In this lesson, students consider the ethics of characters in three fairy tales.
In "Puss in Boots," a clever cat engineers a succession of hoaxes
and lies for the benefit of its master. As a result, the master eventually
marries the king's daughter and appoints Puss in Boots prime minister,
and all parties live happily ever after. Among the debatable questions
inspired by this fairy tale are Was Puss in Boots wrong to lie to
the king and deceive him?, Was the cat wrong to trick the ogre and then
kill him?, and Is trickery ever justified? Challenge students
to support their positions with at least three cogent arguments.
In "Jack and the Beanstalk," young Jack, whose impoverished mother
is left with nothing but the family cow, is sent to market to trade
the cow for as much money as he can. Jack trades the cow for a handful
of beans and, in despair, his mother throws the beans out the window.
Jack narrowly escapes from the giant with two stolen treasures that
will secure the future for himself and his mother. Among the debatable
questions posed by this story are Since the giant wanted to eat Jack,
was it OK that Jack stole the giant's goose and harp? An older
version of this familiar tale offers up some unique twists that
will add to the debate: Since the giant had stolen everything from
Jack's father, do you think it was OK for Jack to take it back?
A lesser-known Tibetan folk tale, From
the Elephant Pit is about a hunter who happens upon an elephant
pit, in which a man, a lion, a mouse, a snake, and a falcon are trapped.
Among the debatable questions posed by this story are Was the hunter
better off because he rescued the man from the pit? If yes, why? If
no, why not?
Create a two-column graphic organizer for the first two fairy tales above.
Print one of the ethical questions raised by the tale at the top of the
graphic organizer. Print "Yes" at the top of the first column and "No"
at the top of the other. As students share their responses to the questions,
write the responses in the appropriate columns.
Provide students with a copy of a two-column graphic organizer such as the Comparison Chart. After reading the story "From the Elephant Pit," pose the question Was the hunter better off because he rescued the man from the pit? Let students consider both sides of the question by writing statements in support of a "Yes" and "No" answer in the appropriate columns on their charts. Then give students an opportunity to take a stand; they use the information on their graphic organizers to support that stand.
The lesson ideas above and more are posed in an Education World article by Elaine Lindy, an expert on storytelling for character education and CEO of Whootie Owl Productions. Lindy created the popular children's storytelling Web site, Absolutely Whootie: Stories to Grow By. To find more ideas for using fairy tales in classroom debates, as well as tips for managing a classroom debate on ethics, see the complete Education World article Using Fairy Tales to Debate Ethics.
Assessment
Students write a brief response to any one of the questions posed in the lesson;
in addition, they might draw an illustration to accompany their writing.
