems.

5. 30–38 min · Partner oral rehearsal. Students pair up and take turns telling their plot aloud in two minutes, using their map as a prompt. Partners listen for the five structural parts and give feedback using the “two stars and a next step” prompts on the oral-rehearsal and feedback slides. The listener must ask one clarifying question, such as “Why does the character make that choice?” Students then revise at least one part of their map in a different colour.

6. 38–45 min · Self-check and exit reflection. Display the success-criteria and exit-reflection slides. Students independently check their map against each criterion and complete the reflection box on the worksheet: “The most important change in my retelling is… because…” Collect plans or conduct a quick visual scan while students pack up. Invite one student to share how partner feedback improved their idea.

Resources

• the fairy-tale retelling planning deck
• the fairy-tale retelling planning map
• Class collection or familiar copies of classic fairy tales
• Pencils, erasers and coloured pencils
• Timer
• Whiteboard or modelling book

Assessment

• During modelling and planning, check whether students can distinguish a transformation from simply retelling the original.
• Review maps for all five plot stages, a purposeful change, logical links between events and a clear climax.
• Listen during partner rehearsal for sequencing and explanation; use the final reflection to identify students needing support before drafting.

Differentiation

• Provide a small selection of familiar fairy tales, a visual plot sequence and sentence starters: “At first…”, “The problem becomes worse when…”, “At the climax…”, and “In the end…”.
• For students with dyslexia, ADHD or APD, give written and spoken instructions, one step at a time; use a quiet workspace, a visible timer, movement breaks and permission to dictate or voice-record ideas before writing.
• Allow students to draw symbols or use keywords on the map. Read instructions aloud, check understanding privately and pair students deliberately for rehearsal.
• Extend confident writers by asking them to change the narrator or viewpoint as well as one other element, then explain how this changes the reader’s sympathy or understanding.