Fables and Theme

The Dog and his Bone

     A dog found a bone. He growled at anyone who tried taking it. He went to the woods to bury it.

     When he crossed a bridge over a stream, he looked in the water. He thought his reflection was another dog with a bigger bone. He growled. His reflection growled back.

     The greedy dog wanted that bone. He snapped his teeth at the water.

     As he snapped his teeth, his bone fell in the water!

adapted from http://www.storyarts.org/library/aesops/stories/dog.html

What is the theme of the story?

• There are always bigger bones to get

• Dogs should not stop at streams

• It does not pay to be greedy

• Dogs like to growl

Tags

CCSS.RL.3.9

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.4.9

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.5.9

How the Porcupine Got Quills

     The Menominee Indians say that the first porcupine had no quills. Porcupine was a gift from the Great Spirit. He had a smooth coat of fur.

     The other animals wanted Porcupine's perfect fur. Every day, they told Porcupine that they wanted to look like him.

     One day, Porcupine decided to find out what he looked like.

     Porcupine stopped by a pond. Using the water as a mirror, he looked at his fur. Porcupine thought his fur was beautiful. He sat by the pond to look at his fur for 10 moons.

     The Great Spirit had been watching Porcupine. He felt that Porcupine spent too much time looking at his nice fur. He decided to teach Porcupine a lesson.

     The Great Spirit covered Porcupine's body with ugly, sharp quills. Porcupine did not want to look at himself anymore. Porcupine now hides during the day. He comes out only at night.

What is the theme of the story?

• Nothing is perfect

• Beauty is not everything

• Believing everything said by others is foolish

• Wanting what others have leads to trouble

Tags

CCSS.RL.3.9

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.4.9

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.5.9

The Ant and the Grasshopper

     One summer day, a grasshopper was playing. An ant passed by, taking food to his nest.

     "Come play with me," said the grasshopper.

     "I am storing food for winter," said the ant. "You should, too."

     "Winter is far away," said the grasshopper. "We have plenty of food now."

     The ant kept working. The grasshopper kept playing. Winter came. The grasshopper had no food and was hungry. The ant had food and was full all winter.

adapted from http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/AntGra.shtml

What is the theme of the story?

• It is best to plan for the future

• It is best to work and never play

• It is more fun being a grasshopper than an ant

• The ant liked to eat alot

Tags

CCSS.RL.3.9

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.4.9

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.5.9

X Marks the Spot

     There once was a farmer who had lazy sons. He told them to search for a treasure buried in the yard.

     The sons thought the treasure was gold. They dug up the whole yard searching for gold! After years of searching, they never found treasure. However, their digging in the yard was perfect for farming vegetables.

     Soon, the sons had so many vegetables that they were rich. They grew wealthy from their own hard work!

http://www.storyarts.org/library/aesops/stories/xmarks.html

1. What is the theme of the story?

• The lazy sons hated working

• The treasure was hard to find

• Sometimes you can do things without even knowing it

• Sometimes vegetables are treasures

Tags

CCSS.RL.3.9

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.4.9

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.5.9

Deep in the forest, a tall fir tree stood beside a twisted, thorny bush.

     One day, the fir asked, "Bush, if you had one wish in all the world, would you want to be a tall, straight fir tree like me?"

     "No," said the twisted bush. "Just like you, I am proud of what I am. When the woodcutter comes to cut tall straight firs, would you rather be a twisted, thorny bush like me?"

adapted from http://www.storyarts.org/library/nutshell/stories/fir.html

1. By the end of this story, what lesson did the fir tree learn?

• A bush is always twisted

• Be proud of who you are

• Bushes are better than trees

• Fir trees are very straight

Tags

CCSS.RL.1.10

CCSS.RL.2.2

CCSS.RL.3.2

CCSS.RL.K.5

Henrietta the Hen

by Shanti Coleman

     Henrietta the hen did not like to do things right away. She always found a reason to do things later.

     One day, the other hens were doing chores when they felt a drop of rain. They knew they had to put straw over their houses to keep their nests dry.

     All the hens, except Henrietta, covered their houses with straw.

     Henrietta kept putting it off. Then the rain came. It dripped right into her nest!

1. What is the theme of the story?

• Rain can get nests wet

• Henrietta had a house

• Chores are dull

• Do not wait to do things until later

Tags

CCSS.RL.3.9

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.4.9

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.5.9

The Pitcher and the Crow

     Once, a crow was thirsty. He saw a little water at the bottom of a tall pitcher. He could not reach the water at the bottom, though.

     The crow thought and he got an idea. He took a pebble and dropped it in the pitcher.

     He dropped more pebbles until the water was at the top of the pitcher.

     As he drank, the crow thought, "No problem is too big if I think about it."

adapted from http://www.storyarts.org/library/aesops/stories/pitcher.html

What is the theme of "The Pitcher and the Crow"?

• No problem is too big to handle

• Pebbles always help get water

• Pitchers make it hard to get water

• Some problems have no solution

Tags

CCSS.RL.3.9

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.4.9

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.5.9