The end of the school year can be a hectic time. Students become anxious and antsy and it is nearly impossible to hold their attention. Which is why we as teachers do our very best to find ways to keep their attention and our students engaged.
For the last 3 years I have ended our school year with a fairy tale unit. During this time I teach my students about the elements of fairy tales. We talk about how they are different than our typical fiction stories. I also have my students name some fairy tales that they are familiar with.
After discussing what makes a fairy tale different from a fiction story it is time for my royal firsties to DIVE INTO some fairy tales. I allow my firsties to partner up and read fairy tales of their choosing. In order to do this I use the app GetEpic! If you haven't heard of it it is absolutely amazing and is FREE for teachers/classroom use. On Epic I created a fairy tale collection for my students to choose fairy tales to read from. One thing I absolutely LOVE about Epic is that you can also add stories that will read the story to your students. This is absolutely perfect for ELL students and struggling readers. For those students who are reading independent they can choose to read fairy tales on Epic, grab a fairy tale rom the classroom library, or a fairy tale gathered from our school library.
How to Get Ready for the Fairy Tale Bowl Competition
At the beginning of the fairy tale unit I send home a letter to my student's families informing them about our fairy tale unit and the stories that will be included in our class and grade level fairy tale bowl. This letter allows families to get involved at home and incorporate these stories into their at home reading routines.
After about a week and a half of reading and researching different fairy tale stories I host a class Fairy Tale Bowl! My students get so excited about the Fairy Tale Bowl competition. They absolutely love the idea of getting to dress up as their favorite fairy tale character, getting to compete against each other, and of course they love the idea of possibly be crowned prince or princess of the Fairy Tale Bowl competition.
The day before the Fairy Tale Bowl competition I randomly break students into groups of 4.
I allow them time to collaborate to come up with a team name and provide them with poster board or large white paper so they can create their team poster.
The day of the Fairy Tale Bowl Competition
On the day of the competition I have the teams sit together and display their group poster. I absolutely love seeing what they come up with for their team name and how they decorate their posters. They have such pride in their team name/poster. Each team is also provided a magic wand that is used for answering bonus round questions since they are answered by who "buzzes" in first after the 30 second/1 minute discussion time.
During the Fairy Tale Bowl
Each team will participate in 3 rounds of questions about the different fairy tale stories mentioned in the parent letter. Each team will have a chance to answer a questions before entering into the bonus round. During these bonus questions all teams are given the chance to answer on a first to buzz in basis! However, in order to make it fair I provide everyone 30 seconds-1minute to discuss which fairy tale they believe the answer is. I then have all teams place their wand on the table and will count to 3. On 3 the team who is quickest to raise their wand will get a chance to answer. I typically only give them 10 seconds to answer the question before moving on to the next team. This helps to make sure teams are only raising their wand if they KNOW the answer.
When the Fairy Tale Bowl Ends in a Tie
If by the end of the 3 rounds + bonus questions there are 2 or more teams who are tied those teams will then enter the Sudden Death Round! During the sudden death round if a question is answered incorrectly and the other team answers it correctly the team who answered incorrectly is eliminated.
Who Wins and What Do They Win?
The team with the MOST points at the end of round 3 or the sudden death round is then named the prince and princesses of the Fairy Tale Bowl. 2 years ago my team decided to join in on the fairy tale fun and we had our class winners compete in a grade level Fairy Tale Bowl.
If you are interested in grabbing my Fairy Tale Bowl Competition pack you can do so below.
Click to grab my TPT Fairy Tale Bowl Competition Pack
This pack will SAVE YOU THE TIME of creating your own fairy tale bowl questions and will provide you with editable parent letters, wand templates, the Fairy Tale Bowl question PPT, and more.
