Learning Objectives 

Students will: 

• Infer the moral of a story.
• Compare two mediums of The Crow and the Pitcher fable.
• Create a crow sock puppet.
• Make predictions and compare findings. 
• Apply measurement and calculation skills. 
• Dramatize the fable using puppets.
• Compare fictional stories to real-life scenarios. 

Standards Alignment

National Core Arts StandardsNational Core Arts Standards

Common Core State StandardsCommon Core State Standards

Recommended Student Materials

Editable Documents: Before sharing these resources with students, you must first save them to your Google account by opening them, and selecting “Make a copy” from the File menu. Check out Sharing Tips or Instructional Benefits when implementing Google Docs and Google Slides with students.

• Sock Puppet: Crow Cut-Outs
• Capture Sheet: Predicting Pebbles in a Pitcher

Websites

• Library of Congress: The Crow and the Pitcher
• Aesop's Fable “The Crow and the Pitcher More” Fact Than Fiction

Teacher Background

Teachers should obtain a copy of the book The Crow and the Pitcher or the digital text version from the Library of Congress, The Crow and the Pitcher. View the video The Crow and the Pitcher prior to the lesson. Read the article Aesop's Fable “The Crow and the Pitcher” More Fact Than Fiction and view the videos within the article. Do the pebble exercise yourself so you will know approximately how much water and pebbles you will need for each student (based on the size of your vases and pebbles).

Student Prerequisites 

Students should be familiar with fables and measurements. 

Accessibility Notes

Modify handouts, text, and utilize assistive technologies as needed. Adaptive scissors may be helpful throughout the lesson. Allow extra time as needed.

Engage

1. Engage students in a discussion. Ask students: When was a time you were very thirsty? What is something you say when you are very thirsty? What you ever said, “I’m dying of thirst?” Have students describe how they felt and how they were able to relieve their thirst. Chart their responses on the board or chart paper for reference later in the lesson.

2. Discuss with students the moral of a story. Ask students: What is the moral of a story? Explain that the moral of a fable is the lesson learned by the reader. 

3. Introduce the well-known fable by Aesop, The Crow and the Pitcher. Read the fable to the class or have students read independently or aloud. Encourage students to read with dramatic expression. Ask students: What is the conflict in the story? How does the crow solve the problem? What lesson is the reader learning? Explain that the crow in this fable was also thirsty and felt the same way they had just discussed. He thought he would die of thirst.

Build

1. Have students “turn and talk” to a peer. Ask students: What is the moral of the story? 

Example morals or this fable are:

Necessity is the mother of invention

Little by little does the trick

Where there is a will there is a way

Do not give up even when it seems impossible

Try hard; even the most difficult problems can be solved

2. List the students’ ideas on the board to determine if there is a common theme to them. Generalize one moral that could be applied to the story.

3. View the video, The Crow and the Pitcher. Ask students to compare and contrast the book and the film. How are they the same? How are they different? Which did they like more? Why? What other stories have you read with a similar moral?

Apply

1. Model the steps for making a crow sock puppet. Use the Sock Puppet: Crow Cut-Outs resource or craft materials (googly eyes, felt, markers, fabric paint, etc.). Glue two eyes and a beak to the sock. After you have modeled this for the students, pass out the supplies and have them create their own puppets. Tell students they will wear their sock puppets later to act out the fable.

2. Review the fable with the students and have them explain how the crow solved his problem. Ask students: Why do you think the crow’s plan would work or not work?

3. Develop a plan with students to test crow’s strategy. Ask students: How can we test crow's strategy? Reveal the supplies for the project and explain to students that they are going to gain a deeper understanding of crow’s problem-solving skills. 

4. Have students divide into small collaborative groups. Students will predict the number of pebbles it will take to raise the water level to a predetermined line on the vase. Share the Capture Sheet: Predicting Pebbles in a Pitcher. Students will make their predictions and capture evidence on these resources. Demonstrate how to measure the water and carefully pour it into the container. With a few pebbles, demonstrate how the crow puppet will place pebbles into the container. Enter information into the first two columns on the table. 

5. Distribute the supplies to students: vases, water, measuring cup, and pebbles. Have students pour the measured amount of water into the vase. Discuss how students can dramatize adding pebbles. What kind of voices will they use? What gestures might they use? How would a thirsty crow act?

6. Re-enact the fable. Have the students use their sock puppets to add the pebbles to the water, counting dramatically as they do so. Designate one team member to tally each pebble on the Capture Sheet: Predicting Pebbles in a Pitcher.

7. Have each group analyze their predictions and results. Ask students: How can you determine the difference between the predicted number of pebbles and the actual number of pebbles used? Demonstrate for students how to subtract to find the difference. 

8. Discuss the outcome of the investigation. Ask students: What did fable reenactment tell you about crow’s strategy? What can you infer about crows’ feelings at the beginning, middle, and end of the fable?

Reflect 

1. Select one or more students or groups to share their re-enactments with the class. The selection can be based on the closest predictions or other criteria.

2. Show students the trial videos from the article, Aesop's Fable “The Crow and the Pitcher” More Fact Than Fiction. In the video, the University of Cambridge biologists hold several trials to see if a rook could raise the water level and worm to a reachable height. The biologists discovered similarities in behavior between the rook and the fable. Explain that sometimes fictional stories can resemble real life. 

3. Assess students’ knowledge of fables and morals. Ask students: Can you think of a time when the moral applied to your life or someone you know? Why do we have morals in stories?

Extend

1. Have students write and illustrate a parallel story to The Crow and the Pitcher, with a similar challenge to solve. 

2. Brainstorm different morals with students. Have students write an original short fable and illustrate the problem and solution.

3. Create a digital graphic of the crow. With a computer or tablet create a simple or complex graphic with Google Drawings or KidMONS. 

4. Write a script and create a film about The Crow and the Pitcher or another fable. Host a “film festival” and have students debut their fable films to the class.