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TEACHER’S GUIDE: FABLES
™
Reading Objectives
• Comprehension: Analyze character;
Make judgments
• Tier Two Vocabulary: See book’s Glossary
• Word study: Synonyms
• Analyze the genre
• Respond to and interpret texts
• Make text-to-text connections
• Fluency: Read with dramatic expression
The Tortoise and the Hare
The Lion and the Mouse
The Ant and the Grasshopper
Writing Objectives
• Writer’s tools: Personification
• Write a fable using
writing-process steps
Related Resources
• Comprehension Question Cards
• Comprehension Power Tool Flip Chart
• Using Genre Models to Teach Writing
• Town Mouse and Country Mouse;
Belling the Cat; The Dog and the Wolf
(Levels P/38 and K/20)
Level N/30
Level J/18
Genre Workshop titles are designed to accommodate a combination of whole- and small-group instruction.
Use the suggested timetable below to help you manage your 90-minute literacy block. You may also conduct
the entire lesson within small-group reading time by adjusting the length of time needed per group.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Days 6–15
Prepare
to Read
Before Reading
Before Reading
Before Reading
Before Reading
Write a fable.
Small Group #1*
(15 minutes)
Read “The Tortoise
and the Hare”
Read “The Lion
and the Mouse”
Read “The Ant and
the Grasshopper”
Reread “The Ant
and the
Grasshopper”
Use the
timetable
and daily
suggestions
provided.
Small Group #2*
(15 minutes)
Read “The Tortoise
and the Hare”
Read “The Lion
and the Mouse”
Read “The Ant and
the Grasshopper”
Reread “The Ant
and the
Grasshopper”
Small Group #3*
(15 minutes)
Read “The Tortoise
and the Hare”
Read “The Lion
and the Mouse”
Read “The Ant and
the Grasshopper”
Reread “The Ant
and the
Grasshopper”
Whole Group
(20 minutes)
After Reading
After Reading
After Reading
After Reading
Whole Group
(25 minutes)
*Select the appropriate text to meet the range of needs and reading levels of your students.
While you are meeting with small groups, other students can do the following:
• Reread the text with a partner to practice fluency or read independently from your classroom library
• Reflect on their learning in reading response journals
• Engage in literacy workstations or meet with literature circles/discussion groups
B
E N C H M A R K
E
D U C A T I O N
C
O M P A N Y
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Page 2
Day 1
Prepare to Read
Build Genre Background
• Write the word genre on chart paper. Say: Who
can explain what the word genre means? (Allow
time for responses.) The word genre means “a kind
of something.” How many of you like to watch
action movies? How many of you prefer comedies?
Comedies and action movies are genres, or kinds, of
movies. All action movies share certain characteristics.
All comedies have some features in common, too. As
readers and writers, we focus on genres of literature.
As readers, we pay attention to the genre to help
us comprehend. Recognizing the genre helps us
anticipate what will happen or what we will learn.
As writers, we use our knowledge of genre to help
us develop and organize our ideas.
• Ask: Who can name some literary genres? Let’s make
a list. Allow time for responses. Post the list on the
classroom wall as an anchor chart.
• Draw a concept web on chart paper or the board.
Write Fable in the center circle of the web.
• Say: Fables are one example of a literary genre.
Think of any fables you know. How would you define
what a fable is?
• Turn and Talk: Ask students to turn and talk to a
classmate and jot down any features of a fable they
can think of. Then bring students together and ask
them to share their ideas. Record them on the group
web. Reinforce the concept that all fables have
certain common features.
Introduce the Book
• Distribute the appropriate-level book (N/30 or J/18)
to each student. Read the title aloud. Ask students to
tell what they see on the cover and table of contents.
• Ask students to turn to pages 2–3. Say: This week we
are going to read fables that will help us learn about
this genre. First we’re going to focus on this genre
as readers. Then we’re going to study fables from a
writer’s perspective. Our goal this week is to really
understand this genre.
• Ask a student to read aloud the text on page 2 while
others follow along. Invite a different student to read
the web on page 3.
• Point to your fables web on chart paper. Say: Let’s
compare our initial ideas about fables with what
we just read. What new features of this genre did
you learn? Allow time for responses. Add new
information to the class web.
• Post this chart in your classroom during your fables
unit. Say: As we read fables this week, we will come
back to this anchor chart. We will look for how these
features appear in each fable we read.
• Ask students to turn to pages 4–5. Say: The fables in
this book are based on stories by Aesop. Let’s read
about Aesop.
• Have a student read aloud the biographical
information while others follow along.
• Say: Aesop first told these fables more than 2,000
years ago. People are still reading them today.
What can you infer, or tell, from this? Allow time
for responses. Prompt students to understand that
the lessons, or morals, in Aesop’s fables are still
relevant to people today.
Introduce the Tools Writers Use: Personification
• Read aloud “Tools Writers Use” on page 5.
• Say: Many writers use personification. This technique
helps make their writing unique and interesting.
Aesop’s fables are filled with personification. Let’s
practice identifying personification so we can notice
it in the fables we read.
• Distribute BLM 1 (Personification). Read aloud
sentence 1 with students.
• Model Identifying Personification: Can a rabbit
really be “upset”? I don’t think so. Being upset is
a human emotion. The author of this sentence is
treating Rabbit and Deer like people. Notice how
the animals speak to each other in quotations. And
Rabbit tells Deer, “I will not be your friend any more.”
In real life, rabbits and deer are not friends. The
author has given human characteristics to these
animals.
• Ask students to work with a partner or in small
groups to identify the examples of personification in
the remaining sentences, and to write one or more
sentences of their own showing personification.
• Bring the groups together to share their findings.
Point out that writers show personification in many
ways—through dialogue, actions, feeling, and
thoughts.
• Ask each group to read one or more sentences they
wrote. Use the examples to build their understanding
of how and why writers use personification. Remind
students that how an author uses personification
can help the reader understand, make connections,
visualize, and make inferences about the characters,
plot, and moral of a fable.
• Ask groups to hand in their sentences. Transfer
student-written sentences to chart paper, title the
page “Personification,” and post it as an anchor
chart in your classroom.
©2009 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Teachers may photocopy the reproducible pages for classroom use. No other part of the guide may be reproduced or transmitted in whole
or in part in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-60859-844-1
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Page 3
Day 2
Before Reading
Introduce “The Tortoise and the Hare”
• Reread the fables anchor chart or the web on page 3
to review the features of a fable.
• Ask students to turn to page 6. Ask: Based on the
title and illustrations, what do you predict this fable
might be about? Allow time for responses.
• Invite students to scan the text and look for the
boldfaced words (boasted, swift, snoozing). Say:
As you read, pay attention to these words. If you
don’t know what they mean, try to use clues in the
surrounding text to help you define them. We’ll
come back to these words after we read.
Set a Purpose for Reading
• Ask students to read the fable to focus on the genre
elements they noted on their anchor chart. They
should also look for examples of personification and
think about how the author’s use of personification
helps them understand the characters.
Read “The Tortoise and the Hare”
Reflect and Review
• Turn and Talk: Write one or more of the following
questions on chart paper:
What is a literary genre, and how can understanding
genres help readers and writers?
What did you learn today about the fable genre?
How can readers recognize the technique of
personification?
Ask partners or small groups to discuss their ideas
and report them back to the whole group as a way
to summarize the day’s learning.
Management Tips
• Throughout the week, you may wish to use some
of the reflect and review questions as prompts
for reader response journal entries in addition to
turn and talk activities.
• Have students create genre study folders. Keep
blackline masters, notes, small-group writing, and
checklists in the folders.
• Create anchor charts by writing whole-group
discussion notes and mini-lessons on chart
paper. Hang charts in the room where students
can see them.
©2009 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
• Place students in groups of three or four based on
their reading levels. Ask students to read the fable
silently or to whisper-read. If students need more
support, you may have them read with a partner.
• Observe students as they stop and think about the
fable. Confer briefly with individual students to
monitor their use of fix-up strategies and their
understanding of the text.
Management Tip
Ask students to place self-stick notes in the margins
where they notice examples of personification or
features of the genre when they are reading.
After Reading
Build Comprehension: Analyze Character
• Lead a student discussion using the “Analyze the
Characters” questions on page 9, or use the
following steps to provide explicit modeling of how
to analyze characters in a fable.
• Explain: We learned yesterday that fables contain
a moral, or lesson. The writer uses the characters,
setting, and plot to convey, or tell, this moral. When
you read a fable, you need to pay close attention to
the characters. One of these characters has a flaw.
One or more of the other characters help you
recognize that flaw. Recognizing the character’s
flaw in a fable can help you figure out the moral.
• Distribute copies of BLM 2 (Analyze Characters)
and/or draw a chart like the one on page 4.
THREE FABLES FROM AESOP
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Day 2 (cont.)
Character Hare
Tortoise
Description, Description: animal; fast
runner
Feelings,
Traits: boastful;
Traits
overconfident;
unlikeable
Description: animal; slow
Feelings: mad at Hare’s
bragging
Traits: determined to teach
Hare a lesson
Flaw/Assets assumes he’s the best
determined; doesn’t give up
Examples
• tells Tortoise he is a
• challenges Hare to race
faster runner
• plods on without stopping
• thinks he will win
• wins the race
• sits down to rest in the
middle of the race
• Model: When I analyze a character, I use all the clues
and evidence the writer provides. I think about the
character’s description, and I pay close attention to
what the character thinks, feels, and says. I’m going
to think about Hare. I know he is an animal. He says
he’s very fast. According to Tortoise, he’s always
bragging. He seems overly confident to me. I know I
don’t like people who brag all the time. I think this
trait is a flaw, or imperfection, in Hare’s character.
Right in the first paragraph he tells Tortoise that he
is a fast runner. Later, Hare is so confident he will
win the race that he even stops to take a nap. Hare
is not very likeable. I wanted him to lose the race. I
wanted Tortoise to teach him a lesson!
• Guide Practice: Work with students to analyze
Tortoise’s character. Help them understand that
Tortoise has some positive attributes, or qualities.
These are character “assets.” Ask students to think
about how this character helps teach Hare a lesson.
• Have students keep BLM 2 in their genre studies
folders.
Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment
• Remind students that when they answer questions
on standardized assessments, they must be able to
support their answers with facts or with clues and
evidence directly from the text.
• Use the appropriate-level Comprehension Question
Card (N/30 or J/18) with small groups of students to
practice answering text-dependent comprehension
questions.
• Say: Today I will help you learn how to answer Find
It! questions. The answer to a Find It! question is
right in the book. You can find the answer in one
place in the text.
• Model: Read the Find It! question on the
Comprehension Question Card. Say: When I read
the question, I look for important words that tell
me what to look for in the book. What words in
this question do you think will help me? (Allow
student responses.) Yes, I’m looking for the words
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THREE FABLES FROM AESOP
crossed, finish line, and first. On page 8, I read,
“Tortoise crossed the line first.” This sentence has
the words I’m looking for. This sentence answers
the question.
• Use the Comprehension Power Tool Flip Chart to
help you develop other Find It! questions to use
with students.
Focus on Vocabulary: Synonyms
• Explain/Model: Synonyms are words that mean
the same thing. For example, I can say, “I am very
angry,” or I can say, “I am very mad.” The words
mad and angry are synonyms. Sometimes readers
can figure out an unfamiliar word by looking for
synonyms in a text.
• Practice: Ask students to think of synonyms they
already know. List the synonyms on a two-column
chart. (for example: sad/unhappy, tired/exhausted,
happy/cheerful)
• Say: Let’s find the boldfaced words in this fable.
What can you do if you don’t know what these
words mean? (Allow time for responses.) One thing
you can do is look in the glossary or a dictionary,
but sometimes there is no glossary or dictionary
available. In those cases, you need to look for
clues in the text to help you define the unfamiliar
word. One strategy you can use is to look for
synonyms in the text.
• Ask students to work with a partner to complete
the “Focus on Words” activity on page 9 using BLM 3
(Focus on Synonyms). Explain that they should read
the sentences around the boldfaced word to find a
synonym that helps define the word. They should
be able to explain how they know the word is a
synonym.
• Transfer Through Oral Language: Ask groups
of students to share their findings. Then challenge
individual students to use the words in completely
new contexts. Ask other students to listen carefully
and give a thumbs-up if they think the word was
used correctly. Encourage all students to make an
effort to use the words.
• Ask students to save their work in their genre studies
folders to continue on Days 3 and 4.
Page Word
Synonym
How Do You Know?
7
boasted
bragging
Hare boasts, “I am so much faster”
and that is the same as bragging.
7
swift
fast
“He ran so [Bridges: very] fast.” Fast
is the same as swift.
8
snoozing sleeping
The sentence before reads, “Hare
was sleeping.”
©2009 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
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Page 5
Day 3
Reflect and Review
• Turn and Talk: Ask partners or small groups to
reread the “Features of a Fable” on page 5 and
decide if all of these features were present in “The
Tortoise and the Hare.” Ask groups to share and
support their findings.
Fluency: Read with Dramatic Expression
• You may wish to have students reread the fable with
a partner during independent reading time. Have
them focus on reading with appropriate expression.
Ask students to use what they know about the traits,
flaws, and assets of Tortoise and Hare to convey
emotions in their reading.
Before Reading
Introduce “The Lion and the Mouse”
• Ask students to turn to page 10. Say: You are going
to read another fable today. Turn to a partner to
discuss how you will use your genre knowledge as a
reader to help you understand the fable.
• Ask the partners who listened to summarize what
they heard.
• Say: Let’s look at the title and illustrations of this
fable. What do you predict it might be about? Give
students time to share their predictions.
• Ask students to scan the text and look for the
boldfaced words (furious, terrified, generous).
Ask: What do you notice about these words? Why
do you think they appear in boldfaced type? Allow
time for responses. Encourage students to notice that
all of these words describe character emotions.
• Say: As you read, try to figure out the meaning of
these words. Look for synonyms in the text. After we
read, we will talk about how you used synonyms and
other context clues provided by the author.
Set a Purpose for Reading
• Ask students to read the fable and to focus on
how the characters and plot illustrate the moral.
Encourage them to notice the author’s use of
personification.
Note Regarding This Teacher’s Guide
The genre models in the Bridges books are
adapted for a lower reading level. To facilitate
whole-group instruction, citations from the Bridges
version of this book are shown in square brackets.
Read “The Lion and the Mouse”
• Place students in groups of three or four based on
their reading levels. Ask students to read the fable
silently or to whisper-read. If students need more
support, you may have them read with a partner.
• Observe students as they stop and think about the
fable. Confer briefly with individual students to
monitor their use of fix-up strategies and their
understanding of the text.
After Reading
Build Comprehension: Analyze Character
• Say: Yesterday we analyzed Tortoise and Hare.
One of those characters—Hare—had a flaw. What
character in this fable has a flaw, and how do you
know? Which character has positive characteristics,
or assets? Allow time for responses. As students
share their analyses, synthesize their responses into
a whole-group chart like the one on page 6.
©2009 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
THREE FABLES FROM AESOP
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Day 3 (cont.)
Character Lion
Mouse
Description, Description: animal; king Description: animal; small
of the forest; large and Feelings: afraid of lion
Feelings,
powerful
Traits: kind; grateful; a friend
Traits
Feelings: mad at mouse
Traits: proud; selfconfident
Flaw/Assets arrogant; assumes he will loyal; remembers his promise
never need help from
to help the lion if he’s ever
anyone
in trouble
Examples
says, “A mouse help a
chews through the ropes
lion? I am strong and you to free the lion
are weak. What can you
do for me?”
• Discuss Characters Across Texts: Lead a discussion
using the following questions:
How is the lion’s flaw similar to and/or different from
Hare’s?
What events in each fable help Hare and the lion
change?
How did Tortoise and the mouse help Hare and the
lion?
Where in the fables has the author used
personification?
How do these examples of personification help you
understand the characters better?
Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment
• Use the appropriate-level Comprehension Question
Card (N/30 or J/18) with small groups of students to
practice answering text-dependent questions.
• Say: Today I will help you learn how to answer Look
Closer! questions. The answer to a Look Closer!
question is in the book. You have to look in more
than one place, though. You find the different parts
of the answer. Then you put the parts together to
answer the question.
• Model: Read the Look Closer! question on the
Comprehension Question Card. Say: I will show you
how I answer a Look Closer! question. The question
says, “What made the lion let the mouse go?” This
question asks me to identify a cause-and-effect
relationship. Now I need to look for other important
information in the book. What information do you
think will help me? (Allow student responses.) Yes,
I’m looking for what caused the lion to let the mouse
go. Now I will look back in the book. On page 11,
I read that the mouse had made the lion laugh.
He was no longer mad. This is why he decides he
will not eat the mouse. This is the cause-and-effect
relationship. The mouse made the lion feel good.
6
THREE FABLES FROM AESOP
As a result, the lion let him go. I have found the
answer in the book. I looked in several sentences
to find the answer.
• Guide Practice: Use the Comprehension Power Tool
Flip Chart to help you develop other Look Closer!
questions to use with students.
Focus on Vocabulary: Synonyms
• Ask students to work with a partner to complete the
“Focus on Words” activity on page 15 using BLM 3,
which they started on Day 2. Have groups of students
share their findings.
• Transfer Through Oral Language: Invite pairs
of students to role-play conversations between the
lion and the mouse using the adjectives they defined
with synonyms. Encourage them to use each word
multiple times.
Page Word
Synonym
How Do You Know?
11
furious
very mad
The sentence before says, “He was
very mad.”
11
terrified
very scared
The little mouse “shook with fear.”
11
generous giving
Lion says, “I will not eat you
today . . . Next time, I may not
be so bighearted [Bridges: nice].”
Reflect and Review
• Turn and Talk: Ask partners or small groups
to discuss the following questions and report
their ideas to the whole group:
Do you agree with this fable’s moral? Why or
why not?
Think of a time in your life when you had the
opportunity to help someone stronger or more
powerful than you. What happened?
Fluency: Read with Dramatic Expression
• You may wish to have students reread the fable with
a partner during independent reading time. Have
them focus on reading with appropriate expression.
Ask students to use what they know about the lion’s
and the mouse’s personalities to convey emotions in
their reading.
©2009 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
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Page 7
Day 4
Before Reading
Introduce “The Ant and the Grasshopper”
• Ask students to turn to page 16. Say: Today we
are going to read “The Ant and the Grasshopper.”
This fable is written in a different format from
the other fables we have read. Notice how in the
margins there are notes to you, the reader. The first
time we read the text, we will read to understand
the fable, focusing on the characters, plot, and moral.
Tomorrow, we will reread this fable like a writer and
think about the notes in the margin as a model for
how we can write our own fables.
• Point out the boldfaced words (exhausted, tireless,
famished). Say: When you see these words in the
fable, look for synonyms to help you know what
they mean. Remember that finding synonyms in
context clues is a strategy to help you define
unfamiliar words.
Set a Purpose for Reading
• Ask students to read the fable and to focus on how
the characters and plot illustrate the moral. They
should also look for examples of personification and
think about how the author’s use of personification
helps them understand the fable.
Read “The Ant and the
Grasshopper”
• Place students in groups of three or four based on
their reading levels. Ask students to read the fable
silently or to whisper-read. If students need more
support, you may have them read with a partner.
• Observe students as they stop and think about the
fable. Confer briefly with individual students to
monitor the use of fix-up strategies and their
understanding of the text.
After Reading
Build Comprehension: Analyze Character
• Lead a whole-class discussion about the strategy of
analyzing character. Ask: When you analyze the
characters in a fable, what are you looking for?
(Allow time for responses.) Make sure students
have internalized the understanding that readers
learn about characters by paying attention to their
actions, thoughts, feelings, and dialogue. They also
learn about the characters through the author’s
descriptions. In a fable, one of the characters has a
flaw. Other characters model positive qualities. The
story events help teach readers a lesson.
• Divide the class into two teams. One team is Ant and
the other team is Grasshopper.
• Give each team time to analyze their character’s traits
and flaws or assets with supporting examples using
BLM 2.
©2009 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
• Then pose questions to each team. A different
member of each team must speak each time you ask
the team a question. Use these sample questions and
create more of your own:
What adjective(s) best describe(s) you?
How does the other character think of you, and why?
How did the author personify your character in the
fable?
What did you do during the summer? Was it the
right thing to do? Why or why not?
If you could go back in time, would you do anything
differently? If so, what and why?
What would you like to say to the other character in
this fable?
Character Ant
Grasshopper
Description, Description: ant; works
very hard; plans ahead
Feelings,
Feelings: tired; concerned
Traits
about winter coming
Traits: determined
Description: grasshopper;
likes to sing
Feelings: enjoys relaxing
Traits: lazy; carefree
Flaw/Assets never stops working;
always thinks about the
future
doesn’t think ahead; doesn’t
plan for the future; wants to
enjoy the moment
• works tirelessly
• has plenty of food
during the cold winter
• rests while Ant is working
• doesn’t realize until winter
has come that he won’t
have any food
• realized he should have
listened to Ant
Examples
Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment
• Use the appropriate-level Comprehension Question
Card (N/30 or J/18) with small groups of students to
practice answering text-dependent questions.
• Say: Today I will help you learn how to answer Prove
It! questions. The answer to a Prove It! question is
not stated in the book. You have to look for clues
and evidence to prove the answer.
• Model: Read the first Prove It! question on the
Comprehension Question Card. Say: I will show you
how I answer a Prove It! question. The question
says, “What clues on page 18 tell you that nothing
could stop Ant from working?” This question asks me
to draw a conclusion. I know because the question
says, “What clues tell you.” Now I need to look for
other important information in the question. What
information do you think will help me? (Allow
student responses.) Yes, I need to find clues that
show Ant works very hard, that he never stops
working. I need to look on page 18. The text says,
“He worked without stopping until the sun went
down. Ant was tireless. The next day, he worked
just as hard.” I have found the evidence to support
the conclusion that Ant never stops working.
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Page 8
Day 4 (cont.)
Day 5
• Guide Practice: Use the Comprehension Power
Tool Flip Chart to help you develop other Prove It!
questions and support students’ text-dependent
comprehension strategies.
Before Reading
Page Word
Synonym
How Do You Know?
Author says, “Ant looked
very tired. He looked
exhausted.”
16
exhausted
very tired
18
tireless
hard working Author says that Ant
“worked without stopping
until the sun went down.”
20
famished
very hungry;
starving
Author says, “Grasshopper
was very hungry. He was
starving.”
Focus on Vocabulary: Synonyms
• Ask students to work with a partner to complete the
“Focus on Words” activity on page 21 using BLM 3.
Have groups of students share their findings.
• Transfer Through Oral Language: Divide the
class into two teams (making sure that each team
has a balance of on-, above-, and below-grade-level
readers). Write the target words on chart paper or
the board. Assign a word to each team. Have teams
generate as many sentences as they can in one
minute using their word. Count all sentences that
use the word correctly. The team with the most
correct sentences wins.
Summarize and Make Connections Across Texts
• Engage students in a discussion about the three
fables in this book. Invite a different student to
summarize each fable. Encourage other students
to add their ideas and details.
• Ask students to turn to the inside back cover of the
book. Say: Good readers think about how literary
works are related. We know, for example, that all of
these fables share certain features. They all have a
moral. They all have animal characters. What else do
they have in common? (Allow time for responses.)
Today we will think about the characters in all three
fables. We’ll think about how the characters are alike
and different and what we can learn from them.
• Ask students to work individually or in small groups
to complete BLM 4 (Make Connections Across Texts).
Then bring students together to share and synthesize
their ideas.
Reflect and Review
• Ask and discuss the following questions:
What new words have you added to your vocabulary
this week? Which is your favorite?
Which of the fable characters you’ve met do you
identify with the most and why?
How can you use synonyms or personification as a
writer?
Fluency: Read with Dramatic Expression
• You may wish to have students reread the fable with
a partner during independent reading time. Have
them focus on reading with appropriate expression.
Ask students to use what they know about Ant and
Grasshopper to convey the personality of each
character in their reading.
Set a Purpose for Rereading
• Have students turn to page 16. Say: Until now,
we have been thinking about fables from the
perspective of the reader. Learning the features of
fables has helped us be critical readers. Now we are
going to put a different hat on. We are going to
reread “The Ant and the Grasshopper” and think like
writers. We’ll pay attention to the annotations in the
margins. These annotations will help us understand
what the author did and why he did it.
Reread “The Ant and the
Grasshopper”
• Place students in groups of three or four based on
their reading levels. Ask students to reread the fable
silently or to whisper-read, and to pay attention to
the annotations.
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After Reading
Analyze the Mentor Text
• Read and discuss the mentor annotations with the
whole group.
Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment
• Use the appropriate-level Comprehension Question
Card (N/30 or J/18) with small groups of students to
practice answering text-dependent questions.
• Say: Today I will help you learn how to answer Take
It Apart! questions. The answer to a Take It Apart!
question is not stated in the book. You must think
like the author to figure out the answer.
• Model: Read the Take It Apart! question on the
Comprehension Question Card. Say: This question
says, “Why did the author include the information
about Grasshopper in the last paragraph of the
fable?” This question asks me to think about the
author’s purpose. I know because the question
says, “Why did the author . . .” Now I need to look
for other important information in the question.
What information do you think will help me?
(Allow student responses.) Yes, I need to reread
the last paragraph and look for information about
Grasshopper. The author says, “Grasshopper knew he
had been wrong. He should have listened to Ant. He
should have thought ahead . . .” I think the author
wanted to make a point. I think he wanted me to see
that Grasshopper was wrong not to have planned
ahead. This is the important message in his fable.
• Guide Practice: Use the Comprehension Power Tool
Flip Chart to help you develop other Take It Apart!
questions.
Analyze the Writer’s Craft
• Ask students to turn to page 22. Explain: In the next
few days, you will have the opportunity to write your
own fable. First, let’s think about how the author
wrote “The Ant and the Grasshopper.” When he
developed this fable, he followed certain steps. You
can follow these same steps to write your own fable.
• Read step 1 with students. Say: When you write your
fable, the first thing you’ll do is decide on a moral,
or lesson, that you want to communicate. Let’s turn
back to pages 8, 14, and 20 and reread the morals of
the stories we read. (Write morals on chart paper.)
What lesson would you like to teach someone else?
For example, I might write a fable to teach people
that it’s important to be kind. What other lessons
could we teach? (Allow time for responses. Write
down students’ ideas on chart paper.)
• Read step 2 with students. Say: In each fable we
read, one character had a flaw. The other character
helped show that flaw. For example, the lion believed
he would never need help. The mouse proved no
one is too small to help another. Who could our
©2009 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
characters be? Let’s make a list of characters who
could help us communicate our moral. Remember
that often the characters in a fable are animals.
(Allow time for responses. Write down students’
ideas on chart paper.)
• Read step 3 with students. Say: Before you’re
ready to write a fable, you need a setting and
plot. “The Ant and the Grasshopper” took place
in a field. This was a perfect setting for the plot.
The Ant was working in the field collecting food.
Meanwhile, the Grasshopper was sitting in the sun
relaxing. When you write your fable, think about
what setting is right for your characters. What
plot, or actions, will help you act out the moral
of your fable? Choose one of the morals and
some of the characters the class has brainstormed,
and work as a group to construct a possible
setting and plot.
Build Comprehension: Make Judgments
• Explain: When authors write, they usually make
judgments about their characters. In these fables,
Aesop not only made judgments about how his
characters should act, but also how people in
general should and shouldn’t behave. Readers
know this because Aesop ended each fable with
a moral, or lesson. As readers, we pay attention
to the judgments an author makes so that we
can evaluate whether or not we agree with the
author’s judgment. Readers can form their own
judgments about an author’s judgment.
• Model: The moral of “The Ant and the
Grasshopper” was that you shouldn’t put off
until tomorrow what you can do today. Aesop
was making a judgment about the behavior of
Grasshopper and Ant. Based on the moral, he
judged Ant to be the better—more prudent or
wise—character. He judged Grasshopper to be
shortsighted and foolish for not preparing for
winter. Once I understand the author’s judgment,
I can decide if I have the same judgment. In this
case, I do. When I think about how Grasshopper
was starving during the winter, I can’t help but
think that he acted foolishly during the summer.
But I also think Ant was not perfect either. Ant
did not show sympathy or compassion. He let
Grasshopper starve.
• Guide Practice: Invite students to work in small
groups to identify the author’s judgments about
characters in one of the other fables in the book.
Then challenge them to make their own judgments
about the characters. Do they agree with the
author? Do they have a different judgment? Ask
each group to share and support their ideas with
examples from the fable.
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Days 6–15
Write a Fable
Days 6–15
• Conference with students, focusing on sentence
fluency, word choice, and conventions. Did students
include both long and short sentences? Do the
sentences read smoothly? Have students used
interesting words and phrases? Did they use examples
of personification? Did they use appropriate spelling,
punctuation, and grammar?
• You may want students to continue their editing and
revision at home.
• Use this suggested daily schedule to guide students
through the steps of process writing. Allow
approximately 45 to 60 minutes per day. As students
work independently, circulate around the room and
monitor student progress. Conference with individual
students to discuss their ideas and help them move
forward. Use the explicit mini-lessons, conferencing
strategies, and assessment rubrics in Using Genre
Models to Teach Writing for additional support.
• Before students begin planning their fable, pass out
copies of BLM 5 (Fable Checklist). Review the
characteristics and conventions of writing that will
be assessed. Tell students that they will use this
checklist when they complete their fable drafts.
• This daily plan incorporates the generally accepted
six traits of writing as they pertain to fables.
• Ask students to rewrite or type a final draft
of their fables.
• Invite students to illustrate their final drafts with
one or more drawings that depict specific actions
in their fables.
• Conference with students regarding their publishing
plans and deadlines.
Days 6–7: Plan
Days 14–15: Publish and Share
• Ask students to use BLM 6 (Fable Planning Guide), to
brainstorm the moral, characters, setting, and plot
for their fable.
• Encourage students to refer to the “Features of a
Fable” web on page 3, and to the steps in “The
Writer’s Craft” on pages 22–23 of the book.
• Confer with individual students and focus on their
ideas. Did students begin their fable with a moral in
mind? Did students support the moral through the
character and plot?
• Explain: Authors work long and hard to develop
their works. You have worked very hard. And one
of the great joys of writing is when you can share
it with others. Authors do this in many ways. They
publish their books so that people can buy them.
They make their work available on the Internet.
They hold readings. We can share our writing, too.
• Use one or more of the ideas below for sharing
students’ work:
Make a class display of students’ completed fables.
Hold a class reading in which students can read their
fables to one another and/or to parents.
Create a binder of all the fables and loan it to the
library so that other students can read them.
• Create a binder of all the fables for your classroom
library.
Days 8–9: Draft
• Tell students they will be using their completed Fable
Planning Guide to begin drafting their fables.
• Say: Remember that when writers draft their fables,
they focus on getting their ideas on paper. They
can cross things out. They can make mistakes in
spelling. What’s important is to focus on developing
your characters, the setting, and the plot. You will
have an opportunity to make corrections and
improvements later.
• Conference with students as they complete their
drafts. Use the Fable Checklist to draw students’
attention to characteristics of the fable genre that
they may have overlooked. Focus on how students
have organized their ideas and the voice of the
writer. Did students introduce characters at the
beginning of the fable? Did they set up a problem
and then show a resolution? Does the fable have a
strong voice? Will the voice keep readers interested?
• Pair students for peer conferencing.
Days 12–13: Create Final Draft and Illustrations
Days 10–11: Edit and Revise
• Based on your observations of students’ writing,
select appropriate mini-lessons from Using Genre
Models to Teach Writing.
• Remind students to use the Fable Checklist as they
edit and revise their fables independently.
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Page BLM1
Name _________________________________________________
Date ___________________
Personification
Directions: Read each sentence. Underline the words that
show personification.
1. Rabbit told Deer, “I am very upset with you! I will not
be your friend anymore.”
2. The big oak tree stood on the hill and watched the
houses below.
3. The sun smiled brightly in the morning sky.
4. Bear put on his hat and coat and left his house.
5. Donkey waited patiently. He was sure his master would
be back soon.
In the space below, draw or write your own sentence
using personification.
THREE FABLES FROM AESOP
BLM 1
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Page BLM2
Name _________________________________________________
Date ____________________
Analyze Characters
Directions: Use the chart below to analyze characters.
Character
Description,
Feelings,
Traits
Flaws/Assets
Examples
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BLM 2
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Page BLM3
Name _________________________________________________
Date ___________________
Focus on Synonyms
Directions: Reread each fable. Find synonyms for
each word.
Word
The Tortoise
and the Hare
The Lion and
the Mouse
The Ant
and the
Grasshopper
THREE FABLES FROM AESOP
Page
boasted
7
swift
7
snoozing
8
furious
11
terrified
11
generous
11
exhausted
16
tireless
18
famished
20
Synonym
BLM 3
How Do You Know?
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Page BLM4
Name _________________________________________________
Date ____________________
Make Connections Across Texts
Directions: Use the chart to answer the questions below.
Fable
The Tortoise and
the Hare
The Lion and
the Mouse
The Ant and
the Grasshopper
Character #1
Character #2
What is
Character #1
like?
How is
Character #2
different from
Character #1?
How does the
fable end?
1. Which characters in all three fables are alike? How are
these characters alike?
_____________________________________________________________
2. How are the fable endings alike? How are they different?
_____________________________________________________________
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BLM 4
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Page BLM5
Name _________________________________________________
Date _________________
Title ______________________________________________________________________________
Fable Checklist
Features of the Genre Checklist
YES
NO
YES
NO
1. My fable is short.
2. My fable has a strong lead.
3. My fable has a setting with time and place.
4. The main characters are animals.
5. The main character has a flaw.
6. The other character does not have a flaw.
7. I tell the problem at the beginning of the fable.
8. I have 3 to 5 events in my fable.
9. I have a solution to the problem in the fable.
10. The character with a flaw learns a lesson.
11. I state the moral at the end of the fable.
12. I used figurative language in my story.
Quality Writing Checklist
I looked for and corrected . . .
• run-on sentences
• sentence fragments
• subject/verb agreement
• correct verb tense
• punctuation
• capitalization
• spelling
• indented paragraphs
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BLM 5
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Page BLM6
Name _________________________________________________
Date ____________________
Fable Planning Guide
Directions: Use the steps below to plan your own fable.
1. Decide on a moral.
2. Brainstorm characters.
Characters
Description,
Feelings, Traits
Flaw/Asset
Examples
Character #1:
_______________
Character #2:
_______________
3. Brainstorm setting and plot.
Setting
Problem
Events
Solution
THREE FABLES FROM AESOP
BLM 6
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