Moral of the Story

Fairytales aren’t all magic and glamor; they also have very real lessons and morals to teach us. Use the themes in classic fairytale stories to inspire your own classroom’s tenets or community agreements.

First, have a classroom discussion about the fairytales your students know or your favorite books that you read aloud in class.

For each one, unpack the lessons of the story and write them down somewhere visible, creating a list of potential community agreements for your classroom. For example, your class may be inspired by the idea of not judging someone by their appearance after reading The Princess and the Pea, which may inspire a classroom agreement to always assume the best in others.

Each week, focus on one lesson that you want your students to remember, and together, brainstorm ways to embody this fairytale’s moral in your community. Other agreements may be to always lead with honesty (inspired by Pinnochio) or to treat everyone with equality and respect (inspired by Mulan).

After you’ve reviewed all of the fairytale lessons, select your favorites to be community agreements for everyone in your classroom to follow.

Write these agreements on chart paper and have your students decorate it with colors, stickers and anything that makes them feel joyful! Now, your class can reference your agreements all year long, working toward their own “happily ever after.”

To support this unit, use the Pea is for Ponder Creativity Page in the Discover and Create section.