Traditional Literature: Fables and Myths
Grade Level: 3
Thematic Overview
In this unit, students will explore the genre of traditional literature by reading and performing various
fables and mythological stories. This unit will introduce “Power Words” for vocabulary development.
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Driving Question(s):
What are the origins of fables and myths and how are they unique?
What can we learn from fables and myths?
How can the lessons taught in folklore be applied to real life?
Student Objectives and Learning Goals
Students will demonstrate the ability to:
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Understand and use Power Words and
vocabulary
Use a graphic organizer
Use a dictionary
Discuss theme or message of text
Respond to text
Use phrasing, inflection and intonation
properly
Students will demonstrate the ability to:
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Compare and contrast text
Draw conclusions and make inferences
Set a purpose for reading
Identify setting and how it can affect a
story
Strategy instruction focuses on the reasoning process readers go through as they interact with and
comprehend text. Strategies are process-oriented, cognitive operations the reader engages in, generally
thought to be unobservable. Skills instruction emphasizes repeated practice in applying skills until they
become habitual response to particular tasks. Skills are product-oriented observable behaviors.
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Strategies to be Taught
Making Inferences
Drawing Conclusion
Asking Questions
Revised 2013
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Skills to be Learned
Compare/contrast
Identifying a theme/moral
Reading with fluency
Identify story elements
Dictionary skills
Identify setting and importance
Core Novel: Greek Myths by Deborah Lock
Above Grade Level
On Grade Level
Below Grade Level
Yeh-Shen by Ai-Ling Louie and Ed The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirly Cindy Ellen by Susan Lowell
Young (38/P)
Climo and Ruth Heller (38/O)
(28/L)
The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe
Martin and David Shannon
(40/S)
Cendrillon-A Caribbean
Cinderella by Robert D. San Souci
and Brian Pinkney
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by
John Steptoe (44/T)
Bigfoot Cinderrrrella by Tony
Johnston and James Warhola
(38/O)
Aesop’s Fables by Ann McGovern
Cinderella’s Rat by Susan
Meddaugh (28/L)
Aesop’s Fables by Katie Daynes
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Mini Lessons
Lessons may take from 1-3 days
Model various purposes for using a dictionary – Lessons in Literacy #21 to introduce Power
Words
Introduce traditional literature as a genre of fiction (2 types of folktales - fables and myths will
be focus of unit) ** See Focus Lessons 1“Who Was Aesop and What is a Fable?” and 1a “What
Makes a Myth?” in Reading Strategy Lessons section
Model during a Read Aloud of several folktales and use details to identify the story’s theme or
moral
Demonstrate how to recognize theme by asking questions (What do characters in this story
want or do? What are the results of the characters’ ideas or actions? What is the lesson about
life that can be learned?) – Lessons in Literacy - #48B, C & D **See Focus Lesson 2 Recognizing
Theme in a in Reading Strategy Lesson section.
Model fluent reading during a Read Aloud– Lessons in Literacy #23, 24, 25
Read and Perform Reader’s Theater with an emphasis on phrasing, inflection and intonation
Reader’s Response Notebook: “What can folktales teach us?”
Additional Lessons If Needed:
 Demonstrate during a Think Aloud/Read Aloud, questioning - before, during, and after reading.
Daybook of Critical Reading and Writing – Questioning Before, During and After – Teacher’s
Edition - Unit 2 - Lesson 2, page 39 - 43
 Strategy Lesson: Beginning Questioning: Some Questions are Answered, Others are Not,
Strategies That Work by Harvey and Goudvis, page 83-85 (2nd edition page 112-113)
 Strategy Lesson: Recognizing Plot and Inferring Theme, Strategies That Work by Harvey and
Goudvis, page 109-111 (2nd edition page 142-144)
Revised 2013
Instructional Resources
Vocabulary Workshop – Units 1, 4, 10, and 12 are based on traditional literature
Greek Myths by Deborah Lock
Greek Myth Plays by Carol Pugliano-Martin
Power Words
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tradition
folklore
Greece
fable
myth
personification
moral
god/dess
gorgon
hero
im/mortal
labyrinth
nymph
Pegasus
titan
underworld
superhuman
Revised 2013
selected from the glossary of
Greek Myths
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Mini Lessons
Lessons may take from 1-3 days
Identify and chart the elements of multiple myths
Demonstrate during a Read Aloud, how to identify words that signal comparison – Lessons in
Literacy #38
Demonstrate comparing and contrasting using a Venn Diagram with multiple myths
In guided reading groups, compare elements of myths and fables
Optional – Read books from the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan (DRA 40) and compare the
story elements across the texts
Model how to draw conclusions using a graphic organizer and identifying details from a
paragraph. – Lessons in Literacy #36
Model during a Read Aloud/Think Aloud, how to make inferences by noting what’s stated and
what is implied – Lessons in Literacy #37
Additional Lessons If Needed:
 Demonstrate how dialogue in a story helps readers make inferences about the characters and
their relationships - Daybook of Critical Reading and Writing – Inferences From Dialogue –
Teacher’s Edition – Unit 5 - Lesson 3, page 102
 Model creating a story map of what’s happening to show students how you can make an
inference about a change in a character - Daybook of Critical Reading and Writing - Inferences
About Change – Teacher’s Edition – Unit 5 - Lesson 4, page 107
 Strategy Lesson: Inferring from the Cover and Illustrations as Well as the Text. Strategies That
Work by Harvey and Goudvis, page 106-109 (2nd edition page 140-141)
 Reader’s Response Notebook “What conclusions can you draw from the different Greek myths
read?
Instructional Resources
Nonfiction resources about Greece for students:
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/places/find/greece/
http://www.readworks.org/books/passages?tid=40&tid_1=All&keyword=greece
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Assessment
Anecdotal Notes
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Reader’s Response Notebooks – Checklist
and Rubric
Individual Reading Conferences
Conferences that support the teaching of
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the mini-lesson: follow up on teaching a
new strategy or understanding of the minlesson
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Revised 2013
Conferences that extend the teaching of
the mini-lesson: teach something that
builds on the mini-lesson and extends
student learning.
Conferences that develop the reader:
support the reader as he/she is developing
skills needed to become a life-long reader.
Observations within whole group, small
group, and teacher-student settings
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Professional Resources/Websites
Guiding Readers and Writers, Grades 3-5,
 Daybook of Critical Reading and Writing by
Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and
Great Source Education Group
Content Literacy, (Chapter 9, “Getting
 Reading Essentials by Regie Routman
Started: The First 20 Days of Independent
 Lessons in Literacy
Reading” by Irene Fountas and Gay Su
 Revisiting The Reading Workshop by
Pinnell
Barbara Orehovec and Marybeth Alley
Strategies that Work, Teaching
 www.readwritethink.org
Comprehension for Understanding and
 www.thinkfinity.org
Engagement by Stephanie Harvey and
 www.readinglady.com
Anne Goudvis
Common Core State Standards
RL.3.1
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the
basis for the answers.
RL.3.2
Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central
message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text
RL.3.3
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions
contribute to the sequence of events
RL.3.9
Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the
same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series)
SL.3.1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
SL.3.6
Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested
detail or clarification.
L.3.4a-d
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning word and phrases based on grade 3
reading and content, choosing flexibly from range of strategies.
L.3.6
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific
words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships.
Revised 2013