Lily and the Lion Short Story Lesson
Introduce your students to “Lily and the Lion” by the Brothers Grimm, a fairy tale filled with enchantment, difficult choices, sacrifice, and a determined heroine.
This complete lesson takes students from before-reading predictions and vocabulary through reading comprehension, literary analysis, and an engaging after-reading discussion.
A Fascinating Connection to Beauty and the Beast
“Lily and the Lion” shares the enchanted prince and rose-inspired bargain found in “Beauty and the Beast,” but takes the story in a different direction as its heroine embarks on a long, magical journey to rescue her husband.
The fairy tale is also known as “The Lady and the Lion,” “The Singing, Springing Lark,” and “The Singing, Soaring Lark.”
What's Included?
Brothers Grimm Introduction PowerPoint & Student Notes
Build background knowledge about Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and their important role in collecting and preserving traditional fairy tales.
Before-Reading Prediction Activity
Students examine the story's first two sentences and use textual clues to make predictions about what they think will happen.
Vocabulary Activity
Introduce students to unfamiliar vocabulary from the story before reading to strengthen comprehension.
Full Story
The complete text of “Lily and the Lion” is included, making it easy to use the lesson without searching for a separate copy of the fairy tale.
Reading Questions
Guide students through comprehension and analysis of important events, character decisions, conflicts, and the story's larger message.
After-Reading Discussion
Students evaluate the lesson presented by the fairy tale, determine whether it offers good advice for real life, support their opinions with details from the story, and prepare to share their ideas with the class.
Suggested Lesson Procedure
A suggested teaching sequence shows you how to use all of the included materials together for a complete lesson.
Editable Student Activities
Customize the activities to fit the needs of your students and classroom.
Answer Keys
Answer keys are included to make reviewing student work quick and easy.
Skills Students Will Practice
Throughout the lesson, students will practice making predictions using textual clues, building vocabulary, analyzing characters and their decisions, identifying and supporting a theme, evaluating how a literary message applies to real life, and explaining and discussing their ideas with others.
