Review the Academic Content Standards related to this lesson. Analyze the plot, characters, morals and cultural values demonstrated in favorite fairy tales. Black Folk Tales of the Old South. List different moral lessons. Write a folk tale based around a moral lesson.
Students then share their answers.
Explain to students that folk tales are stories that are passed down from generation to generation to teach some sort of moral lesson. The folk tale has the ability to reach everyone, not just a restricted audience. Then, ask each student to choose a moral as the basis for a folk tale that they will write. Students should not explicitly state the moral of the story in their folk tale, but rather should allude to it through the plot and the characters' actions and interactions. After any necessary editing, students should read their folk tales to class, create a book of their folk tales to display in the school library or donate to an elementary school or children's hospital, or seek publication in the local and school's newspapers.