A Retelling of Aesop's Fable

Lexia Reading Core5 GRADE 2 | Comprehension LEXIA LESSONS Compare/Contrast Stories (Supplemental)

Description

Supplemental Lexia Lessons can be used for whole class, small group or individualized instruction to extend learning and enhance student skill development. This lesson is designed to help students identify likenesses and differences between two similar stories from different cultures. Students learn that folktales and fables are old stories that have been retold many times, and often change in the retelling. Comparing and contrasting two versions of the same story can sensitize students to variations in storytelling and also help them begin to appreciate that big ideas in literature are universal.

Teacher Tips Students are introduced to each text in this lesson by following along as you read it aloud. Preview the texts to determine if your students are likely to be able to read them to you instead, with some support.

Preparation/Materials • Copies of the two stories “The Milkmaid and Her Pail” and “The Daydream” (for display and for each student) • Copies of the compare-contrast graphic organizer (for display and for each student) CCSS: RL.2.9

Direct Instruction

Today we’ll be reading stories that are very old. They were passed down over time from storyteller to storyteller before they were written down. The two stories come from different parts of the world, but you’ll see that they are alike in many ways. Display the first story, the fable “The Milkmaid and Her Pail.” Have students read aloud the title and subtitle. Encourage students to tell what they know of Aesop’s fables. They may be familiar with “The Tortoise and the Hare,” and “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” for example. A fable is a short story that teaches a lesson. A man named Aesop was a storyteller who was famous for his fables. Aesop lived in ancient Greece more than 2,500 years ago, so these fables are very, very old. Read the story aloud while students follow along. After reading, ask questions to draw attention to the central message, key details, and story structure. Questions to ask: Reread the first paragraph. One detail in that paragraph is that the milkmaid has “a large pail of milk balanced on her head.” Why is that important to the story? (It’s important to know that because she moves her head at the end, and the pail falls down.) What does the milkmaid imagine as she carries the pail of milk? Use time-order words like first, next, and then to tell about her thoughts. (She imagines what she’ll do with the milk. First, she’ll make cream from it. Next, she’ll make butter. Then she’ll sell the butter and buy eggs. After that, the eggs will hatch into chickens. Next, the chickens will lay more eggs that become chickens. After that, she’ll sell chickens and buy a beautiful dress. Then she’ll go to the fair in her dress and act as if she doesn’t care to know the young men who think she’s so lovely. At last, she’ll toss her This material is a component of Lexia Reading® www. lexialearning.com www. This material is a component of Lexia Reading® © 2015 Lexia Learning Systems LLC head to show how proud she is.)

Script page 1 Lexia Reading Core5 GRADE 2 | Comprehension LEXIA LESSONS Compare/Contrast Stories (Supplemental)

Read the statement of the moral at the end of the story. (“Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.”) What does that mean for the milkmaid? (She shouldn’t imagine getting money by selling chickens because she doesn’t have any chickens yet.) If someone says to you, “Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched,” what do you think that saying means? (Just because you hope something will happen doesn’t mean that it will happen. It’s better to take one step at a time than to be thinking of the last step. Don’t count on a plan working out, because something might go wrong.) Display the second story, the folktale, “The Daydream.” We’ve just read a very old story about a milkmaid whose plans did not work out as she hoped. Now we’ll read another very old story about someone who makes a plan. Have students read aloud the title and subtitle. Ask students to tell how a daydream is different from the kind of dream people have when sleeping. Then have students use their own words to explain what “a retelling of a tale from India” means. Read the story aloud while students follow along. After reading, ask questions to draw attention to the central message, key details, and story structure and to get students thinking about similarities and differences with the previously read fable. Questions to ask: CCSS: RL.2.9 Reread the first two paragraphs of “The Daydream.” What details there remind you of what happens in “The Milkmaid and Her Pail”? (The worker carries a basket with pots of oil balanced on his head. Like the milkmaid, he's doing a job and balancing something on his head.) What does the worker daydream about as he carries the pots of oil? Use time-order words like first, next, and then to tell about his thoughts. (He imagines what he’ll do with the copper coins he gets as payment. First, he’ll use one coin to buy food. He’ll use the other to buy chickens. Then he’ll sell the eggs that the chickens lay. After that, he’ll buy goats. After the goats make more goats, he’ll sell some and buy cows. Next, he’ll sell the calves that are born to the cows. After that, he’ll use that money to buy land. Next, he’ll get married and have children. Then, one evening, his children will tell him to wash his hands for dinner. Then, he’ll shake his head to tell them no.) Reread the first sentence of the last paragraph. (The merchant was laughing too hard to be angry anymore.) Why is the merchant laughing? (The worker’s story made him laugh because it was so silly. The worker was acting as if he really did lose all the things that he never had.) Are the endings of “The Milkmaid and Her Pail” and “The Daydream” alike or different? (Some students may note that the endings are alike, because in both stories the characters move their heads and drop the items that were going to lead to riches. Some students may note that the endings are different, because “The Daydream” tells what happens after the items fall; the worker tells a funny story that saves him from having to pay the merchant back for the lost oil.)

Guided Practice

Distribute copies of both texts, along with copies of the compare-contrast graphic organizer. Now that we’ve read the two stories, we can sum up our ideas about how they are alike and different. We’ll write notes in this chart to show our ideas. Let’s start by writing the title of each text above the left and right sections. This material is a component of Lexia Reading® www. lexialearning.com www. This material is a component of Lexia Reading® © 2015 Lexia Learning Systems LLC

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Model filling in the chart with the text titles. Have students write the titles in their own charts. Prompt students to reread in order to compare and contrast the texts. Ask for ideas in complete sentences, and show how to write key words and phrases as notes for students to copy. Suggested prompts follow. We’ve read two stories that are alike in many ways. What are both stories mainly about? (Characters make big plans that don’t work out.) What events are alike in both stories? (Characters carry things on their heads. They imagine how the thing they’re carrying will lead them to what they want. They get so caught up in their dreaming that they forget about what’s on their heads. They end up moving their heads and dropping the thing.) Can you think of other things we should write in the “Both” section? Discuss students’ ideas and reasoning, and add any details that accurately describe both tales. Now let’s look at the section for “The Milkmaid and Her Pail.” What are some things that are only in this story? (Sample responses: The main character is a milkmaid. She is carrying a pot of milk. She imagines how to turn milk into a beautiful dress. Her dream is to be able to show off in front of young men. The lesson is stated at the end.) What should we write in the section for “The Daydream?" (Sample responses: The main character is a worker in India. He is carrying pots of oil. He imagines how to turn one copper coin into a happy life with land and a family. He thinks he really has lost all those things. Another CCSS: RL.2.9 character, a merchant, is also in the story.)

Independent Application

Display this prompt, and read it aloud with students: Think about the main characters in “The Milkmaid and Her Pail” and “The Daydream.” • What is one important way that both characters are alike? • Use details from both stories to support your idea. • Use complete sentences in your answer to the question. Encourage students to use their own words to tell what they are being asked to do. Tell them to refer to the chart they just filled out, along with the two stories, to answer the question. Encourage students to answer as completely as they can. They may dictate their sentences or write them. Or you may provide a partly filled-out response for students to complete. Sample response: The main characters in “The Milkmaid and Her Pail” and “The Daydream” are alike because both get carried away by their wishes and do something foolish. The milkmaid dreams of changing a pot of milk into a beautiful dress by selling and buying butter, eggs, and chickens. The worker dreams of changing a copper coin into a happy life with land and a family by buying and selling chickens, eggs, goats, cows, and calves. The milkmaid foolishly tosses her head and loses her pot of milk. The worker foolishly shakes his head no and loses his chance to earn coins. This material is a component of Lexia Reading® www. lexialearning.com www. This material is a component of Lexia Reading® © 2015 Lexia Learning Systems LLC

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Wrap-Up

Check students’ understanding. What is the most important way that “The Milkmaid and Her Pail” and “The Daydream” are alike? (Both stories show characters who get caught up in their daydreaming about what they’ll get and end up losing the chance to get anything.) Why is it interesting to read more than one version of the same story? Tell students that there is no right or wrong answer to this question. Encourage a variety of responses. (to notice how the stories are alike and different; to learn about the lessons that storytellers teach; to see how a story changes in different lands; to learn about characters from different places) Use students’ responses to guide your choice of activities in the Adaptations section below.

Adaptations

For Students Who Need More Support For Students Ready to Move On

Option 1: Reread “The Milkmaid and Her Option 1: Assign one small group to look Pail” together. Start by checking students’ closely at “The Milkmaid and Her Pail.” Assign CCSS: RL.2.9 understanding of the work that milkmaids another small group to look closely at “The used to do. As you read each paragraph, Daydream.” Tell them to show the story have students pantomime what the milkmaid as a comic strip by dividing it into frames, is doing. At the end, have students show the each frame depicting an important part. milkmaid’s likely expression and explain why Show students the comic-strip conventions it fits the situation. of a thought bubble (bubbles rising to a cloud) to show what characters think or say Option 2: Guide students in rereading both to themselves, and a speech balloon (a tail stories to make side-by-side comparisons rising to a balloon) to show a character’s of the plot. For example, have students spoken words. Each student may choose underline the sequence of purchases the one frame to illustrate on a sheet of drawing milkmaid imagines making. Then have them paper. Then all the sheets may be combined underline the sequence of purchases the in sequence. worker imagines. Option 2: Choose another fable or fairy tale that has been retold and reinterpreted multiple times. Guide students to locate two or three picture-book versions in the school or public library. Give each student time to read the books and think about (a) the most important ways the books are alike and (b) the most important differences. Afterward, make a group list of similarities and differences, using students’ observations and suggestions. This material is a component of Lexia Reading® www. lexialearning.com www. This material is a component of Lexia Reading® © 2015 Lexia Learning Systems LLC

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The Milkmaid and Her Pail

a retelling of Aesop's fable

One day long ago, a farmer's daughter finished her chore of milking the cows. She was returning home with a large pail of milk balanced on her head. That was the way milkmaids carried their pails back in those times. As the milkmaid walked along, ideas floated into her mind. "The milk in this pail will give me cream," she thought. "From CCSS: RL.2.9 the cream, I will make butter. Then I'll take the butter to the market to sell." The milkmaid pictured herself selling the butter at the village marketplace. She told herself, "After I've sold the butter, I'll have enough money to buy eggs. I'll bring home the eggs, and they'll hatch

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into chickens. The chickens will lay more eggs. Soon I'll have a yard filled with chickens!" The milkmaid smiled happily at the thought of all those chickens. "I'll sell some of them," she said to herself. "And with the money I get for them, I'll buy a beautiful dress." The milkmaid imagined herself wearing a beautiful dress. "I'll go to the fair in my new dress," she thought. "And all the young men will wonder who that lovely girl is. But I'll act as if I don't care to know them at all. I'll

CCSS: RL.2.9 just toss my head and turn away!" The milkmaid was completely caught up in her thoughts. She forgot about the pail of milk she was balancing. As she imagined tossing her head proudly, that's exactly what she did. She made a quick move with her head, and the pail tumbled off. The milk spilled out and onto the ground. And with that, all of the milkmaid's plans came to an end. The moral of this fable is, "Do not count your chickens before they are hatched."

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The Daydream

a retelling of a tale from India

A long time ago, a merchant was going to market to sell pots of cooking oil. The pots had been placed in a flat basket. The merchant hired a worker to help him. The worker was a young man, and his job was to carry the basket. The worker lifted the basket and balanced it on

CCSS: RL.2.9 his head. Walking to the marketplace, he began to daydream.

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"When I get to the market, the merchant will pay me two copper coins," the worker said to himself. "I'll buy something to eat with one coin. But with the other, I'll buy chickens. The chickens will lay eggs, and soon I'll have eggs to sell. With that money, I'll buy goats. And when the goats make more goats, I'll sell some and buy cows. And then I'll sell their calves!" The worker knew what he would do with the money he made by selling calves. He would buy land! "I'll plant crops on my land," he thought. "And I'll find a good

CCSS: RL.2.9 woman to marry. And we'll have children." The worker sighed with happiness at the thought of his wonderful family. "I'll work hard in the fields, and when I come home in the evening, I'll rest." The worker's steps slowed as he pictured the scene. "And as I'm resting, my children will tell me it is time to wash my hands for dinner. And I'll reply, 'No, no, not yet,' and shake my head." And as the worker thought about shaking his head, he really did shake his head. At once, the basket fell to the ground, and all the pots of oil cracked like eggshells. The oil merchant was angry. He spoke harshly to the worker. "You must pay me fifty copper coins for the oil I can no longer sell!" The Daydream 2 This material is a component of Lexia Reading® www. lexialearning.com www. This material is a component of Lexia Reading® © 2015 Lexia Learning Systems LLC

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"But I have lost much more than that!" the worker cried. "How can that be?" asked the surprised merchant. The worker told the whole story. He told what he had planned to do with his payment of two copper coins. He told why the basket had fallen. Then he said, "I've lost my chickens and eggs and goats and cows and calves. I've lost my land. And worst of all, I now have no family!" The merchant was laughing too hard to be angry CCSS: RL.2.9 anymore. "Well, we've both lost a lot," he said to the worker. "So let's say we're even." And the merchant and the worker never did go to the marketplace.

Reproducible page 5 Lexia Reading Core5 GRADE 2 | Comprehension LEXIA LESSONS Compare/Contrast Stories (Supplemental) ______Title: CCSS: RL.2.9 Both ______Title: This material is a component of Lexia Reading® www. lexialearning.com www. This material is a component of Lexia Reading® © 2015 Lexia Learning Systems LLC

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