1. Go over types of stories (from the 27th).
2. Introduce the Nun’s Priest’s Tale – a beast fable and cautionary tale.
3. What is the moral of the tale?
4. Attention Grabber: Have you ever come across any kinds of bossy, sneaky, funny, annoying, dim bulb people? Have YOU ever been a bossy, sneaky, funny, annoying, dim bulb sort of person? Have you ever done anything really silly but then found that it was okay because you learned an important lesson?
Well, long ago, a man named Aesop met a whole bunch of bossy, sneaky, funny, annoying, dim bulb people, and he wanted to do something about it. He decided to write stories about these people, and end each story with a lesson we all can learn from bossy, sneaky, funny, annoying, dim bulb people. But he didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, so he changed the names to protect the not-so-innocent. Actually, he didn’t just change names; he changed the people . . . into animals! That’s what fables are—stories with animals instead of people as the main characters. Fables also have a lesson at the end call the moral of the story. And fables are really short, like a joke . . . usually only one page or less.
Today we’re going to write some fables—lessons we’ve learned as we’ve traveled through life. And we’re going to add a moral to the end of our stories. First though, I’d like to share two fables written by two famous writers named Jon Scieszka (rhymes with Fresca) and Lane Smith. These are names you might remember from their other famous books, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales! and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.
Just to give you a little background on the whole fable thing . . . this is the introduction for Squids Will Be Squids. (Read the introduction aloud; it is marked with a blue tab.) These are examples of fables:
5. Read “Grasshopper Logic” (green tab) and “Frog’s New Shoes” (yellow tab) to the students.
6. Feedback Time: Have students answer the following questions:
• What are the parts of a fable?
• What is a moral?
• Who are the characters in a fable?
• How long is a fable?
Homework Collected: None
Homework Given:
Research Paper Due Dates:
Primary and Secondary Sources List: February 9th
Outline: February 17th
Rough Working Draft: February 24th
Peer Review Draft: March 9th
Published Draft: March 16th
Handouts given out: None
To Read: The Nun’s Priest’s Tale (see Mrs. Tyler for a copy)
