Language Arts: Aesop's Fables 伊索寓言
BasicA lion spares a mouse; the mouse saves the lion later — no kindness is ever wasted.
- A fable is a story with a lesson — Aesop's are the most famous.
- Story skeleton: meeting → release → trapped → rescue.
- Key line: No act of kindness is ever wasted.
文體小知識：Language Arts——伊索寓言：短故事大道理，學英文同時學做人——The Lion and the Mouse 教你施恩莫望報。
§Text Passage
1One day, a big lion was sleeping. A little mouse ran over his nose and woke him up. The lion caught the mouse with his big paw. 'Please let me go!' cried the mouse. 'One day I may help you.' The lion laughed. 'You are so small — how can you help me?' But he let the mouse go.
2A few days later, the lion fell into a hunter's net. He roared and pulled, but the ropes were too strong. The little mouse heard him and ran to help. 'I will help you,' she said. She bit the ropes with her small teeth, one by one, until the net fell open. The lion was free!
3The lion said, 'Thank you, little mouse. I was wrong to laugh at you.' The mouse smiled: 'You laughed at me because you thought I was too small. But even the smallest friend can be a great friend.' The lesson of this fable: no act of kindness is ever wasted — a small friend today may be a big helper tomorrow.
1Summary 重點摘要
A lion spares a mouse; the mouse saves the lion later — no kindness is ever wasted.
2Vocabulary cards Vocabulary
A short story with a lesson.
A lion's foot.
To roar like a lion.
A hunter's net.
Thick string.
To cut with teeth.
To release.
Kind acts.
3Step by step Steps
- Step 1: Catch five keywordsCatch five keywords while listening to The Lion and the Mouse: lion, mouse, paw, net, bite — five words are the story skeleton: meeting, caught, released, trapped, rescue. Circle them as you listen and the structure appears. Tip: paw is an animal's foot, not a hand, and net is the hunter's net — these two carry the twist.
- Step 2: Read the dialogue — two voicesRead the dialogue with two voices: the lion's lines loud and proud — You are so small!; the mouse's lines small but brave — I will help you! Switching voices makes the characters instant. Reading is performing. Tip: give the exclamation marks real feeling, and make I will help you sound firm — will carries determination.
- Step 3: Three-part story structureThe fable has three parts: meeting and release, where the lion lets the mouse go; the twist, where the lion is trapped and the mouse appears; rescue and moral, where the ropes are bitten through and the lesson lands. Beginning, turn, end — the same shape as other stories. Tip: give each part one key line; the twist is the heart.
- Step 4: The moral sentence patternFable morals use a set pattern: No act of kindness is ever wasted. Learn the pattern and transfer it: No effort is ever wasted. No + noun + is ever + past participle sounds solemn and final. Tip: ever strengthens the sense of never, so keep it; the opening No means not any, so the noun stays singular.
- Step 5: Retell in your own wordsRetell in your own words in four steps: the lion caught the mouse, the mouse begged and was released, the lion fell into the net, the mouse bit the ropes to save him. Keep the whole retell in the past tense — was, ran, caught, bit. Tip: caught is the past of catch and bit the past of bite; both irregular forms get their practice here.
- Step 6: Compare another fableCompare another fable: The Ant and the Grasshopper — the ant stores food, the grasshopper plays, and winter decides. Like The Lion and the Mouse, it acts out a human lesson with animals. One more fable and the moral pattern becomes second nature. Tip: when comparing, say each moral as a full sentence: The moral is...
5Worked example Example
Sample: write a story summary of 'The Lion and the Mouse'.
- Step 1: Characters — a big lion caught a little mouse, and the mouse begged to be set free.
- Step 2: The turn — days later, the lion fell into a hunter's net.
- Step 3: The rescue — the little mouse bit through the ropes to set him free.
- Step 4: The moral — even the smallest friend can be a great friend.
- Answer: Sample summary: A big lion caught a little mouse and let it go. Days later, the lion fell into a hunter's net. The little mouse came and bit through the ropes to set him free. The lion learned that even the smallest friend can be a great friend. — Four sentences: characters, event, twist and moral.
6Common mistakes Mistakes
7Quick check Quick check
Q1What did the lion do first?
Q2Why was the lion trapped?
Q3How did the mouse help?
Q4What is the lesson?
Q5Which line shows true friendship?
8Recap Recap
- A fable is a story with a lesson — Aesop's are the most famous.
- Story skeleton: meeting → release → trapped → rescue.
- Key line: No act of kindness is ever wasted.
- Story tense: was, caught, ran, bit — past tense.
- Retell in four sentences: characters, event, twist, moral.