Today we are starting a new reading unit. Listen to the story I am going to read to you. It is a picture book. I want you to think about how this story is different than other stories that you have heard, read, or even written in the past.

The story is called Seven Blind Mice and was written by Ed Young.

• What things were different about this story?
• What was the literal meaning in the story? (What actually happened?)
• What was the figurative meaning of the story? (What is the deeper message that the author is trying to show?)

Let's use this story to review what we know about the parts of a story. What are the five parts of a story? What are they in Seven Blind Mice? Take a moment to think about this and share before continuing.

What do you think the purpose of this story is?

This story is an example of a fable. We are going to learn lots more about fables.

Do you know what it means to say that something is morally correct? It means that something is honest and fair.

For our unit we are going to learn a new meaning for the word moral. Instead of being an adjective, this new meaning is for when moral is used as a noun. In your table groups, I want you to look at the examples of morals and come up with a group definition of the word moral.

Each group will share its definition and we will create a class definition of the word.

Today we will look at a new strategy to help us learn vocabulary words. It is called a word map.

A word map looks like this:

We are going to fill out a word map as a class for the word moral. You will each have a word map to fill out, and I will fill one out on the overhead.

Once the word map is completed, write a definition of the word moral, in your own words, in the vocabulary section of your notebook.

Today you are going to read an article about fables in order to learn more about what exactly they are. As you are reading, or when you are finished, I want you to fill out a second word map for the word fable. It should be done like the one that we just made as a class for the word moral.

You should download and print the word map. If you would like more guidance, download form 1 and if you would like a challenge, download form 2.

The article is called "Fable" and it is from the Groiler Children's Encyclopedia.

Before we discuss the article as a class, turn to the person next to you and explain to them what a fable is, in your own words.

Now we are going to fill out a word map together, on the overhead. You can make changes if you like, but remember that not everyone should have the exact same information on his or her word map. Each of us has unique ideas!

How are fables like other stories that you have heard and read? What makes them different?

Now that we have discussed what a fable is, write a definition in your own words, in the vocabulary section of your notebook.

Reread paragraph four, and this time, think about how fables were created and how and when they were recorded. Are the fables that we have recorded today different from the originals? Why?

You are probably thinking that most fables were originally told orally. It took many years until someone finally wrote them down. Fables probably changed after being retold so many times before being written down. Also, many fables have been translated from other languages. For these reasons, many fables are different today than when they were originally told, and there can be many versions of the same fable.

At the end of this unit, we will all be writing our own fables. Start thinking about some possible topics for writing a fable. Use what you learned today about what makes a fable different from other stories and what we learned about morals to brainstorm some good ideas and record them on a blank sheet of paper. You can make a cluster web or a simple list.

When you are finished, put your idea sheet in your folder. You can continue to add to it for the next several days.

Click the links below to see how you will be assessed for this lesson:

Word map

Definitions