Once upon a teen….

Jennifer Hillhouse and Sarah Cross IH Torres Vedras

Little Red Riding Hood – Version 1

Adapted from P. Pullman’s Grimm Tales (Penguin, 2012)

Once upon a time there was a girl. Everyone loved her.

She had a grandmother who one day made a cap for the

girl. The cap suited the girl so well that she wanted to

wear it all the time.

One day the girl’s mother sent the girl to visit her grandmother, to take

her a cake and a bottle of wine.

The girl kissed her mother goodbye and left. Her grandmother lived in

the woods. The girl started to walk along the path through the woods.

After a few minutes a wolf came up to the girl. She didn’t know what

kind of animal he was, so she wasn’t afraid of him.

The wolf wanted to eat the girl. When he understood that the girl

wanted to visit her grandmother, he knew that if he was careful he could

eat them both.

The wolf walked with the girl through the woods and showed her where

the flowers grew. The girl saw the flowers and decided to make a

bouquet for her grandmother. She stepped off the path and into the

woods. She picked the flowers one by one, each one took her away

from the path and into the woods.

The wolf left the girl and ran to the grandmother’s house. He knocked

on the door, lifted the latch and went inside. He leaped at the old

woman and ate her up. He put on her clothes, put her cap on his head,

pulled the curtains and got into bed.

The girl gathered her bouquet for her grandmother and remembered

where she needed to go. She went back to the path and went to her

grandmother’s home.

She was surprised when she got there and saw the house, because the

door was open and there was no light. She went into the house, went to

the bed and opened the curtains. She saw her grandmother and was

surprised by her appearance. The wolf leaped out of bed and ate the girl

up. He got back into bed, went to sleep and started to snore.

A huntsman walked past the house. He heard the wolf’s snores and

decided to check if the old woman was ok. He went inside, looked at the

bed and saw the wolf. He thought about shooting the wolf with his rifle

but he decided not to. He thought that he could still save the old

woman.

He put down the rifle, picked up some scissors and started to cut open

the wolf. After a few snips the girl jumped out, and the grandmother

came out after her.

The girl ran outside and picked up several stones. They put the stones in

the wolf and sewed him up again. They woke the wolf up. The wolf saw

the hunter with his rifle, panicked and ran, but he didn’t get far because

of the stones and he fell down and died.

The huntsman skinned the wolf and went home. The grandmother ate

the cake and drank the wine, and the girl decided never to leave the

path again and to always do what her mother wanted.

The End.

Little Red Riding Hood – Version 2

Adapted from A. Carter’s The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault (Penguin, 2008)

Once upon a time there was a girl. She lived with her

mother in the country. Her mother loved her and her

grandmother loved her more. The grandmother made

the girl a hood like ladies wear when they ride. The

hood suited the girl.

One day, the mother baked some cakes and sent the girl to visit her

grandmother who was sick. The mother wanted the girl to take the

grandmother some of the cakes and a pot of butter.

The girl went to the next village to visit her grandmother. As she walked

through the wood, she met and talked to a wolf who wanted to eat her,

but he didn’t because he knew there were woodcutters in the wood as

well. The girl didn’t know how dangerous it is to talk to wolves.

The wolf decided that he would take one road to the girl’s house and the

girl would take the other and they would see who got there first. The

wolf ran off on one path and the girl took the other. The girl didn’t rush.

She gathered nuts, chased butterflies and picked flowers.

The wolf arrived at the grandmother’s house and knocked on the door.

He went in, threw himself at the old woman and ate her up. He closed

the door behind him and lay in the grandmother’s bed and waited for

the girl.

The girl arrived at her grandmother’s house and knocked on the door.

She went inside. The wolf threw himself at the girl and ate her up too.

The End.

What’s missing? Adjectives Adverbs Range of narrative tenses Linking words and time expressions Dialogue: direct / indirect speech

Let’s make this a proper story…

The girl ran outside and picked up several stones. They put the

stones into the wolf and sewed him up again. They woke the wolf

up. The wolf saw the hunter with his rifle, panicked and ran, but he

didn’t get far because of the stones and he fell down and died.

Here’s one we made earlier…

The little girl hurried outside and quickly picked up several heavy

stones. After they’d put the stones into the wolf they carefully

sewed him up again. The hunter warned Red and her Grandmother

not to get too close. He then gently nudged the snoring wolf and

softly murmured, “Wakey wakey, rise and shine!”

The evil wolf woke up, saw the big, strong hunter with his enormous

rifle, panicked and started to run. However, he didn’t get far

because of the stones that were weighing him down. Clutching his

belly, he dramatically dropped to the ground and died.

Suggested Lesson Outline

This lesson was done with students aged 14-16, at B1+.

1) Class discussion - What was your favourite story when you were child? Elicit classic fairy tales.

2) Elicit key features of a story: Events which happen at different points in time. Thematic structure – something of interest which

changes over the timescale of the story, e.g. evil is defeated or a major event is survived. The theme of the story is often the resolution of the problem. Narrative without theme is commentary rather than a story.

Staging

An opening, often formulaic in fairy tales. ‘Once upon a time…’ or ‘Жили-были...’

Introduction of characters

Description of the setting

Introduction of the problem

A series of events which lead to...

The resolution of the problem

A closing, often formulaic in fairy tales. ‘And they all lived happily ever after.’

A moral, which may or may not be explicitly stated.

3) Red Riding Hood – elicit or introduce as an example of a classic fairy tale. Elicit the stages (see flowchart above).

4) Divide the class in half. Each half reads one version of Red Riding Hood. After reading, pairs discuss the questions below. Follow up with class feedback and discussion.

What happened in your story? How are they similar? How are they different? Which ending do you prefer and why?

5) Let’s look at the language. Pairs or groups discuss what’s missing from the text. Adjectives Adverbs Range of narrative tenses Linking words and time expressions Dialogue: direct / indirect speech

6) As a class, analyse one paragraph of text. Elicit ideas and add adjectives, adverbs, narrative tenses etc. (see list in stage 5)

7) Option 1 – Divide the class into groups, get them to repeat Stage 6 with different parts of the text. Pin the finished results up (in order) round the room with a blank sheet of paper next to it. Students walk round, read the story and provide feedback.

Option 2 – Divide the class and get them to repeat Stage 6, however they are all working on the same section of text. In feedback, compare, justify and debate choices before deciding on a final class version.

8) Students leave with a working knowledge of how to write a good story.