Aesop's Fable grade 3-5

Read this Aesop's Fable

Two Travelers and the Bear

Two boys were taking a shortcut on a narrow path through dark woods. They walked silently through the deep shadows and they pretended not to hear the rustlings in the thickets, for neither wanted to admit that he was frightened.
Then they heard a low, menacing growl.
"Don't look; I'm sure it's nothing," said the first boy quickly.
"Well, it's a very large nothing!" shouted the second boy. There, lumbering toward them, was a monstrous, furry bear.
The two boys began to run. Before they had taken three steps, however, the first boy stumbled and sprawled upon the ground.
"Help me!" he cried as he scrambled to get up.
But his friend ran on. He clambered up a towering pine tree and sat astride a bough, clutching the tree trunk and quaking.
The horrible bear loomed over the first boy. Mouth wide, teeth glinting, the bear lunged.
Now, luckily for this boy, he had learned his lessons well, and he remembered that bears usually do not bother anything that is not moving. So, he threw himself facedown in the dirt.
When he felt the bear's hot breath on his ankle, the boy stayed very, very still. When a heavy bear paw lightly touched his back, he closed his eyes and willed himself not to move. The bear sniffed and snuffled, pawed, prodded, and pushed at the boy, until finally the beast's muzzle was next to the boy's face. The creature whiffed and snorted as he nuzzled the boy's ear. Although the boy was in an agony of fright, still he lay unmoving.
After a time, the bear became bored with the limp lump that was the boy. With a final swipe of his huge paw, he turned away and shuffled back into the woods.
At that, the first boy's friend came running back.
"That was amazing!" said the second boy. "The bear put his nose right on your ear! Why, it looked as though he even whispered some secret to you! What did he say?"

The first boy glared at his companion. "The bear told me I need to find a more dependable friend!" he said as he stomped away.

The moral of this story:
A friend in need is a friend indeed!

Print out or show on interactive whiteboard

Read the story. 5-10 minutes

Students underline unknown words, discuss.  5-10 minutes

Ask questions about the story. 15-20 minutes

1. What was the story about?
2. What kind of friend was the boy who ran up the tree?
3. What would you do in his situation?
4. How did the boy who fell, feel?
5. What is the moral of the story?

Vocabulary

Find and write down all the adjectives, or verbs. 10 minutes

Discuss or have students look up the words in a dictionary 15-20 minutes

The Story

• Have students write some things that happened and why they happened.
• Have students write the 1st second third events and the conclusion.
• Discuss the moral and compare it to other examples

More activities

• Make a play--let the students write and act out the story

Aesop's Fable grade 1-2

Read this Aesop's Fable to the students changing 'difficult' words into simpler ones if necessary  10 minutes

Two Travelers and the Bear (above)

Spend 20-30 minutes on one or more of these suggestions

• Ask them to repeat the story back to you as best they can.
• Ask them about some of the words and what they mean.
• Talk about the morel of the story
• Have them draw a picture in their writing books while you read it again.
• Have them draw one sentence of your choice, for example:

'But his friend ran on. He clambered up a towering pine tree and sat astride a bough, clutching the tree trunk and quaking.'

• Ask them what they would do in this situation.
• Let them work in groups to re-enact the story for each other