Fable Activity - Folklore Genre

This activity worked very well with my students, so I thought I would share.

I went to www.aesopfables.com and printed six fables from Aesop. I made out a packet of questions...one question on each page, stapled together...four questions and four pages all together..this would be activity one. I put the students in groups of two or three and gave each group a fable to read and a set of questions. They had 13 minutes to read and answer each question. The questions were all regarding the text. The questions were as follows: 1. what genre is your text? How do you know? 2. What is the moral of the fable? Prove your answer using examples from the text. 3. Think about the moral of your fable. Now, recall a time in your own life that your experience, heard about or saw on tv where this same more was portrayed. Explain. 4. Compare and Contrast the protagonist and antagonist in the story using a venn diagram. Prove your answer by giving examples from the text.

Then, I had a set of questions on the interwrite board..to break the monotony and to change the lighting and sensuality of the room. The students had 8 minutes to complete Activity Two. This activity was another set of questions, which were as follows: 1. Identify figurative language in your fable. Prove your answer by giving examples from the text. 2. What is the point of view of the fable? Prove your answer with text from the fable. 3. Describe the imagery in the fable. What senses do the images appeal to? Prove your answer.

After Activity Two was over, I switched the interwrite board to Activity Three. The students had three minutes to finish Activity 3. Actvity 3 was as follows: Paraphrase your fable in two sentences.

After Activity Three was over, they were to begin Activity Four. Activity Four was as follows: Pretend you are writing a childrens' book. Your fable is next in line to be printed. Illustrate the moral of your fable as best inferred from your reading and understanding. They had 4 minutes to complete this activity. Afterwards, they chose a report to stand up and tell their findings from the activities.

This was a very active and urgent excerise. The students did finish the activities, and I got a great response from them. They were fully engaged the entire time. This activity provided as a gateway to higher-order thinking. I will definitely implement it in other ways as we progress.