Lesson 1

Standards: RL 1.1; RL 1.3; L 1.3; W 1.2; SL 1.2.

Objective
SWBAT ​locate and record key details about story elements (characters, setting,
problem, solution, and theme) in the story; answer questions about key details in the
story and make predictions; locate and categorize adjectives in the text; write about a
personal experience connected to the moral of the story.

Big Idea
What is unexpected about the Lion’s behavior? What can we learn from the Mouse? We
look at the key details in the text to determine what is happening throughout the story,
and what can we learn from it.

We are going to go through the fable and retell parts of the it by describing the
characters, settings, and events. Before reading the story, I will only give the students
the title and I will ask them to make predictions about the setting, the characters, and
the plotline. While I read the story, I will stop at different points and ask students
questions about the story. I will write down some of the answers on the board/flipchart
in order to see how many correct predictions the students made. When answering the
questions, students are required to support their responses with evidence from the text.

Part 1: Warm-up

Without saying a word, raise your hand, and make a gesture that means that the
students should be quiet. Once the students are quiet, start miming a lion. Once you
hear a correct guess, initiate an applause. Them start miming a mouse. Again, when a
student guesses it correctly, initiate an applause. Now you’ve got their attention and
they are invested in the lesson.

Part 2: Introduction

Tell the students they are going to hear a story in which the characters are animals. Ask
the following questions:

Question Answer

1. Which animals do you think are

characters in the story?

2. What do you think is the title of the

story?

3. Do you think that the story will have

a happy ending?

4. Where are the animals in the story?

Part 3: Read Aloud - Understanding Key Details Using Text Dependent Questions
and Making Predictions

One sunny day a little Mouse sees the great Lion sleeping. The little Mouse admires the
Lion’s long whiskers, his golden mane, and his big paws. “The great Lion is sleeping. I
am little, so I won’t wake him up if I have some fun,” the brave little Mouse says. So this
brave little Mouse climbs the peaceful Lion’s tail, runs across his back, and slides down
his leg when suddenly… (to be continued)
 Question Answer

1. What do you think happens at this

moment?

2. Is the Mouse still having fun?

3. What happens with the Lion?

4. Do you think that other animals

appear at this moment?

(the story continues) … the scary Lion wakes up, places his big paw upon the scared
Mouse, and opens his huge jaws to swallow him. “I’m so sorry, my King,” cried the tiny
Mouse, “please forgive me for playing. Please let me go and, who knows, maybe one
day you’ll need me and I’ll come to help you.”

The Lion starts laughing and says: “But you are so tiny. How could you ever help me?”
But, in the end, he lets the Mouse go.

The next day, three hunters came into the jungle. (to be continued)

Question Answer

1. What do you think happens to the

Lion?

2. How can the Mouse keep his

promise?

(the story continues) ... The three hunters want to catch the great Lion. They set up a
trap, and unfortunately, they catch the scared Lion in a big net. The Lion roars, and
weeps, and struggles to break free, but he can’t. The little Mouse hears his roar. He
jumps on the net and starts nibbling and nibbling and the net breaks, so the Lion breaks
free.

“Thank you, my brave friend. You saved my life. I am sorry for calling you tiny.
Sometimes the smallest animals can prove to be the greatest.”

Part 4: Retelling the story

Make the students retell parts of the story using the following cues:

● One sunny day…

● While the great Lion is sleeping…
● Suddenly the scary Lion wakes up…
● The hunters catch the Lion, so he…
● In the end...

Part 5: Find the adjectives and sort them into three categories: positive, negative,
and neutral.
Adjectives are words that are used to describe living beings, objects, nature, and
situations.

LION MOUSE OTHER ADJECTIVES

+ - +/- + - +/- + - +/-

scary brave sunny three

Part 6: Write a short text about a personal experience connected to the moral of
the story

Ask the students to think about a situation when they were in a position to do something
good, or helpful for a friend, or a family member, although they were one of the
smaller/younger people in their school/family.

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Part 7: Wrapping up the lesson

Only briefly ask the students to tell their partners what they liked best about the lesson.