The
Fable
Writing I
Length: 4 to 5 Weeks
The Fable
WI – Lesson 1
The Fable follows the structure of a short story with a few fun additions: animal
characters and a moral!
Materials:
Writer Binder
Pencil
Fable Worksheet
Plotline Worksheet
Goal: The writer will write a fable that has a moral and animals as characters.
Teach: Let your writer know the FINAL OUTCOME: You will write a short
story, three paragraphs or more, in the form of a fable.
A FABLE is a short story with animals (or sometimes flowers, trees, etc.) as the
main characters that teach a lesson. This lesson is called the MORAL. A MORAL
is the lesson learned from the story.
NOTE: Many people use the term fable and folktales interchangeably. Both the
folktale and the fable are typically stories from different cultures and different
countries around the world that have been told from one generation to the next.
Many times, especially before different cultures had a written language, these
legends were passed along by oral tradition—telling the stories aloud.
Often, folktales teach a lesson or give moral instruction about how people should
behave. For example, a folk tale might teach a lesson about honesty, integrity,
kindness, or perseverance.
While a FABLE is a folktale, it differs in that fables are stories that weren’t
necessarily passed along by oral tradition. Fables also feature animals who talk like
people as the main characters in the story.
Share and discuss fables your writer may have read as a child. Ask your writer to
identify the animal characters and the moral of the story.
Examples: “The Hare and the Tortoise” – Aesop
“The Lion and the Mouse” – Aesop
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“How Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp For Mr. Fox” – Joel Chandler
Harris (Uncle Remus)
“The Tale of Peter Rabbit” – Beatrix Potter
“The Tale of Two Bad Mice” – Beatrix Potter
Use a fable example to review the elements of a short story:
Plot – The beginning, middle, and end; the what, how and why of the
story.
Conflict – the struggle that the characters face.
Characters – the who of the story.
Setting – Real or imaginary—it is the where and when of the story.
The three elements of setting are Time, Place and Environment.
Now it is time to BRAINSTORM! Give your writer a copy of the FABLE
WORKSHEET Since fables were often told to teach children a lesson, decide on
your moral first!
Examples:
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
Be happy with what you have.
Honesty is the best policy.
Those who try to please everyone end up
pleasing no one.
No one believes a liar, even when he tells
the truth.
Actions speak louder than words.
Write your MORAL on the Fable Worksheet. Take a few minutes to BRAINSTORM
ideas for the PLOT, CHARACTERS, and SETTING of your fable. Don’t forget to
include in your plot how your characters will learn their lesson. And remember,
use animals for your characters! Be creative in the animals you choose. Do you
need a wise owl or mischievous mouse? Maybe you want a sluggish sloth or a
hyper cat!
Give your writer a copy of the PLOTLINE WORKSHEET.
Assignment: Using the Fable Worksheet, complete the Plotline Worksheet for
your fable! Be creative and don’t forget that your characters will need to learn
their lesson at the end!
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The Fable
The good the bad, and the
sidekicks!
(Remember to use animals!)
Characters
Reality or Realm? Time?
Place? Environment?
Setting
Moral: _____________________________________________________________________
Plot
What happened? How did it happen? Why did it
happen? How does it end? What is the conflict or
struggle?
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The Fable
WI – Lesson 2
Materials:
Writer Binder
Pencil
Fable Worksheet - Completed
Plotline Worksheet – Completed
Setting Worksheet
Review:
Fable vs. Folktale
Moral - the lesson to be learned from the story.
Plot – The beginning, middle, and end; the what, how and why of the story.
Conflict – the struggle that the characters face.
Characters – the who of the story.
Setting – Real or imaginary—it is the where and when of the story.
The three elements of setting are Time, Place and Environment.
Teach:
Do you remember the three elements of setting we talked about when you wrote
your short story? (Place, Time, and Environment) Setting is an important part of
your story. What if Narnia (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) was on a
cloud? Or what if Neverland (Peter Pan) was underwater? How would this change
what takes place in the story?
Think of your favorite book or movie. How would the plot be different if the setting
changed? Would this change how the characters dressed or how they lived?
Give your writer a copy of the SETTING WORKSHEET. Take out your Fable
Worksheet. Since your characters are animals, your setting is very important. You
wouldn’t have polar bears living in the Bahamas would you? Or chickens in
Antarctica? Think about your characters and the setting you created. Do they work
with each other? If not, you may want to make a few changes.
On the Setting Worksheet, add details to your setting. Remember, the three details
of setting are PLACE, TIME, and ENVIRONMENT.
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Place – Where does the story take place? (City, state, country, castle, outer
space, cottage, store, school, mountain, or boat)
Time – When does the story take place? (Morning, evening, night, past,
future, or medieval times)
Environment – How would you describe the place? (Weather, plants,
animals, or sounds)
Fill in each of the boxes on your worksheet with the details of your setting. Be
creative! Use the large box to sketch any other ideas that pop into your head: a
map of your world, a building, etc.
NOTE: In a co-op setting, take time to share in class.
There are many ways to introduce your reader to your setting. You can start by
telling the them.
Example: It was a dark and stormy night on the island of Madagascar.
(Environment) (Time)
(Place)
Or, show them through the actions of the characters!
Example: Carol opened her umbrella and looked up at the clouded
Madagascar moon.
(Environment)
(Place)
(Time)
Assignment: Using the Fable Worksheet, Plotline Worksheet, and Setting
Worksheet, write or type the first draft of your fable! Don’t forget what you
learned about characters when you wrote your short story! Remember to skip a
line if you hand write and double space if you type your fable.
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Setting
Place – Where does the story take
place? (City, state, country, castle,
outer space, cottage, store, school,
mountain, or boat)
Time – When does the story take
place? (Morning, evening, night,
past, future, or medieval times)
Environment – How would you
describe the place? (Weather,
plants, animals, or sounds)
Place
Time
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Environment
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The Fable
WI – Lesson 3
Materials:
Writer Binder
Pencil
First Draft of Fable
Adjectives, Adverbs, and Alliteration Worksheet
Review:
Fable vs. Folktale
Moral - the lesson to be learned from the story.
Plot – The beginning, middle, and end; the what, how and why of the story.
Conflict – the struggle that the characters face.
Characters – the who of the story.
Setting – Real or imaginary—it is the where and when of the story.
Place – Where does the story take place? (City, state, country,
castle, outer space, cottage, store, school, mountain, or boat)
Time – When does the story take place? (Morning, evening, night,
past, future, or medieval times)
Environment – How would you describe the place? (Weather, plants,
animals, or sounds)
NOTE: If you are in a co-op setting, take a few minutes to share a few of the
stories. Be sure to point out the characters, setting, and moral of each one.
Teach: Have your writer read their story aloud to you. If they stumble over a part
or notice an error, have your writer make a note on the side of their paper. They
can fix mistakes when they write the next draft.
Now it is time to bring your writing to life! One way to do this is by using
adjectives, adverbs, and alliteration.
Give your writer a copy of the ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, and ALLITERATION
WORKSHEET. Go over the following definitions and have your writer fill in the
missing words:
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Adjectives – A word that describes a noun.
Example: The fluffy dog frolicked in the snow. (“Fluffy” is the
adjective)
*Have your writer locate a place in their fable where they can
use an adjective and rewrite that sentence with the adjective on
the line labeled “Your Sentence”.
Adverbs – A word that describes an adjective, verb, or another
adverb. (Will sometimes end in “ly”.)
Example: The fluffy dog playfully frolicked in the snow.
(“Playfully” is the adverb.)
*Have your writer locate a sentence in their fable where they
can use an adverb. Ask your writer to rewrite that sentence with
the adverb on the line labeled “Your Sentence”.
Alliteration - the repetition of the same sound or letter at the
beginning of each or most of the words in a sentence. The
easiest way to use alliteration would be to repeat the starting
letter of the words.
Example: The fluffy dog frolicked playfully in the soft, slippery
snow. (“Soft, slippery snow” is the alliteration.)
*Have your writer locate a sentence in their fable where they
can use alliteration. Ask your writer to rewrite that sentence
using alliteration on the line labeled “Your Sentence”.
NOTE: In a co-op setting, take time to share sentences.
Read through your fable once more. This time look carefully at each sentence. Can
you bring your writing to life by adding more description? Where can you use
adjectives, adverbs, and alliteration? On your first draft, add in adjectives,
adverbs, and alliteration to bring your writing to life! Try to have at least one of
the three in EACH paragraph.
Assignment: Rewrite or type your first draft, adding in description, adjectives,
adverbs, and alliteration. Remember to skip a line if you hand write and double
space if you type your fable.
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Adjectives,
Adverbs, & Alliteration
Adjectives – A word that describes a ________.
Your Sentence:
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Adverbs – A word that describes an adjective,
______, or another adverb. (Will sometimes end
in ______.)
Your Sentence:
__________________________________________________________________
Alliteration - the repetition of the same _______
or _______ at the beginning of each or most of the
words in a sentence. The easiest way to use
alliteration would be to repeat the starting letter
of the words.
Your Sentence:
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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The Fable
WI – Lesson 4
Materials:
Writer Binder
Pencil
Second Draft of Fable
Editing Checklist - The Fable
Review:
Fable vs. Folktale
Moral - the lesson to be learned from the story.
Plot – The beginning, middle, and end; the what, how and why of the story.
Conflict – the struggle that the characters face.
Characters – the who of the story.
Setting – Real or imaginary—it is the where and when of the story.
Place – Where does the story take place? (City, state, country,
castle, outer space, cottage, store, school, mountain, or boat)
Time – When does the story take place? (Morning, evening, night,
past, future, or medieval times)
Environment – How would you describe the place? (Weather, plants,
animals, or sounds)
Adjectives – A word that describes a noun.
Adverbs – A word that describes an adjective, verb, or another
adverb. (Will sometimes end in “ly”.)
Alliteration - the repetition of the same sound or letter at the
beginning of each or most of the words in a sentence. The
easiest way to use alliteration would be to repeat the starting
letter of the words.
Teach: Using the Proofreading Marks worksheet in the tools section of your writer
binder, look for any errors that need to be corrected in your Fable. Be sure to
mark them with the correct proofreading mark.
NOTE: If you are in a co-op setting, this is a great time to have the writers
exchange papers.
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Once your writer has proofread their first draft for errors, give them a copy of the
EDITING CHECKLIST for The Fable.
Using the Editing Checklist, make sure you have completed all the requirements
for The Fable. If you said ‘no’ to any of the questions on the checklist, fix your
mistakes when you write your final draft.
Assignment: Write or type the final draft of your Fable. Don’t forget to skip a line
if you hand write the fable or double space if you plan to type it. NOTE: Encourage
your writer to read their fable out loud to see if it makes sense.
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diting Checklist
The Fable
Author: __________________________________________
Title of Work: _____________________________________
Didyougiveyourfableatitle?
__________
Didyouindenteachnewparagraph?
__________
Doyouhaveatleastthreeparagraphs? __________
Doyouhave3to5sentencesineachparagraph?
__________
Didyouusedialoguecorrectly?
__________
Didyoustartanewparagraphwitheachnewspeaker?
__________
Didyouusetimeorder/transitionwords?
__________
Doyouhavea“GoodBeginning”? __________
Doesyourfablehaveamoral?
__________
Didyouuseatleastoneelementofsetting?
(Time,Place,Environment) __________
Doesyourstorytakeplaceinanothercountryorspecific
area?
__________
Didyouuseadjectives,alliteration,oradverbsineach
paragraph?
__________
Didyouuseanimalsascharacters? __________
Didyouusecorrectcapitalization? __________
Doyouhaveclearorganization–abeginning,middle,
andend? __________
Didyouendeachsentencewiththecorrectpunctuation? __________
Didyouusestrongverbs?
__________ Doallofyoursentencesmakesense?
__________
Doyouhaveanymisspelledwords?
__________
Those Words: (Be sure to add these to your list and find a better word to replace it!)
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Scoring Guide
The Fable
Author: __________________________________________
Title of Work: _____________________________________
5PointsEach
Isthefinaldrafttypedorneatlyhandwritten? __________
Doesthefablehaveatitle? __________
Doesthefablehavea“GoodBeginning”? __________
Didtheauthortellafable? __________
Doesthefablehaveatleastthreeparagraphs? __________
Iseachparagraphofthefableindented? __________
Doesthefablehave3to5sentencesineachparagraph?
__________
Didtheauthorusedialogue? __________
Didtheauthorindentwitheachnewspeaker? __________
Didtheauthorusecorrectdialoguepunctuation?
__________
Didtheauthorusetimeorder/transitionwords?
__________
Doesthefabletakeplaceinanothercountryorspecificarea?
__________
Doesthefablehaveaplotwithabeginning,middleandend?
__________
Doesthefablehaveamoral? __________
Didtheauthorchoosestrongverbs?
__________
Doesthefablehaveanimalsascharacters?
__________
Didtheauthoruseadjectives,alliteration,oradverbs?
__________
Didtheauthorusecorrectcapitalizationandpunctuation? __________
Doalloftheauthor’ssentencesmakesense? __________
Doesthefablehaveanymisspelledwords?
__________
Total _________/100
*Onepointoffforeachmisspelledword.Takeonlyaone-pointdeductionfor
repeatedmisspellings.
*Addapointforeachvocabularyword(optional)
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The Fable
WI – Lesson 5
OPTIONAL
Use this week to review, go over Scoring Guide, and assign corrections—see
Getting Started for more information on corrections.
Items for Review:
Biography vs. Autobiography
Brainstorming
Organizing
Beginnings
Drafting
Time Order Words
Onomatopoeia
Paragraphing
Editing
Thesis Sentence
Restated Thesis
Strong Verbs
Data
Facts
Comparison
Contrast
Plot
Elements of Setting
Characters
Conflict
Genre
Dialogue
Fable vs. Folktale
Moral
Plot
Conflict
Adjectives
Adverbs
Alliteration
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