Aesop's Fables: Moral as Main Idea

Age
6-12

Materials
Literature Timeline if possible. See www.montessorilitlines.com. Students 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). Students identify with this "family" and often want to know which are boys and which are girls.

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 humans as charcters in order to poke fun at human behavior. In about 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 famous 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.

4. Clarify the word "moral." Make sure students that fables were indented to provide moral education, so that adults and children to learn the difference between right and wrong.

5. Use, "The Shepherd Boy" to demonstrate Aesop's fables that include the moral.

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:

6. Have students write the name of the fable in their notebooks, and, on their own, write out what they think the moral of the tale might be. I walk around the group checking what each student writes down. The purpose of this lesson is to teach main idea, and I need to judge what understanding they bring to the lesson.

7. Share the actual moral, "A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth. How many of you think your statement of the moral is pretty accurate? Is there anyone who would like to change your statement slightly?"

8. Now, do the same process with, "The Eagle and the Kite,"except....tell the students that some of Aesop's fables don't have the moral written down. It's your job to write it!"

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."

9. Ask students to write out what they think is the moral of this tale. After a few minutes, ask each child to share her statement. "People will lie to gain power," is one possible statement.

10. Ask, "What is main idea?" The most important idea in a piece of writing. What the author wants you to learn. "How is main idea like 'moral?" Discuss.

"How is it not like 'moral?'

Suggested student work:

1. Find a fable without a moral. See http://aesopfables.com/ Rewrite it in your best cursive handwriting on decorative paper. Make sure to format paragraphs and dialogue. Add your own moral to the tale.

Show students a sample rewrite that respects paragraphing...     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. Shortlyafter 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."

2. 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
Teacher checks main idea statements/morals

Points Of Interest
Notice that the use of fables can be applied well to the 9-12 "sensitive period for morality."

Purpose
Direct Aim: teaching students to become more proficient at stating main idea.

Indirect Aim: Paragraphing dialogue.

Variation
Choose any fables from the website. Others may be more to your liking.

Links
http://www.pacificnet.net/~johnr/aesop/