MEGHAN TOMASI MS.

AREHART WILLIAM PERRY ELEMENTARY

SCHOOL
10:30 AM - 02/19/2018

LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

A. TITLE/TYPE OF LESSON
What Are Fables?

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON

While students have heard some fables before (such as the ant and the
grasshopper, the three little pigs, the hare and the tortoise, etc…) they have never
exclusively talked about what fables are. This will be their first lesson on fables.
This lesson is also Day One of Week 10 in the classroom reading plans, so all of
the sheets and stories provided were already prepared for this lesson.

C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Understand – what are the broad Know – what are the facts, rules, Do – what are the specific
generalizations the students should specific data the students will gain thinking behaviors students will be
begin to develop? (These are through this lesson? (These able to do through this lesson?
typically difficult to assess in one “knows” must be assessed in your (These will also be assessed in
lesson.) lesson.) your lesson.)

Students should understand basic Students should know that fables Students will fill in a bubble chart
characteristics of fables and be are short stories that have been about the features of a fable
able to name examples told for thousands of years, Students will read two fables and
usually have animals as the main fill in a comparison chart asking
characters, and have a moral or questions about each story
lesson to be learned

D. ASSESSING LEARNING

Exit Ticket - Have students write on a sticky note two features of a fable

E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING (and NATIONAL

STANDARDS if required)

Reading
3.1 The student will use effective communication skills in group activities.
c) Explain what has been learned.
3.5 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fictional text
and poetry.
a) set a purpose for reading
MEGHAN TOMASI MS. AREHART WILLIAM PERRY ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL
10:30 AM - 02/19/2018

b) Make connections between previous experiences and reading

selections.
d) Compare and contrast settings, characters, and events.
f) Ask and Answer questions about what is being read
g) Draw conclusions about text (by making logical inferences
first).

F. MATERIALS NEEDED

* Powerpoint on Fables
* Bubble Chart for Features of a Fable
* Two Fables
~ The Bat and the Weasel
~ The Wolf and the Sheep
* Connections Chart
* Sticky Notes

G. PROCEDURE

● Preparation of the learning environment (if required)

● Have enough copies of each sheet printed for students

o Fables Features and Bubble Chart front to back
o Two fables front to back
o Connections Chart
● Have powerpoint loaded

● Engage -Introduction of the lesson (~15 min)

● Have powerpoint loaded to the first slide (Fables)

● Think, Pair, Share
o What do you think of when you hear the word fable?
▪ Write on your desk anything that comes to mind
o Talk to the person next to you about what you wrote
o Call on students to share their ideas
● Go through next four slides talking to students about each one
o Slide 2: What is a lesson or a moral?
o Slide 3: Talk about “foibles” and “flaws”. What are some
flaws you can think of or have heard in stories?
o Slide 4: The characters are “personified” (talk about this
word). Talk about last two bullet points and why we want
to do this while reading.
o Slide 5: Talk about how we do not know who told the first
fable because they have been around for as long as people
can remember, and how they are still being written and told
MEGHAN TOMASI MS. AREHART WILLIAM PERRY ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL
10:30 AM - 02/19/2018

today
● Show slide 6
o How many of these examples do you recognize?
o Do you know any more examples?
o Point out how the titles tell us who the main characters are
o What are some of the flaws these characters have?
o What are some of the lessons or morals in these stories?

● Implementation of the lesson (~25 min)

● Pass out first sheet (Features of a Fable/Bubble Chart)

o Point out to students how everything we went over in the
slides is on that paper
● Go to slide 7
o Have friends turn their paper over to the Bubble Chart and
write in their bubbles what I write in the bubbles on the
board
▪ Short Story
▪ Main characters usually animals
▪ At least one character has a flaw or problem
▪ Has a lesson or moral
▪ One character learns something from another
character
● Pass out second sheet (two fables)
o Tell students we are going to read The Bat and the Weasel
and that as I read it out loud they need to think about who
the characters are and what the problem is in the fable
o Have students follow along as I read the first story out loud
▪ What are some of the words the fable used to
describe the bat? (wobbly/clever/smart
▪ What do you think is the bat’s flaw? (clumsiness)
▪ What was the moral of this fable?
● How does the bat make the best of a bad
situation?
● He thinks quickly
o When the weasel thinks he’s a bird,
he says he’s a mouse
o When the weasel thinks he’s a
mouse, he says he’s a bat
o Tell students we are going to read The Wolf and the Sheep
and that as I read out loud they need to think about what the
main idea of the fable is and what the moral of the story
could be
o Have students follow along as I read the first story out loud
▪ What happens to the wolf at the beginning of the
story?
MEGHAN TOMASI MS. AREHART WILLIAM PERRY ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL
10:30 AM - 02/19/2018

▪ Do you think the wolf really wants water when he

asks the sheep to bring him some?
● What did we just do by answering that
question (make an inference)
▪ The sheep is described as simple; usually that
means something easy, but what do you think it
means the way they use it in the fable?
● Do you think the sheep is simple?
▪ What was the problem in the fable?
▪ What was the lesson or moral?
● How does this moral fit with the fable?
● Pass out final sheet (Connections Chart) while explaining to
students that they are going to be answering a couple of questions
about the fables they just heard and comparing them to each other
● Go to final slide and have students fill in the chart as I fill it in on
the board (prompt/guide the students for the answers)
o How does the fable begin
▪ A bat falls to the floor
▪ A pack of dogs chase a wolf away from chickens
and the wolf twists his leg as he escapes
o Story details
▪ A weasel pounces on him and says weasels always
eat bats. The bat tells the weasel he is a mouse. The
weasel believes him and lets him go. The bat falls
again the next day and another weasel pounces on
him. The weasel says that weasels always eat mice.
The bat says he is a bat and the weasel lets him go.
▪ Wolf meets a sheep and asks for water. The wolf
says if the sheep gets him water, the sheep will
never go hungry again. The sheep knows that means
the wolf will eat him and doesn’t bring him water.
o How does the fable end?
▪ The weasel lets the bat go. The bat escapes from
weasels twice.
▪ The sheep does not help the lying wolf.
o Conclusion or moral
▪ Remember always to make the best of a bad
situation
▪ Selfish lies are simple to see

● Closure (~5 min)

● Have students complete the exit ticket

MEGHAN TOMASI MS. AREHART WILLIAM PERRY ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL
10:30 AM - 02/19/2018

● Clean-up (if required)

● Collect exit tickets

● Have students put their papers in their binders

H. DIFFERENTIATION

● As this lesson is scripted and there is not too much wiggle room, there is
not much differentiation. For students that are slower readers, all students
will have the stories printed out and in front of them to follow along as I read
out loud. Having the think/pair/share will also help students that are
struggling because they will be able to talk to partners about the material.
The graphic organizers provide visual aid and help students to organize their
thoughts about the lesson for better comprehension and retainment.

I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU
DO ABOUT IT?

● The computer could fail and we may not have the powerpoint. If this
happens I will have a copy of the Features of a Fable page projected onto the
board using the overhead and will go over each bullet point the same way I
would with the powerpoint. I would use the overhead for all other pages as
well to fill in charts and go over information. Anything in this lesson can be
adjusted to fit the 45 min time limit (I can ask more/less questions
throughout depending on time). The exit ticket at the end can also be cut if
time does not allow.