Given what your students already know about fables and fairy tales, encourage them to write their own fairy tale stories. If students encounter difficulties coming up with ideas, write the names of different fantasy creatures and settings onto slips of paper and place them into a box. Students can draw slips of paper for ideas about what to put into a story. Ask students about the perspective of the story — will it be told from the perspective of an ordinary person or that of an elf, goblin or another creature? What is the plot of the story? Did a witch steal a magical ring or did a mischievous fairy lead the protagonist into a trap?
While talking animals, witches and ogres may be common characters in fairy tales, students can create new fairy tale creatures. Ask students to consider how the creature will look — will it have eyes all around its head so it can always see what's happening around it, or will it have ears so big it can hear for hundreds of miles? What is the creature's demeanor and what does it enjoy doing? Ask students to draw their creatures, then arrange the drawings in or outside of the classroom.
Put students into groups of three or four and ask them to think of a fairy tale to adapt into a modern story. A modern-day "The Boy who Cried Wolf" may feature a student always complaining to his teacher that a dog ate his homework. When a dog really eats his homework, the teacher does not believe him. Students can write a script for a five- or ten-minute play based on the new adaptation. When students finish the script, hold performances for the entire class.
Hold a discussion with students about fairy tales that you have read or mentioned in the classroom. Students can also bring up fairy tales they have heard outside of the classroom. Ask students to answer a series of questions about fairy tales in essay form. Many cultures feature some version of the fairy tale "Cinderella," for example. Why might so many cultures share the same fairy tales? What is the purpose of a fairy tale? Ask students to consider the meaning of a particular fairy tale in an essay.