Lesson Overview:

Students will be introduced to fables and learn to identify the major elements of the genre. They will also learn and practice the oral tradition of telling fables.

Length of Lesson:

Two to three 45-minute periods

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

• interact with the text using the four reading stances: global understanding, developing interpretation, personal reflections and responses, and critical stance.
• activate prior knowledge and relate it to the reading selection.
• identify meanings of terms unique to literary language.
• identify major elements of a literary selection.
• relate literature to one's own life.
• demonstrate grade-level proficiency to read for literary experience using before, during, and after strategies.

Supplies:

• Copies of Aesop’s fable, "The Cat and the Mice."

Instructional Plan:

Ask students if they have ever read a fable. If so, have them share their prior knowledge of this genre. Explain that fables come from the oral tradition of storytelling found in folklore around the world. Distribute the Vocabulary Handout. Give some background on the history of storytelling. Point out that many fables were eventually written down.

Share with students that fables are a special kind of tale. In most fables, animal characters act like humans (personification). Explain that a fable teaches a moral (or lesson) about humans. Emphasize that a moral is drawn from what happens in a fable. Have students read "The Cat and the Mice" by Aesop. Discuss the events and call attention to its moral.

Review with students the elements of a fable: characters, setting, events and a moral. In most fables the characters are animals. These animals usually represent specific human qualities. The characters are one-sided. They act and talk in a way that shows one quality, such as greed or cleverness. For example, the young mouse in "The Cat and the Mice" might represent cleverness. Discuss personification. Ask students for examples of personification from cartoons and TV commercials.

Review the concept of a moral. Tell students that fables are meant to teach a lesson or moral. The moral is usually revealed at the end of the fable. Sometimes the moral is delivered as a statement, such as "Be happy with what you have," or "It is easier to think up a plan than to carry it out."

Tell students that fables are meant to be heard time and time again. It is usually easier to appreciate and understand a fable if you hear it more than once. The first time, you enjoy the story. The second time, you can study the characters and find the lesson taught about human nature. Point out to students that storytellers told fables over and over again. As they were retold over the years, they evolved in content, emphasis, and style. To illustrate the process of adaptation by individual storytellers, have several volunteers retell the story of "The Cat and the Mice." Allow them to change details but not the main point. Explain that the process of retelling stories resulted in different versions of the same fable.

Have the class engage in a storytelling activity. Ask students to imagine that they are spellbinding tellers of tales. Have them choose a favorite fable and retell it in their own words before a group. Before they retell the fable, students should list the events in the fable in the order in which they occur on a sheet of paper or on note cards. They may use the list or note cards to practice telling the fable. As they deliver their fables, ask each student to vary his or her presentation. For example, tell them to change their pitch or volume of voice, or the speed of delivery.

Assessment:

Student evaluation will be based on the student's responses to comprehension questions posed by the teacher and a short written quiz on the subject, developed by the teacher.

Sources:

Print:

• Zipes, Jack (ed.) and J. J. Grandville (ill.). Aesops Fables. "The Cat and the Mice." New York: New American Library, 1992. p.183.

Authors:

• Kathy Cook, Teacher
  Thomas Pullen Arts Magnet School
  Landover, MD