This lesson is part of a larger study of fables as a reading genre.
Scenario:
The Common Core State Standards require students in grades 2 and 3 to be able to recount fables and identify their central message or moral based upon key ideas and details in the text. This lesson provides the introduction to fables as a reading genre. The SL meets regularly with the teacher about curriculum. Fables are new at this grade level, so the SL launches the genre study in the library and the classroom teacher continues the study for a period of weeks in the classroom during Reader's Workshop. The SL explains the unique features of fables and provides the classroom teacher with a collection of books and text sets for fables that can be used in Reader's Workshop. The teacher uses this lesson as the basis for others in the classroom using different fables. A chart or Google Document begun in the library will be added to in the classroom and during subsequent visits to the library during the course of the unit.
This first lesson uses multiple versions of two fables. We begin with The Lion and the Mouse, which may already be familiar to students.
Overview:
This lesson will address the following essential questions: How are fables different from other kinds of stories? What can we learn from fables? Why should we read fables? Students will come to realize that fables can become a part of their reading life, and that they are available in several sections of the library.
Final Product:
Students will complete an exercise where they match a fable with its moral.
They will also write a short opinion piece about which fable they think is most important, why they think so, and what relevance it has for them in everyday life.
Library Lesson:
Students will learn that fables are intended to give us life lessons, and that they are generally short and have animal characters that behave like people. They will also learn that different illustrators and re-tellers may change some details of the fable while keeping the moral the same. The SL, teacher, or student will:
1.Read multiple versions of the same fable.
2.Compare and contrast them.
3.Determine the moral or central message and state it in student-friendly language.
4.Encourage reflection upon the significance of the story for our daily lives.
Each lesson in the unit makes use of a different fable, but will follow this basic pattern.
Estimated Lesson Time:
45 minutes
Have you taught this lesson before:
Yes
Strategies for differentiation:
Students who struggle in their independent reading can listen to audio versions of the tale, and can be provided with multiple choices in order to recognize the message or moral in the story.
Advanced students can be challenged to write a fable to illustrate a particular lesson or moral provided by the teacher or of their own choosing. They will have to demonstrate that they can write a tale that is short, uses animal characters that behave like people, and teaches a lesson.