Lesson 3: Writing Fables (Extended Writing Session)

LESSON OBJECTIVE: To write a fable based in the Sahel.

RESOURCES: Planning Tree worksheet, PowerPoint “Writing Fables”, pupil copies of Fig. 1 (Marking Ladder/ Success Criteria).

Objectives / Whole Class Activity / Plenary / Project development
Reading
To draw on different features of texts, to obtain meaning.
Writing
Use and adapt the features of a form of writing, drawing on their reading. / N.B Parts 1-3 can be delivered over a series of lessons or condensed into one or two, depending on the teacher’s preference. It may also be preceded by a research session on animals living in the Sahel.
Part 1
·  Partner talk: Children tell their partner the features of a fable that they can remember. As a class, look back at the list of features from the previous lesson. How many did we remember correctly?
·  Thinking back to the parables/ fables you have studied. What tricks did animals play on each other?
·  Display images of several Sahel animals, using the children’s previous research, or the information provided, explore the following:
·  Which animals are predators? Do they eat any of the other animals?
·  Which do you think would play tricks? What kind of tricks might they be?
·  Which might make foolish characters? Which may be wise?
·  In pairs, children choose one character which may play a trick and one which may be foolish. How might one play a trick on the other? What moral could this teach the reader?
·  Demonstrate completing the first section of the Planning Tree sheet using the class ideas.
·  In small groups, children discuss their ideas together and come up with one story idea. (They may use different animals from their research instead) What kind of moral will the reader learn?
·  Together they complete the first section of the Planning Tree sheet and then share their ideas with the rest of the class.
Part 2
Sentence Level Focus: Dialogue and Description
Using the two animals selected for the whole class during the initial discussion, children imagine what they might say to one another. Model using dialogue and description (or action, dialogue and description for older pupils)
e.g
Dialogue and description:
“Follow me” commanded the lizard suspiciously.
Action dialogue and description (ADD): “Follow me” commanded the lizard suspiciously, creeping slowly into the bushes.
Children write their own dialogue and description on their whiteboards (more able pupils experiment with rearranging the order of the sentence: i.e The lizard suspiciously commanded “follow me”.)
Extension: If teaching this as a whole lesson, children could write a whole conversation between the pair of animals.
Part 3
Shared/ Independent Writing
1.  Using the whole class Planning Tree created in Part 1, model putting these ideas into a more detailed plan, separating the main events into paragraphs and deciding on a moral (Section 2, Planning Tree). Children then produce a plan of their own.
2.  Using the completed whole class plan, assist pupils in writing a shared fable. During the shared write, refer regularly to the success criteria provided (fig. 1) to remind pupils of the features of a fable. It may be useful to make deliberate punctuation/ grammar mistakes, relating to dialogue and description for children to correct. Additional language features, chosen by the teacher, can also be focussed on. (extra space for these is given in the marking ladder/ success criteria).
3.  Children then proceed to create their own fables independently, again, referring to Fig. 1 as a reminder. (Depending on the age/ ability of the pupils, teachers may choose to focus on one paragraph at a time, over a series of lessons. Writing one/ two paragraph at a time as a class and then independently) / Children assess to what extent they feel they have covered the features of a fable using the marking ladder provided (Fig. 1). They then swap them with a partner for peer assessment and then make any necessary changes during an editing session. / Create a whole class book of fables, to be reproduced for the rest of the school.
Children could create character profiles for each of the Sahel animals in their stories, and perhaps even use them to create their own Happy Families style game.
Me / My Partner / Success Criteria / My Teacher
Text Features
A simple opening to introduce character
Animals behave like humans
Dialogue and description
Characters play tricks
Wise/ Foolish characters
Moral
Language Features
Connectives
Sentence openers
Powerful verbs

Fig. 1 Marking Ladder/ Success Criteria