Fables in the Classroom

I love teaching fables in the classroom. They are quick, full of lessons, and have such wonderful teaching moments. BUT, I always felt like I never had enough fable resources in my teacher toolkit. I was just grabbing from here and there, and I never took the time to pull all of my ideas together. Over the past week, I finally took the time to gather all of my fable fun. In this blog post, I am going to share 5 of my favorite fables. I’ll give you links to videos you can share in the classroom AND I have a couple of freebies for you along the way. Plus, some extra fable activities I recommend to expand the lesson. I’ll also share the moral of each fable. Sometimes I simplify the moral to put it into words that students can actually understand.

To start off, here is a fable poster that I show to students. We discuss that fables teach a lesson, are short stories, and most of the characters are animals. You can grab the poster HERE.

THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE

The Tortoise and the Hare is a great fable to start with because most students are familiar with it. The lesson is easy to pick up on and students can easily identify the elements of a fable.

MORAL: SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE

THE FOX AND THE GRAPES

The Fox and the Grapes teaches a great lesson about what happens when we try but ultimately give up. This is so relatable for us because often times we may try once or twice, but sometimes we just give up way too easy.

MORAL: WE MISS OUT WHEN WE GIVE UP

THE ANTS AND THE GRASSHOPPER

The Ants and the Grasshopper teaches a lesson about what happens when you play, play, play and don’t do your work. There are a few versions of this fable, but most of them involve the grasshopper playing all summer while the ants store up food for winter

MORAL: WORK HARD AND PLAN AHEAD

Here is a FREE activity for you to go along with this fable. Students create the ant and retell the story. You can grab that HERE!

THE FLIES AND THE HONEY

The Flies and the Honey may be a new fable for your students. I like to add in ones that aren’t quite as familiar so that students aren’t just recalling what they have heard before.

MORAL: THINK BEFORE YOU ACT

THE LION AND THE MOUSE

Some of my favorite fables are the ones where the smallest creature is the hero of the story. That’s the case with The Lion and the Mouse. The mouse gets his way out of a sticky situation and helps lion do the same later on.

MORAL: IT PAYS TO BE KIND.

MORE FABLE ACTIVITIES

For activities, directed drawings, and assessments that go along with all five of these fables, click HERE!

I hope that helps as you are planning your fable lessons and activities!

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