Discussing Aesop's Fables

I want to preface this post with a little disclaimer.  Some fable discussions have gone better for us than others.  Many of them have been interrupted by a needed bathroom break, a preschool temper tantrum, or because we needed to save a toddler from sudden death when he has climbed up on something a little too high for him.  Below I share how we do them, but I don't share the background noise and distractions.  Just know that they are there too.  We're going to keep trying them every week or two, while trying to remember that some discussions will be more enjoyable and profitable than others.

Why we discuss fables

I first found the idea to use some of our read aloud time each week to discuss an Aesop's Fable while listening to a talk by Andrew Kern titled Teaching Literature Without Killing the Student or the Book.  I highly recommend taking the time listen to it.  He takes the first eight minutes to show just how to "kill" the student and the book, and then spends the next 30 or so minutes to discuss a fable.  It turns into a really interesting discussion, and I was encouraged to try it with the girls.

I like the idea of discussing a fable because as far as discussing literature goes, it can be fairly simple.  Fables are short, the characters are often pretty commonly known, and what the author wants the reader to learn (the moral) becomes pretty obvious as you discuss it.  As parents it is important to us that our children are taught to think and discern well.  They will read, hear, and watch so many things in their lives, and it's important that they are able to figure out what the author or director is really saying.  Discussing a fable is a good way to help them begin to do that.

How we discuss a fable 

When the girls and I discuss a fable, we break it down in the following way:

1.  We begin with some pre-reading discussion questions.  
2.  We read the fable, but not the moral.  
3.  We discuss the fable.  
4.  We come up with our own morals and read the moral from the fable.  

The discussion answers I have included below are mostly given by RJ (9) and AG (7); sometimes MA (4) and me chime in with ideas.  I guide the discussion, but I try to let them answer before I add my ideas.  I will also often repeat what they have said in slightly different words to help us organize our thoughts.

At first I did not read the moral beforehand, but now as I am taking a few minutes to put together some questions to guide us, I read the fable and try to come up with my own moral while planning.  Then while we are discussing I do have the moral covered up, and I come up with my own during our discussion time too.

Our first fable discussion 

The first fable we tried was "The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing".  Before reading the fable we started by talking about if they ever had seen a wolf in person.   Then if they had ever seen a sheep in person.  What were each of them like?  Next we did one of the things Andrew Kern recommends: we compared one thing to another.  We compared wolf to sheep.  How are they alike? (four legs, both mammals, both animals, both have eyes, ears, etc.)  How are they different? (wolves live in the wild and sheep don't; sheep need protection and wolves are predators; wolves have fur and sheep have wool; wolves are carnivores and sheep are herbivores, wolves are often the enemy in a story and sheep are often the victim, etc).  Then we talked about if they could think of anyone or anything that was in disguise.  Why was it in disguise?  Was it going to do good or bad?  All of these were just our observations and experiences.  Kind of a gathering of the facts, and an attempt to connect what we are about to read to our own experience.  After a little more discussion we finally read the fable:

ONCE UPON A TIME a Wolf resolved to disguise his appearance in
order to secure food more easily.  Encased in the skin of a
sheep, he pastured with the flock deceiving the shepherd by his
costume.  In the evening he was shut up by the shepherd in the
fold; the gate was closed, and the entrance made thoroughly
secure.  But the shepherd, returning to the fold during the night
to obtain meat for the next day, mistakenly caught up the Wolf
instead of a sheep, and killed him instantly.  

We talked about why the wolf was in disguise.  What was he trying to do?  What were the consequences of his actions?  Then we talked about one of the key questions Kern says to ask: the should question.  Should the wolf have chosen to disguise himself?  Why should he have? (it was an easy way to get a meal, it helped him get to the sheep without them knowing it, he was hungry) Why shouldn't he have? (he was deceiving the sheep, it would bring harm to the sheep, the sheep belonged to the farmer, he got killed in the end).  Should people disguise themselves?  When or why should they? (trying to protect themselves or bring justice--like a police officer going undercover; an actor or actress--doing it to entertain others--people know they are in disguise)  When or why shouldn't they? (because it can be lying, because it is hard to trust someone if you don't know who they really are, because they might be trying to harm someone).  I'm not sure if I did it or not, but we could have also talked about sheep and wolves in the Bible--via John 10 and David the shepherd and Jesus the Good Shepherd and the devil and those who want to harm God's people.

I can't remember if we discussed anything else, but after the discussion, I asked them to think for a minute about what the moral or point of the fable could be.  The one given in the fable is, "Harm seek.  Harm find".  Here were ours:

Mine: If you go looking for trouble, trouble may come to you.
RJ (9): Dressing up as something else may have its consequences.
AG (7): Never do something you shouldn't do, like steal sheep.  Think of the consequences first.
MA(4): He did get dressed up as a sheep, and he could have died.  He could have asked the farmer if he could have eaten the sheep or not eaten the sheep. (Obviously, hers was more of a narration, which makes sense for her age.)

Other fable discussions

We have also discussed three more fables since the first.  I won't hash out each one as I did the first, but I will include the morals we came up with and the original morals.

The Vain Jackdaw--It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.
Mine: You will be exposed for who you really are.
RJ: Be yourself, and do not try to be someone else.
AG: Don't dress up as somebody else.  Think about if someone exposes you.
MA: They did think he was dressed up for fun.

The Lion and the Mouse--No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
Mine: Even small persons can do important things.
RJ: Help others and you may get help in return.
AG: Others weaker than you can be strong.
MA: The lion did think it was funny--the thing that the mouse did do.

The Brother and Sister--Handsome is as handsome does.
Mine: Treating people well will cause others to think well of you.
RJ: How you look on the outside is not always how you are on the inside.
AG: Sometimes pretty on the outside but not on the inside.
MA: The boy was wild (when he did be hateful) with the little girl that was just plain.

Discussion questions

I can't remember which talk I listened to online, but I took some notes that helped guide me toward which questions to ask.  You can find my notes I use here. 

If you don't want to go there, the basic questions to ask are:

1. Should questions (should the person do this--why should they/shouldn't they?)
2. Comparison questions (how are these two things alike or different?)
3. Definition questions (what/who is it?)
4. Relationship questions (what was the cause?  what effect did something have?)

There are more on the document, but those cover some basic questions and can get you far in a discussion.

Closing thoughts

• I think you could also use this kind of discussion with other short stories (fairy tales, Bible stories, picture books) without the moral at the end.  You could have everyone tell one thing they think the author wants the audience to know instead of the moral.
• This blog post shows a similar way of discussing fables--More on Aesop.   Here is a really simple way to start doing this: Fables at Table.
• This way of discussing a fable or short story can be done with a super small group (like the four of us) or a larger class.  With a larger group everyone could write down the moral on a piece of paper on their own.  In the small group I have each person tell me, and then I read them out loud after I have them all.