Fables: Morals

Objectives:

• Review the characteristics of a fable
• Understand the meaning of morals and how they can apply to modern day
• Read several fables to become familiar with this type of traditional literature
• Determine the moral of a fable using text evidence

Method:
I began the lesson with a review of the characteristics of fables from the previous day’s lesson. I asked the students, “What is a fable?,” anticipating responses to include the use of animals (personification), a lesson/moral, short story, conflict and resolution. Next, I asked the students to recall the morals of the fables that were read for homework. The class discussed the meaning of those morals and how they would apply to modern day.
Next, I walked around the room with a container. Each desk group selected a moral from the container and discussed its meaning. The students modernized the morals, explaining it in their own words. I projected the morals on the whiteboard for all students to see as the groups share their ideas.
Then, I shared “The Pelican and the Crane” from Arnold Lobel’s book Fables with the students. However, the moral was covered. After reading the fable, I modeled how to determine the lesson or moral of the fable by using a think aloud strategy, making note of evidence from the fable that led to this thinking.
Next, the students were asked to read “The Bad Kangaroo” from Lobel’s book. The students were given time to read independently and were asked to try to determine the moral from text evidence. The class pair-shared their morals for “The Bad Kangaroo,” and then the whole class discussed. The fable was projected on the whiteboard and text evidence was noted. Students that were done early were asked to think of an example of how this could happen in real life.
The class then completed a Reader’s Response Journal responding to the following prompt: “Select a moral we have discussed in class today. Explain its meaning. Do you think it is a good lesson? Why or why not. Give an example of how this could happen in real life.”
Below are some samples of student responses: