Aesop's Fables: Moral as Main Idea

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Age

6-12

Materials

Literature Timeline if possible. See www.montessorilitlines.com. Student need language notebooks and a pencil. A Smartboard or an LCD projector will allow you to show the fables from http://www.pacificnet.net/~johnr/aesop/. Otherwise copy out the fables given in the presentation below on a white or black board, or use handouts that students can share.

Preparation

Great Lesson for Literature: "The Birth of Literature"

Presentation

1. Ask students, "what is a fable?"

2. If you are using the timeline, you can ask, "Who are the children of Story and Language?" (Epic, Poetry, Myth, Fable, Drama, and Folktale)

3. Show the card for the fable. The picture card is of the fable, "The Mouse and the Lion." The definition card says, "Fables are short tales, having only a single episode or scene, that use talking animals, objects, or human as charcters in order to pikefun at human behavior. IN bout the first century, CE, fables begn to acquire a "moral" at the end, a brief statement of what the teller wanted the listener to learn about life. Aesop, an ancient Gree, is the most famou collector of fables, but he probably learned them from Bidpai, a legendary storyteller in Ancient India, where Aesop spent part of his life as a slave." Read this card and have students take a few brief notes on important information.



The Serpent and the Eagle


An Eagle swooped down upon a Serpent and seized it in his talons
with the intention of carrying it off and devouring it. But the
Serpent was too quick for him and had its coils round him in a moment;
and then there ensued a life-and-death struggle between the two. A
countryman, who was a witness of the encounter, came to the assistance
of the eagle, and succeeded in freeing him from the Serpent and
enabling him to escape. In revenge, the Serpent spat some of his
poison into the man's drinking-horn. Heated with his exertions, the
man was about to slake his thirst with a draught from the horn, when
the Eagle knocked it out of his hand, and spilled its contents upon
the ground.
The Shepherd's Boy


There was once a young Shepherd Boy who tended his sheep at
the foot of a mountain near a dark forest. It was rather lonely
for him all day, so he thought upon a plan by which he could get a
little company and some excitement. He rushed down towards the
village calling out "Wolf, Wolf," and the villagers came out to
meet him, and some of them stopped with him for a considerable
time. This pleased the boy so much that a few days afterwards he
tried the same trick, and again the villagers came to his help.
But shortly after this a Wolf actually did come out from the
forest, and began to worry the sheep, and the boy of course cried
out "Wolf, Wolf," still louder than before. But this time the
villagers, who had been fooled twice before, thought the boy was
again deceiving them, and nobody stirred to come to his help. So
the Wolf made a good meal off the boy's flock, and when the boy
complained, the wise man of the village said:


"A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth."


"One good turn deserves another."

I was really excited about going. It would be the best day of the summer. We were going to go rafting.

My mother, father, brother, and sister got to go. They were excited, too. My dad knew a lot of stuff about rafting. This would be neat.

When we got to the river, it looked big. The water was moving fast. I got scared.

It turned out to be fun. We ate sandwiches and drank pop. I wore a life jacket and got wet.

It was the best thing I did all summer.

The Eagle and the Kite


AN EAGLE, overwhelmed with sorrow, sat upon the branches of a
tree in company with a Kite. "Why," said the Kite, "do I see you
with such a rueful look?' "I seek," she replied, "a mate suitable
for me, and am not able to find one." "Take me," returned the
Kite, "I am much stronger than you are." "Why, are you able to
secure the means of living by your plunder?' "Well, I have often
caught and carried away an ostrich in my talons." The Eagle,
persuaded by these words, accepted him as her mate. Shortly
after the nuptials, the Eagle said, "Fly off and bring me back
the ostrich you promised me." The Kite, soaring aloft into the
air, brought back the shabbiest possible mouse, stinking from the
length of time it had lain about the fields. "Is this," said the
Eagle, "the faithful fulfillment of your promise to me?' The Kite
replied, "That I might attain your royal hand, there is nothing
that I would not have promised, however much I knew that I must
fail in the performance."


Work choices:

1. Find a fable without a moral. See http://aesopfables.com/
2. Rewrite it in your best cursive handwriting on decorative paper. Make sure to format paragraphs and dialogue. Add your own moral to the tale.
AN EAGLE, overwhelmed with sorrow, sat upon the branches of a
tree in company with a Kite.
"Why," said the Kite, "do I see you with such a rueful look?'
"I seek," she replied, "a mate suitable for me, and am not able to find one."
"Take me," returned the Kite, "I am much stronger than you are."
"Why, are you able to secure the means of living by your plunder?'
"Well, I have often caught and carried away an ostrich in my talons."
The Eagle, persuaded by these words, accepted him as her mate. Shortly
after the nuptials, the Eagle said, "Fly off and bring me back the ostrich you promised me." The Kite, soaring aloft into the air, brought back the shabbiest possible mouse, stinking from the length of time it had lain about the fields.
"Is this," said the Eagle, "the faithful fulfillment of your promise to me?'
The Kite replied, "That I might attain your royal hand, there is nothing that I would not have promised, however much I knew that I must fail in the performance."

Take ten fables and create a matching material for the classroom. You will need to find the website, print out the fables, cut them and back them with construction paper. You will also need to print out or type the morals on separate strips, also backed with construction paper. Finally, you will need to make drawings of your own of the animals in each tale you choose to create a 3-part card material.



Control Of Error


Points Of Interest


Purpose


Variation


Links


Handouts/Attachments