Humorous Fiction Genre Study Unit – Fun Reading & Writing for 4th & 5th Grade

Connect reading and writing with this humorous fiction genre study. First, kids explore five funny passages to learn about elements of humorous fiction. Then they write their own fractured fairy tales. Fun is the name of the game for this fourth or fifth grade ELA unit!

Open the previews to take a closer look at the bundle. Also, take a look at the bonus preview to see the genre study lesson plans.

Reading Historical Fiction – You’ll love these humorous fiction reading passages! The age-appropriate tales come with comprehension and genre study questions. For a fun warm-up, kids also explore puns, knock-knock jokes, and malapropisms.

Passages

• “The Emperor’s New Clothes” – In this three-page adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale, the emperor and his staff are fooled by fake weavers. They claim to create fabric so fine that only exceptional people can see it. Neither the emperor nor his staff will admit that they can’t see the new suit, which was made of this special material. In the end, the emperor parades down the street wearing no clothes. Kids experience high comedy in the form of dramatic irony as they learn something the characters don’t know. Low comedy comes into play as the emperor wears no clothes.
• “About Elizabeth Eliza’s Piano” – This two-page story was adapted from The Peterkin Papers, a collection of farces. In each, the Peterkins’ solution to a problem defies common sense. Then they continue down a nonsensical path until the lady from Philadelphia sets them straight – using common sense. In this tale, a piano is delivered facing a window. Instead of turning the piano around, Elizabeth Eliza goes outside and plays it through the open window. In this funny passage, the author pokes fun at people with no common sense (satire) as she creates a ridiculous solution to a simple problem (farce).
• “Whitewashing the Fence” – Kids read a well-known excerpt from Tom Sawyer. In the two-page adaptation, Tom pretends to enjoy painting the fence to persuade Ben to do it for him. Once again, students experience dramatic irony. This time, however, it is implied (therefore more difficult to discern). The noises Ben makes as he pretends to be a steamboat create a type of slapstick humor as well.
• “Chicken-Diddle” – Better known as “Chicken Little” today, this three-page children’s story tells the humorous tale of a silly chicken who thinks the sky is falling. Through a series of repeated, ridiculous events, Chicken-diddle collects a posse of birds. Finally, they meet up with Fox-lox, who invites them into his home as a safe harbor. Although the author only says that the birds were never seen again, kids can infer that they met their demise. Again, kids encounter farce. The use of repetition reinforces the silliness and establishes an interesting rhythm.
• “Chicken-Griddle,” offers a one-page parody of “Chicken-Diddle.” The main character, Chicken Nugget, thinks the sky is falling as a “silver streak” splits open the bag where she lives. She runs away and finds Little Fry, who has seen a similar situation with his “eyes.” They run on to encounter Cheesy Mac. To no avail, they beg her not to jump into a pot of water. Finally, a slotted spoon says it can help. The pair jumps onto it and are immediately tossed onto a sizzling griddle. This story has only one set of questions, designed to help kids understand parody – and maybe write one of their own.

What’s Included:

• Lesson plans
• Anchor charts
• Humorous fiction story arc template
• 3 play-on-words worksheets – puns, jokes, and malaprops
• 5 age-appropriate reading passages
• Comprehension questions
• Humorous fiction questions
• Discussion questions
• Answers

Writing Fractured Fairy Tales – After they choose a fairy tale, kids are ready to write their own humorous parodies.

Session 1 - Explore the Enchanted World of Fairy Tales

Ask kids to choose and summarize a fairy tale. Ten one-page passages are included:

• “Beauty and the Beast”
• “Cinderella”
• “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”
• “Jack and the Beanstalk”
• “Little Red Riding Hood”
• “The Princess and the Pea”
• “Rapunzel”
• “Sleeping Beauty”
• “Snow White”
• “The Three Little Pigs”

Session 2 – Ignite the Fun with Parody Planning

• Unleash the fun as students choose motifs like sports, food, animals, or nature. Possibilities for their fractured fairy tales are endless!
• Fuel creativity as students write and/or draw specific characters and settings using their chosen motif.
• Provide inspiring (and humorous) examples, like the cheesy parody of Cinderella with dairy characters, including the down-and-out Mozzarella.

Session 3 – Plan the Masterpieces

• Prompt kids to map their parody’s story, mimicking the fairy tale’s sequence of events while weaving in their unique motif.
• Watch as their stories unfold in a format that mirrors the magic of traditional literature.
• They’ll hook their readers from “once upon a time” to “hilariously ever after”!

Session 4 – Dial up the Dialogue

• Dive into writing dialogue with dedicated pages for review, practice, and generating engaging conversations.
• Encourage kids to add life and humor to their parodies in the form of characters’ voices.

Session 5 - Sprinkle In Fairy Tale Magic and Humor

• Guide students to add quintessential fairy tale elements like “once upon a time” and “happily ever after” (or maybe “unhappily ever after.”)
• Explore the use of numbers, especially the magical trios: three and seven.
• Delve into the world of humorous fiction, teaching kids to create climaxes that are true “whammies.”
• Unleash the power of puns, repetition, exaggeration, and even fractured fairy tale elements like slapstick.

Sessions 6-7 – Drafting Brilliance

• Now it’s time for kids to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboards!
• Watch as their stories come to life, infusing the magic of fairy tales with humor of their own creation.

Session 8 – Revising

• Show your kids how to vary sentence beginnings, types, and/or lengths, and the cadence of their writing will magically improve.
• Empower young writers to use precise words, active verbs, and figurative language, transforming their narratives into vivid and captivating fractured fairy tales.
• Encourage them to use transition terms to link ideas. That way, their audience will have a smooth (and humorous) reading experience.
• You can introduce all strategies or differentiation to reach each you teach.

Session 9 – Editing

• Empower students with tools to independently check their writing or collaborate with a partner.

Session 10 – Publish Unique – and Seriously Funny – Fractured Fairy Tales

• Witness the culmination of creativity as kids write or type their stories.
• Add a visual touch with illustrations that bring their whimsical tales to life.

Each session builds on the last, guiding fourth or fifth grade students through a structured, seamless writing process.

Files include everything you need for the project:

• Lesson plans
• 10 one-page fairy tales
• 2 story arc organizers
• Parody planning sheet
• Dialogue practice and planning worksheets
• Fairy tale elements planner
• Humorous fiction elements planner
• 3 pages with guidance for varying sentences, improving word choice, and adding transitions
• 2 editing checklists
• Rubric

Humorous Fiction Posters, Anchor Charts, Graphic Organizers & Questions - You'll also receive a set of resources to use with any humorous fiction stories. Kids learn about the techniques authors use to make writing funny. An organizer lets them list stories that use each strategy (dramatic irony, satire, farce, parody, play on words, slapstick), and another page asks them to summarize and explain the humorous techniques used.

Enjoy teaching this humorous fiction genre study!

Brenda Kovich

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