|
The three levels of students at the Norwood Adult ESOL Program where I teach responded enthusiastically to a unit on fables. I secured the easy reader version of Aesop's Fables, retold by Tana Reiff,with an audiotape from the Minuteman Library Catalog. (See details at the end of this article for locating resources.)*
Using Fables: Step by Step
First, we read the fable aloud and worked out any new vocabulary. Then we listened to the tape. The next time we listened to the tape, the students spoke the words with the narrator as a language lab activity. Since fables are told about the past, we learned about irregular past participles and the different pronunciations of the final "ed".
In the initial lesson, we took time to reflect on individual learning styles; students raised their hands to fill in a class chart on "How I Learn Best."
I then asked each student to tell a traditional tale from his or her own country. This was a great exercise because it allowed different talents to shine. One of our timid students shared three Russian folktales that she told to young children in her country.
Writing Our Own Fables
As a group, we wrote our own fable. Each student contributed a sentence or two. The advanced beginning class created a new story with all the elements of a traditional fable. The intermediate class decided to tell the Cinderella story and commented on how much of it was from the Disney version! Our advanced students modified some traditional tales: they substituted the names of family members or groups of people who use the "rabbit/hare" or "turtle/tortoise" approaches to life. We ended up with a philosophical discussion of the variations and similarities in human nature and the possible causes of these. We ended up wondering if we are really that different from one another, despite our different cultural backgrounds, in grounds, in the end. Next, we went to work writing our own individual fable-like stories in the advanced and intermediate classes. Students either wrote a story they had heard as a child or told their children, or created an original tale. Again, it was a great pleasure because one intermediate student, who agonizes when she writes (mostly phonetically), put her pencil to the paper and didn't stop for 25 minutes! She was so absorbed and proud of her work.One advanced student used the opportunity to parody this literature form.
Students Working Together
I then worked with the intermediate teacher, Marie Kelley; We had intermediate students read their writings to the advanced beginners. This was a very dynamic class as many stories, such as "Jack in the Beanstalk," are common across cultures. We heard divergent ways Jack aquired the beans and very different ideas about the rewards at the top of the beanstalk. Rewards varied from a feastto a golden egg, even in the two Brazilian versions.
Marie also read the beginning of "Little Red Riding Hood" and asked if any one knew the ending. Another student had written the Korean version, which also includes themes from several other tales, and I read it without the ending. Here was another reason for celebration. A beginning student, who never speaks unless spoken to, finished the story for the two classes.
Language Skills
Of course, we were able to practice the vocabulary needed to analyze similarities and differences among the fables so we could discuss the tales read by the students. Also, we gave students a "listening for a purpose" activity: We asked each student to generate one question based on each story he or she listened to. We then had the students listen to the stories intently because we asked one question for each story. So, we were able to practice asking questions, using the past tense.
Later, we illustrated our stories. All of this became the material for a beautiful "story quilt." A couple of students volunteered to create a bulletin board from the printed stories and illustrations. Everyone participated; students who didn't want to draw made collages.
Using fables was a really heart warming unit and the "buzz" was great with students bragging about their stories and art work to others during break. The students also voted to continue listening to more fables and traditional tales. There are tall tales, adventures, myths, love stories, and legends in the New Readers Press series Timeless Tales. I did use the "Johnny Appleseed" tall tale with great success in the advanced class.
I was thrilled to see several of the quieter students blossom. I also deeply enjoyed the universality of the myths and morals threaded throughout what we sometimes see as "different" cultures.
Resources For Fables
Mary Ann Sliwa is the technology coordinator and computer teacher at the Norwood Adult ESOL/Blue Hill ABE Programs.
She can be reached at masliwa@comcast.net
| 
![[Field Notes logo]](../../../../images/fnsmall.gif)