Jeanie Stouffer

21 April 2018

Instructional Approaches and Curriculums that Correlate with

The Tortoise and the Hare

General Instructional Approaches

Approach 1: Teaching Key Words

Objective(s): The Student will listen with increasing attention to spoken language,
conversations, and texts read aloud (VLFB.1).

Materials: White Board, an Expo Marker, and a picture book of The Tortoise and the
Hare.

Activity: An activity that correlates with the story The Tortoise and Hare can be used to
teach students definitions of important words used in this story. Three words that would
be great choices are Tortoise (turtles that live on land), Hare (an animal that looks similar
to a rabbit except it is bigger with longer legs), and Rest (the verb meaning not taking
part in activity). The students may be unfamiliar with these key words, and thus it will be
educational to explain to them the meaning of these words.
Start the lesson by writing down one key word at a time, then ask the students the
basic definition of this word. Provide a basic definition if none of the students are able to
do so. After a child or teacher has given a definition, write it next to the key word on the
white board, so the children can look at it throughout the story. Repeat this exercise for
each of the key words.

Modifications for English Language Learners: Work with each ELL one-on-one and
show them pictures of the vocabulary words before completing this activity with the
class. Think of each ELL’s culture of origin and find ways to compare these terms to
words from that culture. This will make the student more comfortable with the teacher
and make them feel more open to asking questions. By working one-on-one with the
teacher they will be able to engage with the key words more than if they were with a
group of ELLs. It cannot be guaranteed that the ELLs will know how these words are
written or what they mean as they may have never heard or seen them before. If there is
not enough time to go through the story with the ELLs before telling the whole class, ask
if an ESL teacher will go over the story with them.

Modifications for Struggling Readers: Have an adult go through the activity with them
beforehand. Ask the students questions about the definitions, so they will start warming
up to these words. It generally takes struggling readers more time to understand
terminology than for most students, and they are less likely to pay attention to activities
because they get lost. Having an adult go through the terminology with them encourages
them to focus as the teacher is working through the activity. If there is not enough time to
go through the story with the struggling readers in the class, ask the reading specialist or
resource teacher to work with them on the story.

Approach 2: Oral Read Aloud

Objective(s): The student will listen attentively to stories in a whole class setting.
(VLFB.7)

Optional Material: Oral Storytelling Script

Activity: Tell the students orally the story of The Tortoise and the Hare. This requires
the teacher to tell the story without the book. The script is written below:

Oral Storytelling Script of The Tortoise and the Hare

1. On the farm, there was a hare. Review from opener: What is a hare? The hare could
run very fast and would tell everyone in town how fast he could run.
2. There was also a tortoise. Review from opener: What is a tortoise? The tortoise lived
on a farm. He was very tired of hearing the hare boast about how fast he is.
3. One day, Tortoise tells Hare that he wants to challenge him to a race. Hare chooses to
run against Tortoise.
4. All of the other animals on the farm came to watch Tortoise and Hare start the race.
When the race started, the hare began running very fast.
5. The hare runs down a road for a while, but decides during the race to take a rest.
Review from Opener: What does it mean to rest?
6. The hare falls asleep. The tortoise has been walking and walking the whole entire race,
and does not rest at all.
7. The tortoise comes to the finish line and wins the race. All the animals watching the
race cheer for tortoise, and hare wakes up.
8. Hare starts running, but he cannot catch the tortoise and does not win the race.
9. Hare learned that day that persistence was as important as being a fast runner.
10. Tortoise learned that you can win a race by working hard.

Modifications for English Language Learners: The teacher will tell ELLs the story at a
slower pace than they would to the whole class, so the students have time to process the
story. They may be unfamiliar with the words in the story, and the teacher needs to make
sure to explain the words, so the students will be able to absorb what the words mean and
how the words are heard. Do not make them tell the story, because they may be very
uncomfortable with speaking in English. If there is not enough time to go through the
story with the ELLs before telling the whole class, ask if an ESL teacher will go over the
story with them.

Modifications for Struggling Readers: Before telling the whole classroom the story,
meet with the struggling readers and orally tell them the story. After the story is told to
them, give each child a set of pictures. Have them put the pictures in order, but do not
correct them, so they can listen to the teacher telling the story later, and then they can
figure out if they were right or wrong. If there is not enough time to go through the story
with the struggling readers in the class, ask the reading specialist or resource teacher to
go through the story with them.

Approach 3: “Sequence Those Sentences”

Objective(s): Use expanding vocabulary with increasing frequency and sophistication to

express and describe feelings, needs, and ideas. (VLFB.3)

Materials: Index Cards (seven for each group), Marker, Tables (One for every three
students), Picture Book telling The Tortoise and the Hare.

Activity: Before starting the lesson, write the seven parts of the story (listed below) on
index cards. Start this lesson by reading The Tortoise and the Hare to the students. Then,
review the story by playing the game “Sequence Those Sentences.” The main idea of this
game is for the students to put the seven index cards with parts of the story written on
them in chronological order. Put all of the students into groups of three and give each
group the seven index/story cards. This lesson should be done on a table so the children
do not have to worry about having a surface upon which to arrange the cards. Have each
group attempt to put the note cards in order. If they do it correctly, congratulate them.

What each note card should have written on it

1. The Tortoise and the Hare were on a farm.
2. Tortoise wants to race Hare.
3. Tortoise and Hare start racing each other.
4. Hare runs really fast, than rests.
5. Tortoise walks the race until he gets to the finish line.
6. Tortoise wins the race while Hare rests.
7. Hare runs to the finish line, but it is too late for him to win.

Modifications for English Language Learners: Before they whole class does this
activity, tell them the story with a picture book, so the ELLs will have images in their
head of what is occurring. When the story has ended, give each of them a set of note
cards, and have them put the story together by themselves. When they are with the
general class, they will know contextually the order of the story. If there is not enough
time to go through the story with the ELLs before telling the whole class, ask if an ESL
teacher will go over the story with them.
Modifications for Struggling Readers: Read aloud a book with the story that is roughly
on the struggling readers’ reading level, and give each child their own book to look at the
images. When they are done with the book, ask them questions about the events that had
occurred in the book. If there is not enough time to go through the story with the
struggling readers in the class, ask the reading specialist or resource teacher to go through
the story with them.

Works Cited for The General Instructional Approaches

Approach 1
  Definition of Tortoise: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tortoise
 Definition of Hare: http://www.yourdictionary.com/hare
 Definition of Rest:
https://kids.britannica.com/kids/search/dictionary?query=rest&_ga=2.141459381.
667433174.1517526114-611575733.1509141226

Approach 2
 Written Story of The Tortoise and the Hare:
http://www.storyarts.org/library/aesops/stories/tortoise.html

Approach 3
 “Sequence those Sentences” Activity:
https://www.education.com/activity/article/sequencing_sentences_kindergarten/

Implementing The Tortoise and the Hare into Curriculums

Models

Curriculum 1: Creative Curriculum

Optional Material(s): Creative Curriculum Unit Boxes

Activities related to Creative Curriculum: The Creative Curriculum has boxes with an
assortment of topics, and a way to implement it is by having a box that contains stories
similar to The Tortoise and Hare. Also, the boxes can be set up to have information about
the animals who the characters portray and/or the natural setting of the story. There are
activities inside the box that the teachers can use which follow national standards, but
they contain meticulous instructions. If the teacher is unable to access the Creative
Curriculum boxes, they can convey the story to the students through story telling or
enactment. The teacher can tell the story by using terminology that relates to a unit they
are teaching to the class or they can make the story sound similar to a present occurrence.
To enact the story, the teacher can have two children act as a tortoise and a hare, and then
tell each character what to do as they are telling the story. There can also be activities
implemented in the school day where all the children are required to imitate both the
tortoise and the hare.

Curriculum 2: HighScope Curriculum

Optional Material(s): Fiction/Nonfiction Books related to The Tortoise and the Hare,
Arts supplies to make a craft related to the story, and Props for enacting the story.

Activities Related to the HighScope Curriculum: The HighScope Curriculum Model

puts a huge amount of emphasis on how classrooms should be setup. For students to learn
more about The Tortoise and the Hare, teachers can change aspects of their classroom to
fit the circumstances of the story. The bookshelves can have books that are variations of
The Tortoise and the Hare, and nonfiction books about the animals, nature, and running.
There can also be classroom centers that contain activities relevant to The Tortoise and
the Hare. Most classrooms have an imaginary play center, which the teacher can design
to make it look like students are characters in the story. The imaginary center can also
have a tortoise puppet and a hare puppet that the children can use to make up their own
stories. This is very beneficial to the children, because they can better understand the
roles of both the tortoise and the hare. In the art center of the classroom, teachers can ask
their students to create an artistic piece about The Tortoise and the Hare. The children
can apply the story to a variety of crafts, including painting, drawing, pipe cleaners, and
Play-Doh. If the teacher has very limited arts supplies, they can print images online from
the story and give the students crayons to color in the image.

Curriculum 3: Tools of the Mind Curriculum

Optional Material(s): Any items that can be used in centers (Ex: Art Supplies or Props).

Activities Related to the Tools of the Mind Curriculum: There are Tools of the Mind
activities that relate to The Tortoise and the Hare, which are teacher-led activities that
challenge children on how well they know the story. The teacher can have his or her
students engage in an assortment of activities all at once, which can teach children about
transitions through play. The teacher can ask the children about aspects of the story; if a
child gets the question right, they can get a reward for knowing part of the story, which
can give the child motivation to learn more about it. The teacher can provide children
instruction in physical activities: one way of doing this is by having the children try to
run at the speed of the tortoise, and then run at the speed of the hare. Through this
activity, children can visualize how fast the hare was going and the slow speed of the
tortoise. This can be done outside and the teacher can kinesthetically explain to children
parts of the story that are easy to know through exercise. This gives good opportunities
for children to engage in conflict because they are not arguing in front of the whole class
and they have more time to work on the conflict. If a teacher wants to engage students
and not have to lead activities, there are many ways to establish centers for young
children that are related to The Tortoise and the Hare. Each center can have the goal of
discussing a particular aspect of the story, and the students can grapple with the story in a
variety of activity settings. A couple of the centers can have board games that are related
to The Tortoise and the Hare, which enhances student’s teamwork skills.

Curriculum 4: Montessori Curriculum

Materials: Supplies that can benefit outdoor activities

Activities related to the Montessori Curriculum: The Montessori curriculum consists

of many aspects with children doing activities outdoors. Students can build a doll-size
trail outside, and they can pretend that both the turtle and the hare ran on it. The teacher
can let the younger children work on the racetrack, and the older children can guide the
younger children as they are learning how to make the racetrack. If the teacher does not
want a large group working on a racetrack, they can create a child-size kit. There can be
little racetrack game pieces that look similar to a hare and a turtle. Through the little
racetrack, children can pretend to tell the stories through inanimate objects. The older
children in a Montessori school can teach younger children how these animals act in real
life. Another lesson that could be very attractive to schools with a Montessori curriculum
is to have students grow carrots in the outdoor area of the school, and the teacher can
explain to the children that hares eat carrots. Students should plant their own carrots and
be able to take care of them with guidance from their older peers. The older students
could be tasked with figuring out how to plant the carrots independently. A creative way
to bring The Tortoise and the Hare into a Montessori classroom is by having a live turtle
and hare in the classroom. This would give children the opportunity to visualize the
animals portrayed in the story. The animals would be in the classroom only for a short
period of time because animals tend to get nervous around strangers.