Fairy tales could be 6,000 years old

The Reading / Listening - Level 4

A 19th-century fairy tale collector said fairy tales were thousands of years old. Scientists now say this is true and that many popular tales could be over 4,000 years old. The oldest known fairy tale, "The Smith and the Devil," dates back 6,000 years to the Bronze Age - a time when humans first started making metal tools. One scientist, Dr Jamshid Tehrani, found that this tale came from an ancient language that dates to around 6,000 years ago.

Dr Tehrani looked at 275 fairy tales. He said: "It's remarkable that these stories have survived so long without being written down." He added that: "They are older than the English language and would have been first told in a language that is now extinct." He said well-known tales, like "Beauty and the Beast," were at least 4,000 years old. He said his research suggests that many fairy tales were told in ancient languages, long before they were written down.

Try the same news story at these levels:

Level 5 or Level 6

Sources

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/fairy-tales-could-date-back-thousands-of-years-research-says-a6822021.html
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/no-fairy-tale-origins-some-famous-stories-go-back-thousands-years
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35358487

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The Activities

MATCHING

PARAGRAPH ONE:

1.	A 19th-century fairy tale	a.	language
2.	thousands	b.	say this is true
3.	Scientists now	c.	language
4.	The oldest	d.	6,000 years ago
5.	the Bronze Age	e.	collector
6.	humans first started making	f.	known fairy tale
7.	an ancient	g.	of years old
8.	dates to around	h.	metal tools

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

PARAGRAPH TWO:

1.	Dr Tehrani looked	a.	that is now extinct
2.	It's remarkable that these stories have	b.	at 275 fairy tales
3.	written	c.	4,000 years old
4.	They are older than the	d.	were written down
5.	told in a language	e.	down
6.	at least	f.	survived so long
7.	many fairy tales were told	g.	English language
8.	long before they	h.	in ancient languages

LISTEN AND FILL IN THE GAPS

A 19th-century fairy tale collector said fairy tales (1) ___________________ years old. Scientists now say this (2) ___________________ many popular tales (3) ___________________ 4,000 years old. The oldest known fairy tale, "The Smith and the Devil," dates back 6,000 years (4) ___________________ - a time when humans first started making metal tools. One scientist, Dr Jamshid Tehrani, (5) ___________________ tale came from an ancient language that (6) ___________________ 6,000 years ago.

Dr Tehrani looked at 275 fairy tales. He said: "(7) ___________________ these stories have (8) ___________________ without being written down." He added that: "They are (9) ___________________ English language and would have been first told in a language (10) ___________________." He said well-known tales, like "Beauty and the Beast," (11) ___________________ 4,000 years old. He said his research suggests that many fairy tales were told in (12) ___________________, long before they were written down.

FAIRY TALES SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about fairy tales in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

WRITE QUESTIONS & ASK YOUR PARTNER(S)

Student A: Do not show these to your speaking partner(s).

a)	________________________________________________________
b)	________________________________________________________
c)	________________________________________________________
d)	________________________________________________________
e)	________________________________________________________
f)	________________________________________________________
g)	________________________________________________________
h)	________________________________________________________

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Student B: Do not show these to your speaking partner(s).

a)	________________________________________________________
b)	________________________________________________________
c)	________________________________________________________
d)	________________________________________________________
e)	________________________________________________________
f)	________________________________________________________
g)	________________________________________________________
h)	________________________________________________________

FREE WRITING

Write about fairy tales for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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