Fantastical Foldables!

We are studying different "fantastical" genres in class (myths, legends, folktales, fairy tales, tall tales).  All of these are along the same lines, but have some unique features that make them different.  Explaining these subtleties to 11 year olds is rather....tricky.  So, taking my cue from Mor over at A Teacher's Treasure, I had my students create these foldables.  (she did hers on Mean, Median, Mode...so I changed it up, but still was inspired by her awesome foldables)

To begin, we read an informational article about mythology and its various characteristics.  After discussing them, the students then began to work on the foldable.  There were four separate sections.


1.  Myth -- this was for the definition of a myth
2.  Symbolism -- students wrote why symbols might be included in a myth
3.  Creation of myths -- why were myths created in the first place
4.  Morals in myths -- why were lessons or morals a big part of myths




 The wrote the answers to these questions on the top flap of the foldable.  

Then, the students divided the inside of the foldable into 8 parts (2 for each of the four sections).  We read a myth called First People, about how summer came into the world.  The students then looked for the elements in this myth.  They wrote them out in the sections as shown.











Afterwards, we read The Flight of Icarus.  The students then, in partners (using their partner pals), found the elements of a myth in that story.  The entire project had them talking about myths, discovering what exactly made a myth a myth, and finding evidence in text.  There was so much going on with this easy little foldable....I can hardly contain my excitement for it all!  ;)

Here is the final product.











I created a template for you to use in your class.  I would make copies for the kids to use as a guide OR just project the one copy up on the ELMO/overhead projector (to save paper....that one is for Lindsay ;) )  They can then create the actual foldable on blank SQUARE paper.   One word of warning, when you print it out, the lines will not reach the edge (due to printing margins...darn!) but that is ok.  The kids should still be able to follow it well enough.   I am working on ones for legends, tall tales, fairy tales, and folktales as well.   Once I get those completed, I will let you all know!


8 comments

  1. LOVE foldables! Nice job! :) I'm sure Mor is proud - ha!
    The Teacher’s Cauldron

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  2. Very proud indeed!!! Great adaptation Steph!!! Thanks for sharing the template!!!!
    Thanks for the shout out! I LOVE the foldable!

    ❤ Mor Zrihen from...
    A Teacher's Treasure
    Teaching Treasures Shop

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  3. STEPHANIE!

    As I type this, you have 400 followers!!!
    That just shows what a great Blog this is.
    (And what a great Blogger you are!)

    As usual, I love the post.
    This will be great for my kiddos when we review for The Test. It will be nice to change it up a bit with something fun.

    THANKS for sharing!

    Kim

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    Replies
    1. I woke up with this message in my email. You made my day when you told me I had 400! Wow! I can hardly believe it!!!

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  4. Haha! I love it and I love that you thought of me! I would probably get my hand slapped by the copy police if I put in for this. GOOD CALL!

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  5. I am like a kid in a candy store with this site!

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  6. Stephanie,
    Come and see how I adapted your foldable for my First Nations unit on Legends. Thanks for the inspiration!
    http://teachingisagift.blogspot.ca

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  7. This is such a great idea! There I was, scrolling through pinterest trying to find a great way to continue the lesson on myths with my 5th graders when all of a sudden...TA-DA!!..Your post appeared! I love it! Is there anyway you could possibly re-upload the informational passage you used? Every time I click on the link, it doesn't work. I know this is an old post but I would greatly appreciate it if you could share it with me.

    Thanks!
    Cristal Rubio

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