Myths, Tales & Legends: Explores various types of stories around the world passed down the oral tradition

1. Fables, Legends, Myths
and Tales

2. This school year we will be reading
a selection of legends, folktales,
fairy tales and myths.

3. Before we begin
we need to learn some
vocabulary words and ideas.

4. They are all types of stories
Fables
Legends
Myths
Folk Tales
Fairy Tales

5. What is the difference
between them all?
Fables
Legends
Myths
Folk Tales
Fairy Tales

6. Peple lve stries.

7. Stories
Parents often read or tell
their children stories that
were told to them when
they were children.

8. Stories
Or read to them by a teacher at school

9. Throughout history, stories have
always been told.
It began with speaking them-
the oral tradition.
Or just telling them to each other

10. Throughout history, stories have
always been told.
It began with speaking them…

11. A Long, long time ago….

12. The oral tradition = telling stories

13. The oral tradition = telling stories

14. Stories have been told by people

15. Everywher
e

16. Stories are told through books

17. Stories are told
through theater

18. Pictures also
tell stories

20. and through pictures: these are cave paintings
These are cave drawings from prehistoric man

21. And pictures…
Darn kids and their graffiti!

22. And
through
singing

23. Many stories are passed down through songs

24. Throughout history, stories have
always been told.

25. Sometimes they are written down
Aesop was an ancient Greek slave who wrote fables

26. Some were just told

27. The oral tradition = telling stories

28. Passed down from
generation to
generation

29. GENERATION TO GENERATION

30. Homework: Ask a member of your
family to tell you a story that was
told to them as a young child.
Make sure you listen careful,
because you will have to
remember it for tomorrow.

31. Until very recently,
people didn’t have
television, movies, and
books

32. They told stories instead.

33. All cultures have stories.

34. They are called myths, folk tales,
fairy tales, legends, and fables.

35. Sometimes stories are told from
generation-to-generation and the
stories change in the telling. Let’s
play a game to help us understand
how this happens.

36. Play the Telephone Tag Game

37. Everybody get into a circle…
• Teacher will give a student a paragraph that is a story,
tale, myth, etc.
• First person begins by reading it and then whispering
the paragraph into ear of the student next to him/her.
(that student must keep eyes closed)
• Student that is read to, must repeat as much as
possible to the person next to them.
• Keep repeating until last person.
• Last person repeats what was heard.
• A student reads original paragraph.

38. After story…
What just happened?

39. What is the difference between:
• Myths
• Legends
• Folk tales
• Fairy Tales
• Fables

40. They are all similar. Sometimes it’s
difficult to tell which is which
• Myths
• Legends
• Folk tales
• Fairy Tales
• Fables

41. Which is which?

42. Legends
• A story in the past about a
historical person.
• Passed down through
generations
• Originally not written down
• Involves heroes

43. Two examples of legends
Guess who they are?

44. Which one was a real person?
Heracles/Hercules Robin Hood

45. Both are believed by historians to have been
actual men, however, as typical in legends, the
stories became exaggerated and changed.
That is what legends are.
Heracles/Hercules Robin Hood

46. Like… Count Dracula

47. Comes from a real character like
Vlad the Impaler the Prince of
Wallachia in Hungary.

48. I’m not going to tell you what HE did to
his victims. It’s horrible! You will have
to look that one up yourself.

49. It is a perfect example of a legend.
First their was a real man who was
known to do terrible things. And then
his story turned him into a monster,
like Count Dracula, a vampire.

50. We are going to read a legend.

51. The Cherokee Indians
Were a native
American Tribe that
lived in the southern
part of what is now
the USA, before the
Europeans came.
Storytelling was very
important to the
Cherokee

52. Yonder Mountain: A Cherokee
Legend
• Pg 57 of your Literature Pack

53. Myth
•Usually involves Gods or
Goddesses
•Started with the Ancient Greeks
•Attempts to explain the
mysteries of the world
•Often includes supernatural
powers

54. Some Myths…

55. Some Myths…
Trojan Horse The Sphinx- Egypt
Poseidon (Greek) or Neptune (Roman)
God of the Sea
Pandora’s Box
Eros or Cupid
(love)

56. Fable
A fable is a very brief story in prose
or in verse that teaches a moral or
a practical lesson about how to
succeed in life.

57. Fables
• Is usually short and to the point
• Often has a character that plays
tricks on others

58. Fables
• Usually about animals
• Has a moral to share

59. The Fox and the Goat
One day, a fox fell down
a well. He tried to climb
out, but the well was too
deep. A goat wandered
by. He peered down
curiously. “What are you
doing in a well?” asked
the goat.

60. “I’m warning you, goat,” snarled the fox.
“This is my water! Go away.”
“You can’t keep all the water for yourself,”
the goat snorted. The goat jumped in the
well.

61. The fox jumped on
the goat’s back and
leaped out of the
well. He ran off
without a care for
the goat who was
stuck in the well.

62. Fables
• Is usually short and to the point
• Often has a character that plays
tricks on others
• Usually about animals
• Has a moral to share

63. MORAL: think-pair-share
In pairs, think about what a “moral” of the story
is. Write down your own definition. Then
write down reasons for why you think why
people like stories that have morals in them.

64. The MORAL of
The Fox and the Goat is:
Don’t always believe what you hear from
someone in trouble.
or
Look before you leap.

65. More examples of Fables
What’s the
moral of the
Tortoise and
the Hare?

66. Some examples of Fables
Slow and
steady
wins the
race

67. Fable: The Ant and the
Grasshopper

68. What’s the moral of the Ant and
the Grasshopper?

69. • Be responsible for yourself
• There is a time for work and a time for play
• Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do
today
• It is best to plan for the days of necessity
THESE ARE SOME POSSIBLE MORALS

70. Folk Tale
A traditional tale from a group
of people. Usually the story is
passed down from generation-
to-generation through
speaking.

71. Folk Tale
•No particular location in time and
space (“once upon a time”)
•Often includes superhuman
powers
•Often has a character that plays
tricks on others

72. Folktales
• Passed down through
generations
• Has a moral to share
• Originally not written down but
passed on through the telling

73. Folk Tale
A folk tale is a story with no known
author. Folk tales are passed down
from one generation to another by
word of mouth.

74. Examples of folktales

75. Examples of folktales

76. There once was a farmer named Jack who was
both very lazy and very quick-witted. Now one
day, the Devil came to Jack to tempt him, but
Jack tricked the Devil into climbing a tree.
The Tale of Stingy Jack
and his jack o’ lantern

77. The Devil could not climb down, and asked Jack for help.
"On one condition," Jack replied. "That you not allow me
into hell."
The Devil could not very well refuse, so he grudgingly
agreed and Jack helped him down.

78. As everything does, eventually Jack died. He went
straight to hell, but the Devil kept his word, and
would not let him in. Jack traveled to heaven, but he
had been so bad during his life, they would not let
him in heaven either. So Jack hollowed out a
pumpkins and made a lantern out of it. Even now he
wanders the face of the world, trying to find
somewhere he can stay... The
End

79. Fairy Tales

80. Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of imaginative
writing that carries the reader
into an invented world where the
laws of nature, as we know them,
do not operate.

81. Fairy tales
•Often has witches, dragons, fairies
•Always has the “magical”
•Often has Kings, Queens, princes, et.

82. Examples of English and
European Fairy Tales

83. Can you think of fairy tales
from your own culture?

84. Often times in myths, fairy tales,
folktales and fables we have a
character called the
TRICKSTER
He makes a lot of trouble and
jokes. He is naughty and makes a
lot of mischief but makes us
laugh.

85. Trickster

86. The rabbit is often a
TRICKSTER
There are many, many
tricksters in myths, legends
and tales from all over the
world

87. Trickstersleprechaun
Anansi
Monkey King

88. Folktales and fairy tales began as oral stories
that were told to help people explain the
world around them. Some are fantastic with
fairies and talking animals, while others are
more realistic. They can be written in rhyme
or with repetitions and as narratives.

89. When we read these traditional stories from
around the world, we find that we share the
same things we value most highly, fear most
deeply, and hope for most. Still, while the
same yearnings are expressed, each culture
has a unique response made richer by details
from its society and the local environment.

90. Whatever the explanation, stories that have
been told and cherished for countless
generations are bound to be good. They fire
our own imaginations. As we read, we ask
ourselves, what do I think is true, or fair, or
good, or beautiful? How would I tell my story?