Write Task: Fables

I gained so much from engaging with the various texts about fables. Not only have I “cemented down” my idea of what a fable actually is and what it means when a text is labeled as one, but I even did some more research on some popular fables and read some additional ones (“The Tortoise and the Hare,” “Town Mouse, Country Mouse,”and “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”). I also did additional research in a textbook I have for my EDU 407 class titled “Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach” by Gail E. Tompkins since I remembered it touched on the fables genre. I found it extremely helpful that Tompkins spells out the differences of fables, folktales, myths, and legends and even gives examples of each. I personally loved her clear, simple, and easy-to-follow definition for fables: “brief tales told to point out a moral” (page 259). I often found myself getting confused prior to reading between fables and folktales for example, but now I have a solid understanding that is sure to follow me into my practice as a teacher one day.

However, with regards to the readings presented in the module, I found these readings great too! This collection of readings really gave me a good sense as to what a fable is and how they can work to teach kids lessons or build character. While I do not believe that every story has to have a clear lesson or moral, like “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” that teaches not to lie to others, for example, I do believe they can be remarkable in teaching lessons and save children time from, as some would put it, “learning lessons the hard way.” Plus, I think it is just important to read aloud, provide in the classroom, etc. books and novels from a variety of different genres. Some students will definitely gravitate to the narrative genres. Three subcategories for narrative genres are folklore (which includes fables), fantasies, and realistic fiction. It is critical that students are often presented with choices and are able to choose to read books they are highly interested in (or think they will be). I know, personally, when I was a child, my favorite genre was nonfiction because I loved to know more about the world and explore it. While maybe not as popular among children as fantasy, for instance, it was my favorite and I am so glad my teachers never hesitated to provide these types of texts. They were always in the classroom library labeled on a colorful index card for me to pick out and read too.

Because fables point out a moral and readers leave having gained some knowledge about how to behave, how to act, what to do, what not to do, etc., presenting/engaging with fables can be very beneficial for students. They are essentially fun ways to learn lessons.

However, it does not stop there! As one of the articles mentioned, fables contribute to many other things. For example, students are able to learn about other cultures and explore other ways of seeing the world through fables. Furthermore, fables provide opportunities for children to appreciate other traditions, model character traits, and discover a love of reading and stories (which, for me, is a really big one)!

We teachers can certainly engage with fables with our students! And, in my view, we should! We should engage in read alouds with students and have meaningful, enriching, and engaging discussions before, during, and after about the lessons possibly or clearly being presented and who we feel about it. Two possible questions to ask could be: How could we fix what went “wrong” in this fable? What did the characters learn? These are just examples I came up with, but fables lend themselves well to lots of conclusions, questions (“what if” questions too) and observations. Fables are so enriching and interesting despite their brief length. However, considering young children may have shorter attention spans, as one of the articles mentioned, fables’ brevity could be highly useful, relevant, appropriate, and impactful.

As I mentioned, we teachers should definitely include fables in our lessons and offer a variety of fables for students to read during choice time, center time, independent reading time, etc., but how?

Well, besides reading aloud fables to the class, we can have students engage in activities related to fables. For example, we can have writing centers/activities related to fables, a sequencing activity either before, during, or after reading a fable that highlights the key points/events in the story, etc.

Another great way to teach fables is to have students rewrite them to be well-suited to the present day and time as many fables date back hundreds or thousands of years. This will definitely get “those creative juices flowing” and probably prompt students to learn more about the differences between today and many years ago. This will allow students to tap into their critical thinking skills, creativity, and more as they write their own unique stories and fables. While these are just some ideas, I am confident that there are more.

As you can see, fables can help bridge the gap between lessons and fun. Children learn best through play and having fun (and don’t we all learn best through authentic activities and experiences?) so it is essential that we teachers recognize this. Fables can be great ways to teach lessons so students do not have to go through, for example, the process of lying and being caught if we read “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” to the class. Although we cannot assure or assume that students will never lie after reading this popular fable, we can be confident in knowing that it will make some sort of impression on children. Fables are vital to children’s development of character as well because children may often “zone out” or pay less attention when teachers, parents, relatives, etc. just spew lessons like “tell the truth/don’t lie” on to them. Fables can be so much more meaningful for students and I truly believe that. Fables should certainly be incorporated and integrated into a well-rounded classroom even if their only benefit was this. However, as we know, though, and as I discussed here, fables do so much more than that. There should be a fable for adults about what happens when you do not read and teach fables! I am sure the outcome would be much like “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” in the sense that the outcome would not be so positive.