In my class, I used The True Story of the Three Little Pigs as a mentor text to help my students write their own fractured fairy tales. First, we read the original The Three Little Pigs to understand the traditional story. Then, we read The True Story of the Three Little Pigs to see how changing the narrator and point of view can change the story’s message.

We talked about the theme of the fractured version—how there are different sides to every story—and compared it to the theme of the original. Using a chart, we compared and contrasted the two stories. Students looked at the characters, events, and even the tone in both versions to see how they were alike and different.

After that, the students wrote their own fractured fairy tales, choosing a new narrator or changing parts of a familiar story. They had to explain how the theme of their new story was different from the original and how they used their changes to create a fresh perspective. This activity helped them practice comparing and contrasting and made learning about theme into a fun small group project.