4.1 Well-Known Tale: The Pied Piper of Hamelin: Focus Questions
4.1 Well-Known Tale: The Pied Piper of Hamelin: Focus Questions
? Focus Questions:
• What can we learn about people and their cultural values from literature?
• Are promises important to keep?
• Should there be “punishment” if people don’t keep the promises that they make to others?
Standard #1 Culture.
Lesson Overview:
This lesson focuses on the classic German folktale, The
Pied Piper of Hamelin, as an example of the influence of the
Grimm Brothers’ stories on world culture and values. After
reading the tale, students will demonstrate their understand-
ing through the creation of tableau.
Historians agree that the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, record-
ed in the 19th century by the Brothers Grimm, is based on an ac-
tual occurrence in 1284 in which most of the children in Hamelin
disappeared. To this day, no one knows for sure the exact reason
for the disappearance, although numerous theories have been
presented over the years.
TIme:
2 (45-minute Class Periods)
InsTrucTIOnAl resOurces:
• The Pied Piper of Hamelin (handout 4.1 A on resource disc)
• The Pied Piper of Hamelin Chart (handout 4.1 b on resource disc)
• Robert Browning Version of The Pied Piper (handout 4.1 c on resource disc)
• Hamelin Rattenbrot Recipe (handout 4.1 d on resource disc)
• The Bremen Town Musicians (handout 4.1 e on resource disc)
• Grimm Brothers Fairy Tale Chart (handout 4. f on resource disc)
PrOcedure:
dAy 1:
• Anticipatory set: The teacher should ask the students if they can share a situation in which someone took
advantage of others in order to get what they wanted. Are there circumstances when it’s all right to back out
on a promise that one has made? In our society, how do we deal with these circumstances?
• The teacher should explain that they are going to read a classic folktale regarding this topic of broken
promises and the consequences of such actions - The Pied Piper of Hamelin. The teacher should explain
that folktales, like most aspects of culture, reflect the values and beliefs of the society and time in which
they were produced/written. These tales (oral before they were actually written) were related not only to
entertain, but also to teach lessons and to transmit societal values and morality. Folklorists in their research
have discovered that many cultures around the globe have produced similar tales and so they conclude that
there is a certain universality of the themes. An excellent example is the story of Cinderella, which appears
in many parts of the world and has no direct connection with any original source.
• The Pied Piper of Hamelin, one of Germany’s best known folktalkes, is based on a 13th century legend in
the town of Hamelin (Hameln) on the Weser River in Lower Saxony. According to an inscription on the Rat-
tenfängerhaus (Pied Piper’s house): On June 26, 1284, 130 children were led out of Hamelin by a piper wear-
ing multi-colored clothes and disappeared forever. This information, when coupled with the prevalence of
rat infestations and epidemics, found its way into local folklore. The Grimm Brothers’ version is the one that
most people are familiar with. The teacher should point out that the word “pied” is not used very often today,
but is an archaic English word, which means “multi-colored.”
• The teacher should explain to the students that Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, usually referred to as the Broth-
ers Grimm, as part of their research on the German language began to collect old stories, most of which had
been passed down from generation to generation orally, and wrote them down word-for-word. One of their
major sources, farmer and storyteller Dorothea Viehmann, provided them with over 40 tales. The Brothers
Grimm published the first series Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children’s and Household Tales) in 1812. Since
most of these stories were not intended for children and were based on the hard lives of the German peas-
ants, they were often violent and not like the more sanitized Walt Disney versions that students may know.
•• The teacher should distribute The Pied Piper of Hamelin (Handout 4.1 A on Resource Disc) and The Pied
Piper of Hamelin Chart (Handout 4.1 B on Resource Disc). The teacher should then instruct the students
to read the story independently and highlight or underline key words and phrases that address the differ-
ent categories in the chart as well as fill in the chart. Then the teacher should divide the class into groups
of four or five. Each group should discuss the setting, the characters, the basic problem(s), solutions, values
and beliefs using their individual charts. Afterwards, the teacher should facilitate a whole class discussion.
DayS 2-3:
•• The teacher should inform the students that each group will create a dramatic tableau based on an assigned
section of The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Depending on the size of the class, the teacher should predetermine
how many groups and which section of the tale each group should be assigned. The entire tale should be
assigned, so that in the end, when presented the tableau will reflect the entire story.
•• A dramatic tableau is a strategy in which students create a scene and freeze the action. Using physical poses,
gestures, facial expressions, and a few carefully selected props, students convey the characters, action, and
significance of a moment in the story. Throughout the duration of the display, the students do not speak or
move. This “freeze frame” invites students in the audience to identify the scene, its importance, and the sig-
nificance of the characters, their actions, and reactions.
•• The teacher should review with the students the procedure they should follow in preparing the group’s
tableau:
a. What does the group believe to be the most crucial aspect of the section assigned?
b. Which characters, setting, and other details need to be visually communicated?
c. How will characters move and what will they visually do to depict the details, emotions etc. of the specific
scene? How will the students portray these character traits while standing still and not speaking?
d. What props are needed to enhance the scene?
•• As the students work on their tableau, the teacher should assist them in planning out the scene as if it were
action. Then the students need to decide how they will freeze the scene to create a human statue.
•• Each group should present its tableau to the class. As each group presents its tableau, the teacher (or a
designated student) may photograph the scene using a digital camera. After all the groups have presented
their tableau in the sequence of the tale, the teacher (or a designated student) should then take the digital
images and create a PowerPoint. In the end, the class has created a series of images of the entire story of The
Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Modifications:
•• One variation in the presentation of the tableau: After the students have “frozen,” the teacher should take a
microphone (or an object that substitutes for a microphone) and say the following: “Good morning, ladies
and gentlemen. I am ____________ of W/KTV reporting from the German city of Hamelin where (and de-
scribe briefly the scene)” and then approach one of the characters in the scene, in order to hear what they
have to say. This expansion of the activity would be a spontaneous way for the students to demonstrate their
connection with the characters, conflicts, and plot of the folktale.
•• Rather than having the students create tableau for the Pied Piper, the teacher may assign a shoebox diorama
project. Dioramas are re-creations of a setting or a scene and could serve the same purpose as the tableau,
i.e. show a particular moment in the story. Shoeboxes are a good choice to use for making dioramas because
they give the dioramas a three-dimensional feel, and they are readily available to most students.
Extensions:
•• For older students, the teacher might have the students complete a dramatic reading of 19th century British
poet Robert Browning’s The Pied Piper of Hamelin (Handout 4.1 C on Resource Disc). The teacher should
also facilitate a discussion comparing and contrasting this version and that of the Brothers Grimm.
•• The city of Hamelin has capitalized on the story of the Pied Piper. In addition to the usual tourist memorabilia
(magnets, rat figurines, posters, etc.), rat-shaped pastries (Hameln Rattenbrot), not all edible, are on sale in
Hameln’s many bakeries; some are coated with a special glaze for longevity as souvenirs. Students could
create these following a simple recipe for salt-dough sculpture and then varnish these to preserve them
(Handout 4.1 D on Resource Disc).
•• The teacher may assignment students to complete Internet research on the following topics: