My students love fables, and I love using them in my classroom. Fables are great for introducing reading standards, as well as helping my students see how these standards work together. This assists them in better understanding literary texts. As I have pointed out in my last post, 4 Tips for Helping Students Grasp Theme & Message, fables are a great place to start teaching students how to retell stories, analyze characters, determine the central messages of the stories, and understand key trait vocabulary. When teaching this genre, students also get a greater sense of how these learning targets are interdependent.
First of all, fables are a short text. They do not have a lot of details to sift through when determining what’s important. This makes it easier for students to retell or summarize the text in just a few sentences. They can use any type of organizer to do this. I like to use a Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then chart or a Story Elements graphic organizer. Students can also do a recount of the fable by writing a summary in their Reader’s Notebook.
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Since fables usually have only one or two characters, they are great for introducing character analysis. Fable characters aren’t complex, so it’s much easier for students to analyze them. When introducing this genre, I try to use fables that have two characters with opposing traits. This makes it much easier for students to identify traits that best describe the characters. It also helps students see how these opposing traits become important to the central message, or moral. Bridging an understanding of how these two standards (CCRA.R2 & CCRA.R3) work together is so important to students’ comprehension of literary texts.
I begin a close read by having students take a look at what a character says, does, or thinks to determine the most important traits of each character. Since the text is short, it’s easier for students to point out these things. While students can sometimes make a list of traits for each character and even provide valid evidence to support each, it is important to have them focus on one or two traits that seem MOST important to the plot. As teachers, we feel the need to validate our students’ thinking. However, we need to teach them how to discern between those traits that really influence the plot and those do not. It is then that students can see how traits influence the characters’ choices and actions, which in turn, influence the outcome for the characters at the end. This is where students can begin to determine the message or moral of the story.
For example, when reading The Ant and the Grasshopper, students can say Ant was cautious, hardworking, determined, wise, responsible, etc. All are great traits for describing Ant. However, wise is an important trait to the events that unfold because Ant knew winter was coming and used good judgment to put up food. Hardworking is another important trait because this resulted in Ant being prepared for the winter. On the other hand, Grasshopper was friendly, foolish, lazy, carefree, optimistic, etc. Again, these are all great traits for describing Grasshopper, but his foolishness influenced the choice he made: He knew winter was coming, was even warned by Ant, and he still chose to procrastinate. Also, his laziness was what led to his demise at the end.
When students have an opportunity to look at these traits in juxtaposition to each other, they begin to see the stark contrast between these traits. They also begin to notice how this plays a role in what happens to the characters in the end and why this happened to them. This is when fables make it easier for students to determine the moral of the lesson. Students begin to see how what the character is like (traits) influences what choices the character makes and the sequence of events that result from these choices. Even if the characters do not have opposing traits, students can still determine how the traits influenced the character’s actions and the result of these actions.
Note: I like to use fables that don’t state the moral at the end since this is what I want students to determine on their own based on what they read.
As a third grade teacher, one thing is very apparent. Students need opportunities to build trait vocabulary. At the beginning of each year, my students really struggle with the precise words to describe characters. This is such a challenge. I’m a believer in intentionally providing different opportunities to help students gain an understanding of this vocabulary. I do this through various activities and strategies: whether it’s through task card activities, Marzano’s vocabulary strategies, the use of the Quiz-Quiz trade Kagan structure, word association activities, readers’ theater, or role-playing.
Fables are perfect for introducing both positive and negative trait vocabulary that is commonly found throughout the themes and messages of literature. Think of all the character traits fables teach. These stories are intentional in teaching about characters who are wise, honest, prideful, clever, patient, loyal, greedy, selfish, reliable, respectful, trustworthy, courageous, considerate, sly, irresponsible, etc. They are great anchor texts to use as a foundation for understanding these qualities. Students can also apply this understanding when describing characters in other types of literary genre.
Fables are also wonderful for helping students with nuances in trait vocabulary. For example, many times my students use wise and clever interchangeably. I use fables as an opportunity to demonstrate the differences between these words. Being wise is using your knowledge and experience to make good judgments. Ant was wise because he knew that seasons change and food would be scarce in winter, so he used that knowledge and experience to make the choice to prepare for winter. Being clever is using your knowledge to get what you want. Crow, in The Crow and the Pitcher, was clever because he used pebbles to make the water rise in a pitcher to get water.
I also try to help them see the difference between being clever and being sly. Clever can be good or bad. It is a more neutral trait. Whereas, sly has a more negative connotation in that it is self-serving. These are the very shades of meaning between character traits that help kids better understand literary texts. For example, these words illustrate differences in the intent of the character.
There’s one more thing I would like to share about the morals of fables. Sometimes if a fable is a bit more complex in its message, I like to introduce the moral to students first. I begin by talking about what it might mean before diving into the fable. This frontloading is effective when students need that support. They have the message to the reader before them as a purpose for reading. As students read, they are looking for details that support this message or moral. This is a great strategy for my struggling readers who have difficulty making inferences.
If you are searching for fables resources to help support your instruction, check out my fable flipbook series. Each resource includes the fable, as well as carefully crafted questioning intentionally focused on analyzing characters, examining the plot, and determining the moral of the fable. These resources were created to integrate key ideas and details standards to better assist my students with core learning targets. These resources are in both PDF format and digital format for use in Google Classroom or in any other digital platform. Sign up for my free resource library if you would like to try samples of these resources. Just go to my home page and register for free, exclusive resources.
What is the main character like? (traits, feelings)
Using activities to build students’ vocabulary, not only helps their comprehension but also their ability to communicate clearly. I like to use task card activities, interactive notebook templates, and application activities to build this vocabulary. Students can use task cards to match words with their definitions or with short story samples that illustrate the theme or trait word. In their Readers’ Notebooks, students can define these words, use them in a sentence, and illustrate these sentences using vocabulary notebook templates. Also, having students think, jot, and share examples of these words is another strategy that is helpful. (i.e. Think of a time where you were determined to learn something new. What was it and what did you do that showed perseverance?)
Wolf!, by Becky Bloom, is a story of a wolf who comes across some barnyard animals who can read. In the story, the wolf is determined to learn to read, but he has a lot of misconceptions about what makes a good reader when trying to impress his friends. This is the perfect storyline to get students focused on what good readers do, and to help dispel any misconceptions they may have about what a good reader is.
Two things happen at this point in the lesson. One, students review good strategies and reiterate why they are important, and two, the misconceptions get dispelled. Dispelling these misconceptions transforms students’ way of thinking about reading and about themselves as readers, just as it did for Wolf in the story. Students need to have the mindset that a good reader is defined by what they do each and every day (strategies & good reading habits), not by their performance with regard to reading level, the thickness of their chapter book, or the speed at which they read. Yes, we want our students to move in the right direction with text complexity and fluency, but for this lesson, I want to foster growth mindset in my students. Notice, I crossed out those misconceptions as we talked about them.
I want to point out that students usually leave one important idea off this list, which needs to be added. This is why I turn to the last part of the story and reread where Wolf gets caught up in the stories with the other animals. I want students to come to the conclusion that good readers also enjoy reading, and rereading this part of the story prompts them to add this. If students have already included this on the list, I would star it to remind students that our attitude toward reading is just as important as the strategies we use.
The next activity lays the foundation for the purpose of our readers’ workshop: to grow as readers. Students are given an interactive notebook template which becomes one of the very first entries in their reader’s notebook. During this activity, we brainstorm various strategies that have helped them with their accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. I teach third grade, so my students come to me with a variety of strategies they have learned and continue to use. Together, we create these lists of strategies and write them under the appropriate flaps in their readers’ notebooks. I find it easier to take one component at a time. i.e. We begin with accuracy and then move on to fluency, etc. (Note: the objective isn’t to list ALL the strategies, but to list main ones students use. At the end of the lesson, I share with students that we will be adding strategies throughout the year as new ones are introduced.) You can download this complete lesson in its entirety by subscribing to my free resource library.
To wrap up this activity, I begin to talk about how every reader has different strengths and weaknesses, and that during readers’ workshop, we will be exploring our own strengths and weaknesses so that we can set goals to help us grow as readers. I explain that everyone will have different goals based on where they are and what will help them. I also explain these goals change, just as Wolf adjusted his goals throughout his journey in becoming a reader.
