FREE TRADITIONAL TALE TEMPLATE · KS1 AND KS2
Traditional tale plan template and features for KS1 and KS2
Plan a traditional tale with a template built on the rule of three. Fill it in online with prompts for your child’s year group and print it, then check the features of a traditional tale for KS1, Years 3–4 and Years 5–6.
Features of a traditional tale
Purpose: To entertain, and often to teach a lesson, using patterns passed down by storytellers for generations.
What children are usually taught to include at each stage. These lists are Litsee’s guidance, based on common UK primary practice; the curriculum quotations below are the statutory part.
KS1 (Years 1–2)
Ages 5–7
- Begins with a story opener such as “Once upon a time” or “Long ago”
- Good characters, and a character who causes trouble
- Things often happen three times
- Repeated words or phrases the reader can join in with
- Sometimes magic, talking animals or giants
- A happy ending, such as “happily ever after”
Years 3–4
Ages 7–9
- A traditional setting: a forest, a castle, a cottage, a village long ago
- Characters who are clearly kind or clearly troublesome
- The rule of three: three tries, wishes, visitors or tasks
- Repeated phrases that build a pattern
- A magical object, helper or creature
- A problem solved by kindness or cleverness
- A moral or lesson
Years 5–6
Ages 9–11
- Story language with a traditional feel (long ago, beyond the forest, before the sun had risen)
- Patterns of three that build towards a change on the third
- A familiar tale retold from another character’s point of view
- A moral shown through what happens, not only stated
- Versions of the same tale from different cultures compared
- A formal or circular closing line
In the National Curriculum
“becoming very familiar with key stories, fairy stories and traditional tales, retelling them and considering their particular characteristics”
Year 1, Reading – comprehension (statutory)
“recognising simple recurring literary language in stories and poetry”
Year 2, Reading – comprehension (statutory)
“increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including myths, legends and traditional stories, modern fiction, fiction from our literary heritage, and books from other cultures and traditions”
Years 5 and 6, Reading – comprehension (statutory)
Worked example: Nell and the Grumpy Giant
A worked example written for this page, at the level of KS1 (Years 1–2): first the plan, then the piece written from it.
1. Once upon a time
Once upon a time, Nell lived in a little cottage by the river. Every week she took apples to market.
2. The wish or the problem
To reach the market, she has to cross the giant’s bridge. “Nobody crosses my bridge!” he shouts.
3. Try one, try two, try three
Monday: she offers one apple. No! Tuesday: two apples. No! Wednesday: she sits down and asks why he is so grumpy.
4. The clever or kind solution
The giant is lonely, because nobody ever talks to him. Nell shares her sandwiches and they talk all afternoon.
5. Happily ever after
Now the giant carries Nell’s basket to market every week. A kind word works better than a gift.
The finished piece: Nell and the Grumpy Giant
Once upon a time, a girl called Nell lived in a little cottage by the river. Every week, she took her apples to market. To get there, she had to cross the giant’s bridge.
On Monday, the giant stamped his feet. “Nobody crosses my bridge!” he shouted. Nell gave him an apple, but he still said no.
On Tuesday, she gave him two apples. “Nobody crosses my bridge!” he shouted. On Wednesday, Nell sat down on the grass. “Why are you so grumpy?” she asked.
The giant’s lip wobbled. “Nobody ever talks to me,” he said. So Nell shared her sandwiches, and they talked until the sun went down.
From that day on, the giant carried Nell’s basket to market every week, and they lived happily ever after.