The Tortoise and the Hare

As a part of our study of fables and making connections to lessons in stories, we read The Tortoise and the Hare. The students discussed the author's purpose for writing and then wrote at least one connection they had to the story or one lesson they learned.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

A few weeks ago, as a part of our study of fables, we read The Boy Who Cried Wolf. The students then created foldables to retell the beginning, middle, and end. They wrote their sentences underneath the flaps and then illustrated that part of the story on top of the flap. The students now independently create foldables like this during Reading Workshop over their guided reading books.

The Tortoise and The Hare

As a part of our study of fables, we read "The Tortoise and The Hare." The students made connections to the story by either writing about a personal experience that it reminded them of or by writing about a lesson they learned from the story. Many of the students said that they learned it is not important to be first but that it is important to keep trying. They also said that the real winner is the one who doesn't give up. Most of them made the connection to our class motto which is that "It is not important to be first. It is important to be right."

The Ant and the Pigeon

This week we have been reading fables as a part of our unit on making connections. One of the fables we read was the African fable "The Ant and the Pigeon". The fable is about a pigeon who saves an ant. The ant then returns the favor. When a boy trys to shoot the pigeon, the ant crawls up his leg and bites him causing him to drop his bow and arrow. After reading, we discussed what the story reminded them of - their connections. Most of the connections were about times that someone helped them or they helped someone else. We then talked about what the lesson was trying to teach us. They said they learned that you should help someone who helps you, you should help someone even if you are smaller, and that you should be nice to everyone and not pick on anyone. I think these were great connections that they made to the moral of the story!