The students began this project by comparing five different versions of The Three Little Pigs. In groups of four and five, they compared the characters, setting, plot, point of view and form with the original tale. The books rotated around the room, and when they had finished reading all versions, there was a whole class discussion about each version. We discussed and wrote down what they felt was the major transformation of the new version, and how that transformation then affected the characters, setting and plot of the original story.

The next step was to read other fairy tales, as well as their fractured version, and then decide what kind of transformation took place. They discovered many kinds of transformations: the setting or time period changed, the point of view changed, there was reversal in character or gender, and the plot changed when the story ended differently.

Finally it was time to write our own fractured fairy tales. The students (still in their groups) began by deciding on a well known fairy tale and discussing possible transformations. When the stories were finished, the children began the task of putting it into play form. The scripts included in this book were written after the plays were performed. During rehearsals lines were often changed, but not written down, so the students took time to write out the new and improved scripts. We hope you enjoy these original plays written by our class.