Many fairy tales begin and end the same way. They often start with “Once upon a time.” They often end with “And they lived happily ever after!” Most fairy tales have happy endings.
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Art by Kristina Kister
What is a Fairy Tale?
Here are four things you may find in fairy tales. Is the story on page 14 a fairy tale?
By Laine Falk
From the September 2025 Issue
Learning Objective: Students will learn background knowledge about fairy tales before they read the fiction story “The Sloth Princess.”
1. “Once Upon a Time”
2. Royal Characters or Talking Animals
You may meet a king, queen, princess, or prince in fairy tales. That’s because they often have royal characters.
Some fairy tales have animal characters. A lot of times, those animals can talk! You might read about giants, ogres, and dragons. Roar!
3. Magic
Abracadabra! You can also find magic in fairy tales. Characters might be able to cast magic spells or fly through the air.
4. Setting
The setting is where a story takes place. Fairy tales often take place in a forest. Some fairy tales happen in a castle.
video
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Activities
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Skills Activities
Answer Key
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Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Implementation
- Small group; whole group; independent reading
1. Use the Before-Reading Resources
- Video: What Is a Fairy Tale? (5 minutes)
Show students a short video about what makes a story a fairy tale.
- Play the Vocabulary Slideshow (5 minutes)
Help students become familiar with the vocabulary words they will see in the article.
Show students a short video about what makes a story a fairy tale.
Help students become familiar with the vocabulary words they will see in the article.
2. Read the Article
Reading focus: Build background knowledge (30 minutes)
- This article gives students background knowledge that will help them better understand this issue’s fiction story, “The Sloth Princess,” on page 14.
- As they read, tell students to pay attention to the different elements that they can find in fairy tales. They will be reading a story soon, and they will have to figure out if it is a fairy tale or not.
3. After-Reading Skills Practice
(All pages below can be printed from our website.)
- Fairy Tale Checklist: (15 minutes)
Once students have also read the fiction story, “The Sloth Princess,” they can use what they learned in this Background Builder to decide if the fiction is a fairy tale.
You can use this skills page to practice other skills. (15 minutes)
- Quiz: Comprehension check
Text-to-Speech