The Ugly Duckling
About the Tale
Level
H
ans Christian Andersen was born in the small Danish town of
Odense, in 1805. Like the ugly duckling, he was awkward and
special. With nothing to sustain him but sheer determination, Hans
headed for Copenhagen. There, he went to college and later wrote an
assortment of plays, novels, articles, and his beloved children’s tales. He
penned “The Ugly Duckling” in 1844. This lovely story of a homely bird
that “blooms” into a gorgeous swan has been translated into dozens of
languages—English among them. It remains one of Anderson’s most
celebrated works.
G
Word Count
287
Vocabulary
curious, geese, heron, pecked
Supportive Features
repetitive, patterned text;
short sentences
Challenging Features
use of interior commas
dialogue, moral of tale
Discussion Questions
1. Why do the other birds make fun of the ugly duckling?
2. Why is the ugly duckling afraid to show his face to the swans?
3. At the end of the story, the ugly duckling decides “to be kind to all
Comprehension
Use this book with the
Compare/Contrast Venn
on page 25.
living things, from peacocks to potato bugs.” Why?
Phonics
Notable Retellings
final e: time, five, cute,
while, came, face, spoke,
made, lake
B The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson (Mineditions,
1995). This faithful translation of Anderson’s fluid tale is a bit
melancholy, but oh-so beautiful.
Writing
B The Ugly Duckling by Lorinda Bryan Cawley (Voyager Books,
1979). Charming pictures and text combine for a lively read-aloud.
B The Ugly Duckling by Jerry Pinkney (HarperCollins, 1999). Kids
are sure to respond to the wonderful art of this Caldecott-Honor book.
Companion Reproducible
Focus Skills: Following Directions, Vocabulary
Development, Writing
Fluency
Name ____
____
________
________
My Anim
al Tale
Fill in the
Distribute copies of the reproducible of page 74.
Then invite each child to fill in the blanks to write
their own customized Animal Tale inspired by “The
Ugly Duckling.”
________
blanks to
write you
r own
________
_______
tale.
Once upo
n a time
, a little
________
________
for a wa
______ wen
lk. He me
animal
t
t some me
an ____
________
“You are
____
ugly! Go
different anim______s.
away.”
al
They said
.
Next, he
met som
e mean
________
________
“You are
different anim______s.
ugly. Go
away,”
al
they said
.
Finally, he
met som
e nice ____
________
____
“Don’t loo
different anim ______s.
k at me
. I am ugly
al
,” he said
.
“You are
not ugly
. You are
just differe
nt. Let’s
friends!”
be
they said
.
Then, the
y all wen
t out for
________
________
ice cream
______
flavo
and live
r of ice cream
d happily
ever afte
r!
THE END
Have partners reread the
story, taking turns to read
one page at a time.
Circulate and listen in.
Model how to read the
longer sentences, which
contain phrases or clauses
separated by commas.
Guide • page
74
Scholasti
c • Folk &
Fairy Tale
Easy Readers
Teaching
74
Have children draw a
picture of the ugly duckling
after it has grown into a
beautiful swan. Around the
picture, ask children to write
words to describe the swan,
such as white and feathery.
73
Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers Teaching Guide © Scholastic Teaching Resources
Name _______________________________________________
My Animal Tale
Fill in the blanks to write your own tale.
Once upon a time, a little ______________________ went
animal
for a walk. He met some mean ______________________s.
different animal
“You are ugly! Go away.” They said.
Next, he met some mean ______________________s.
different animal
“You are ugly. Go away,” they said.
Finally, he met some nice ______________________s.
different animal
“Don’t look at me. I am ugly,” he said.
“You are not ugly. You are just different. Let’s be
friends!” they said.
Then, they all went out for ______________________
flavor of ice cream
ice cream and lived happily ever after!
74
THE END
Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers Teaching Guide © Scholastic Teaching Resources
The Ugly
Duckling
A retelling by Violet Findley • Illustrated by Susan Chapman
From that day on, the once ugly duckling
lived happily ever after. And he was always
kind to all living things, from peacocks to
potato bugs.
Scholastic • Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers Teaching Guide • page 75
16
That made the ugly duckling curious.
Out popped five little ducklings. Four were
He looked into the shiny water.
fluffy and cute. One was gray and ugly.
14
3
Once upon a time, five eggs began to
Wow! He had grown into a beautiful swan,
hatch. Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
just like them!
2
15
A
brother. They pecked at him.
The swan laughed, “Have you looked in a
They said, “You are ugly. Go away!”
mirror lately?”
4
B
13
Scholastic • Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers Teaching Guide • page 76
The cute ducks were mean to their ugly
One day, a swan swam over and spoke to him.
One day, the ugly duckling did go away.
“Why are you so shy?” he asked.
He swam and swam. After a while, he met
“Because I am ugly,” said the ugly duckling.
some geese.
Scholastic • Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers Teaching Guide • page 77
12
5
When the swans swam near, the ugly
Once again, the ugly duckling did go away.
duckling hid his face and cried. He did not
He swam and swam. After a while, he met
want them to see how ugly he was.
some herons.
10
7
But the geese were just as mean as the
Life went on like this for many months. The
ducks. They pecked at him.
ugly duckling stayed by himself. He also
They said, “You are ugly. Go away!”
grew and grew.
6
11
C
But the herons were just as mean as the
He swam and swam. After a while, he came
geese. They pecked at him.
upon some swans. They were the most
They said, “You are ugly. Go away!”
beautiful birds he had ever seen.
8
D
9
Scholastic • Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers Teaching Guide • page 78
Once again, the ugly duckling did go away.
Making the Mini-Books
3. Position the pages so that the lettered
le
The Litt
Red Hen
Cravath
by Lynne
Illustrated
Findley •
by Violet
A retelling
spreads (A, B, C, D) are face up. Place
the B spread on top of the A spread.
Then, place the C and D spreads on
top of those in sequence.
1. Make doublesided copies of the
I will just
not help,
use you did
said
“No! Beca
by myself,”
this bread
have to eat
hen.
red
little
top!
the
jam on
did, with the dog.
she
so
And
said
“Not me!” 16
said the cat.
“Not me!”
.
said the duck
“Not me!”
mini-book pages.
at was tall.
, all the whe
d
Before long
this?” aske
help me cut
“Who will
hen.
the little red
5
12
(You should have
• page 33
Teaching Guide
Tale Easy Readers
• Folk & Fairy
Scholastic
copies for
each one.)
• page 35
Teaching Guide
Tale Easy Readers
• Folk & Fairy
Scholastic
two double-sided
.
said the dog
“Not me!”
said the cat.
“Not me!”
.
ed.
said the duck
lazy.
d was bak
“Not me!”
e all quite
, all the brea
wer
d
long
they
re
Befo
this?” aske
You see,
said
3
help me eat
it by myself,”
“Who will
have to cut
hen.
“I will just
the little red
said
hen.
14
by myself,”
the little red
to grind it
7
have
“I will just
hen.
red
the little
10
Before long, all the wheat was cut.
“Not me!” said the dog.
“Who will help me grind this?” asked
“Not me!” said the cat.
“Notthe
me!”
dog.
Before
the the
wheat
was ground.
littlesaid
redthe
hen.
“Notlong,
me!”allsaid
duck.
“Not me!” said the cat. 8
this into bread?”
D “Who will help me bake
9
“Not me!” said the duck.
asked the little red hen.
“I will just have to bake 11
it by myself,” said
“I will just have to plant6 it by myself,” said
C
Once
a time,
“Me!”
said red
the dog.
the little
hen.
theupon
little red
hen.a little red hen decided
to plant some wheat. 4
B “Me!” said the cat.
13
“Who will help me plant this?” she asked.
“Me!” said the duck.
D
le
The Litt
Red Hen
Cravath
by Lynne
Illustrated
Findley •
by Violet
A retelling
C
B
2
A
15
A
16
Guide • page 33
Tale Easy Readers Teaching
Scholastic • Folk & Fairy
along the dashed line.
I will just
not help,
use you did
said
“No! Beca
by myself,”
this bread
have to eat
hen.
the little red
jam on top!
with
did,
And so she
✃
2. Cut the pages in half
was baked.
Before long, all the bread
this?” asked
“Who will help me eat
the little red hen.
“Not me!” said the dog.
“Not me!” said the cat.
“Not me!” said the duck.
quite lazy.
You see, they were all
4. Fold the pages in half
along the solid line.
Make sure all the pages
are in the proper order.
Staple them together
along the book’s spine.
The Little
Red Hen
A retelling by
Violet Findley
• Illustrated by
Lynne Cravath
3
14
Book Badge Reproducibles
✃
✃
Let me read
Let’s read
______________________________ .
______________________________ .
to you!
together!
29
Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers Teaching Guide © Scholastic Teaching Resources