English Reception Summer Letters, Short Retellings of Fairy Tales

1. What is a Fairy tale?
2. Sleeping Beauty
3. Retelling a tale
4. Writing Sleeping Beauty

1. Reading Sleeping Beauty
2. Inviting the Grumpy Fairy
3. Writing Sleeping Beauty
4. Fairy Tale Day

1. Small world retelling
2. Castle construction
3. Fairy tale explorers

1. Read a traditional version of Sleeping Beauty. What did children think of the story? What would it be like if the good fairy cast a spell on us? Take a ‘magic wand’/some jingle bells and try casting a sleeping spell on the class.
2. Play Sleeping Beauty (Hamilton Storytelling video). Why was the bad fairy so cross? Have children ever felt left out? What could the King & Queen have done to make her feel better? What might have happened then?
3. Display and read Sleeping Beauty (Hamilton Group Reader) and compare. In this version, the characters are animals. What other animals could the illustrator have drawn them as? Squirrels? Rabbits?
4. Reread Sleeping Beauty (Hamilton Group Reader). How else might the prince have woken up Sleeping Beauty? How do children like to be woken up in the morning? What makes them sleepy at night?

Poetry/Rhyme of the Week: Three Lullabies
Discuss the purpose of lullabies. Has anyone got a baby at home who has trouble going to/staying asleep?! Why is sleep important? Children choose their favourite to learn. Can they sing it to a sibling, pet or toy? Sing during the week, ending in everyone falling asleep! You could supplement these with lullabies from home.

Group Reader: Sleeping Beauty
This enchanting fairy tale, retold by Ruth Merttens, provides a decodable version of the story perfect for using with emerging readers. The lively illustrations will engage the children’s interest as they discover the tale of a princess who slept for a hundred years. This book is ideal for using alongside a block of work on fairy tales.

Essential text
A traditional version of Sleeping Beauty and
Sleeping Beauty Hamilton Group Reader

Websites
Sleeping Beauty Storytelling video from Hamilton Trust

Resources
Sleeping Beauty small world items
Fairy tale role-play equipment

1. Jack and the Beanstalk
2. Descriptive sentences
3. Retelling a tale
4. Magic sentences

1. Jack and the Beanstalk puppet show
2. Which character?
3. Dear Jack
4. Fairy Tale Day

1. Jack's Farm shop
2. Retelling Jack/Building castles
3. Listening to fairy tales
4. Bean investigation

1. Read a traditional version of Jack and the Beanstalk. Did children spot the rhyme ‘Fe, fi, fo, fum’? Enjoy saying this in giant voices. What other phrases are repeated in fairy tales? (once upon…happily ever…I’ll huff…What big ears…etc.).
2. Reread J&tB. Ask children to help you briefly recap the story, displaying prompt images (resources) as they are mentioned – fixed to a f/c or pegged on a line. Is Jack a good character? Discuss ideas.
3. Show the cover of Jim &tB. What do children notice? What might be different in this story? Read the story. How was it different to the original fairy tale? Did it make children feel differently about the Giant?
4. Reread Jim &tB. How does Jim help the Giant? What makes Jim run away?
5. Share a letter from Jack to the giant (resources). Read together and celebrate the success of the children’s letters!

Poetry/Rhyme of the Week: Sniff, Sniff, Sniff
Introduce on Monday. Enjoy chanting together. Encourage children to help you add some new lines following the pattern. The best stanza for this is the last one. Children will enjoy coming up with new, revolting ideas.

Essential text
A traditional version of Jack and the Beanstalk
Jim and the Beanstalk by Raymond Briggs

Resources
Role-play equipment for Jack’s Farm Shop/Fairy Tale Land
Jack & the Beanstalk small world items
Beans, kitchen towel, plastic bags

1. Hansel and Gretel
2. Retelling Hansel and Gretel
3. Alternative tales
4. Twisting the tale

1. Speech bubbles
2. Different viewpoints
3. A twist in the tale
4. A healthy cottage

1. Sweet shop role play
2. Cottage art
3. Cottage biscuits
4. A new cottage for the witch

1. Read a traditional version of Hansel and Gretel. Ask questions which encourage children to recall events in the story. What happened at the beginning? What happened next? How did they find their way back? etc.
2. Reread H & G. Who are the good characters and who are the baddies? How would children feel if they were lost in a wood? How would children feel if someone tried to eat their house?
3. Show Mixed Up Fairy Tales with Jack and the Beanstalk displayed correctly. Read together, noting that this is a very short version. What if the main character was different? How would the story change? Flip back one page to show Goldilocks and reread. Flick back to Jack and repeat with different story elements changing each time. Encourage children to reread with you and enjoy the twists.
4. Reread Mixed Up Fairy Tales, with children reading along, discussing and enjoying the new combinations.

Poetry/Rhyme of the Week: Hansel & Gretel
Introduce on Monday. Enjoy chanting/memorising together, developing movements, gestures and intonation to bring this poem to life. Find an audience and perform with attitude!

Essential text
A traditional version of Hansel and Gretel
Mixed Up Fairy Tales by Hilary Robinson

Resources
Sweet shop role-play items
Collage materials
Ingredients for gingerbread biscuit dough, sweets to decorate biscuits