Rowan University College of Education
Elementary Education Lesson Plan
TEACHER’S NAME: Sanjana Hossain
GRADE: 3rd
SUBJECT/S: English Language Arts
LESSON & UNIT TOPIC: Fables
TIME FRAME: 50 minutes
NJCCCS AND COMMON CORE INDICATOR(S):
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.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.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using
effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
ENDURING UNDERSTANDING:
I want my students to understand the elements of a fable.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION(S):
How are fables different from a short story or novel?
LESSON OUTCOMES
Content Outcome:
The students will know the elements of a fable.
Performance Outcome:
The students will be able to create their own fable using their knowledge of the elements of a fable.
CONTENT SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE:
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A fable is a form of literary fiction that often involves magical creatures and places and has a
moral to the story it tells. Its origins are unknown, but they are probably as old as spoken
language itself. Though fables are usually written in prose form, they often have an alliteration or
metrical rhyming sense to them known as verse, which is an early form of poetry. The characters
in these stories usually represent archetypes of powerful human emotions such as greed,
foolishness, love, and self-sacrifice (Fables - The fable's History).
One of the core features of most fables is that they include elements of the natural environment,
along with native animals, forests, lakes, and other features of the region. In many cultures, they
provide a rich oral history of the past. Some cultures such as that of the Irish, Celtic, or Gaelic
people tend to have popular and memorable fables, which spread around the world and are
adopted by other cultures (Fables - The fable's History).
Though fables involve the natural environment, talking animals, and archetype humans, they also
often feature tales of gods and humanity's attempts to understand life's meaning. As human
culture began to become mechanized, fables left their pastoral origins behind and became more
critical of human behavior and avarice. This was the birth in western culture of the Aesopic fable,
named after Aesop, a slave who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BC. Most of the
well-told stories in western culture today originated in the time of Aesop, though no direct
writings can be attributed to him (A Short History of the Aesopic Fable - Joseph Jacobs).
The telling of a fable today is considered something for an audience of children. Since they are
relatively short stories that are full of wondrous events and teach values, they are considered a
good way of educating children in proper behavior in society. In the Middle Ages, however, these
stories were considered to be an element of high literature and were adult stories meant to convey
adult themes. A famous French fabulist, or fable teller, of the time, Jean de La Fontaine, who
lived from 1621 to 1695, used such narrative storytelling as a means of criticizing the court, the
church, and the ruling class of his day. His example was later followed by English, Spanish, and
Russian fabulists in their own native lands (Elements of a fable).
ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING:
(1) What your evidence will be showing your students have achieved the above outcomes:
The students’ fable story maps for both “A Raven and a Swan” and their own fable map will be the
formal assessment of whether the students achieved the outcomes for the lesson. During the lesson, the
students’ participation will serve as an informal assessment of the learning and performance outcomes.
(2) The criteria you will establish for evaluating student performance and how you will make these
clear to the students and differentiate as needed:
The students’ story map for their fable along with their fable will be evaluated to check if the students’
learning and performance outcomes were met: (50 points for the story map and 50 points for creating the
fable)
The independent practice will be graded out of 100 points, which will indicate the following:
90-100 points: high understanding of the elements of a fable.
75- 89 points: medium understanding of the elements of a fable.
74 points and lower: low understanding of the elements of a fable.
(3) How you will collect, analyze, and record the assessment data:
During the checking for understanding section, I will make a mental note of the overall
responses. If the majority of students display accuracy of the material, then I will move on. If
majority of the students do not display accuracy of the material, then I will wait to see if they are
able to understand the material during guided practice. During guided practice, I will record the
students’ answers onto my personal notebook of students’ data. Then, the independent practice
will be recorded into my grade book, where the grades of the students are available
(4) How you will communicate the results to students:
If I notice that the majority of the students do not grasp the material after guided practice, then I
will explain the material again in a different way. If only a few students, about two, show that
they do not grasp the material, then I will explain the material again to them in a different way
within a small group. The students will receive their independent practice worksheets back with
their grades and written feedback. If students need to consult with me about their grades, they
will be able to with me privately. If more than 60% of the class received a 74 lower on their
independent practice worksheets, then I will reteach the material in a different way.
(5) How you will use the data to inform subsequent instruction:
If the majority of the grades on the independent practice are within the middle to high range, then
we will continue with the next lesson; on the other hand, if the majority of students receive
grades in the low range, then the lesson needs to be taught in a different way.
CONNECTIONS:
 Prior learning: The students have been exposed to many fables. Usually during the literacy block,
every day the students listen to a read aloud. For the past few months, the students have been
listening to many different fables. Since the students have a good idea of what to expect from a
fable, they will know which elements to look for while reading and creating their own fables.
 Students’ daily lives: The point of a fable is to convey a message or moral to its audience. Knowing
this, when students are exposed to these morals, they will be able to reflect and incorporate the
morals into their lives as well. It will help the students to know right from wrong in their daily lives.
TEACHER RESOURCES:
A Short History of the Aesopic Fable - Joseph Jacobs. (2014). Retrieved from
http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/jjacobs/bl-jjacobs-aesop.htm
Aesop's Fables. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.taleswithmorals.com/
Elements of a fable. (2001). Retrieved from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/2913?ref=popular
Fables - The fable's History. (2004). Retrieved from http://www.lefavole.org/en/storia.htm
LIST OF STUDENT MATERIALS:
 writing utensil (one per student)
 “A Raven and a Swan” (one per student)
 Fable Story Map (one per student)
LEARNING EXPERIENCE
STEP-BY-STEP PROCEDURE:
 Hook – “Square team, we have been reading and listening to many fables. Can someone remind
me what fables teach us? (teaches us a lesson) Now I want you to close your eyes, and pick a
moral or message that is important to you.” (5 minutes)
 Teaching of Content – first the students will receive a copy of “A Raven and a Swan” and
looking at the picture, will try to make predictions as to what the fable may be about. Next, I
will read the fable, as well as ask questions and clarify parts of the fable that may be confusing
for the students. (10 minutes)
 Checking for Understanding :
1. How do you know when a story is a fable?
2. What is the problem in the “A Raven and a Swan”?
3. How can you learn from “A Raven and a Swan”?
 Guided Practice – We will analyze the elements of a fable such as setting, characters, problem,
solution and moral for “A Raven and a Swan” by completing the graphic organizer, titled “Fable
Story Map”. Next, the students will complete the same graphic organizer for the fable that they
will write. Using the moral that they choose during the beginning of the lesson, I will encourage
them to make that the center of their fable. (15 minutes)
 For students on a lower comprehension level, will be able to work with a partner
to analyze the elements of a fable.
 Independent Practice – Using their graphic organizers, the students will create their own fables.
(20 minutes)
 For higher students, they will have to incorporate an idiom in their fables.
 For the lower students, I will allow them to finish their fables for homework.
 Closure – To close the lesson, the students who have completed their fables will be able to share
it with the other students.
A Raven & a Swan
A Raven , which you kn ow is black as coal, was
en viou s of the S wan, becau se her feathers were as
white as the pu rest snow. The foolish bird got the idea
that if he lived like the S wan , swimming an d diving all
day long an d eating the weeds an d plants that grow in
the water, his feathers wou ld tu rn white like the
S wan' s.
S o he left his home in the wo ods an d fields an d
flew down to live on the lakes an d in the marshes. Bu t
thou gh he washed an d washed all day long, almost
drowning himself at it, his feathers remain ed as black
as ever. An d as the water weeds he ate did not agree
with him, he got thinn er an d thinn er, an d at last he
died.
A change of habits will not alter nature.
s:
Fable Story Map
Title:________________________________________________
Setting:
Problem:
Solution: