[ THE FOX AND THE STORK ]
AUTHOR: AESOP
[ THE FOX AND THE STORK ]
AUTHOR: AESOP
Here you will find: ► Illustration ► Fable (text, audio, video) ► Lesson plan
Once upon a time, a fox invited a stork for dinner. Wanting to play a prank on his guest, the fox served the stork with some soup on a flat dish, not on a soup plate. Naturally, the fox managed to have all his soup without any difficulty. The poor stork, though, with her very long beak, could barely sip her serving. As a result, the stork went back home starving! Pretending to sound worried, the fox asked his guest if there was anything wrong with the soup, but the stork refrained from making any comment whatsoever. As she was leaving, the stork thanked her host for the invitation and insisted on having him come round for dinner the next day.
As soon as he arrived at the stork’s house, the fox took a seat and licked his lips in anticipation, eager to see what his host was going to serve. Dinner was served in a long thin-necked jar, from which the stork could easily enjoy her meal. Due to his huge snout, all the fox could do was lick the drops of soup that dripped down the neck of the jar. He was really upset! The fox did learn a lesson! While walking back home, the hungry fox thought: “I can’t complain. After all, she was rude to me, but I was rude to her first.”
The moral of the fable is: We should treat others in the same way as we expect them to treat us.
MAKING DECISIONS RESPONSIBLY
Weighing the benefits and the consequences of various actions for personal, social and collective well-being.
SPECIFIC ABILITY
To reflect upon one’s role in promoting well-being for the community.
MAKER SKILL
Seeking knowledge, refining it and retrying.
Developing one’s thinking in order to conceive a project for others.
THE ENVIRONMENT
The school as a place to experience and create art
1) ACTIVATE TO ENGAGE:
During the different seasons of the year, select a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, or any other type of food available in your area. Find out if any of your students are allergic or have dietary restrictions. If possible, present food in different ways: creamy, juicy, crispy, etc. In each season of the year, challenge your students to try eating in different ways: using chopsticks and other kitchen utensils such as spoons, straws, forks, ladles, spatulas, and whisks. Defy them to eat certain types of food using unusual utensils.
Get the students together and ask them to share their impressions about this experience. Ask them to say how they felt while they were trying to eat and why they felt that way.
Encourage them to use the Explanation Game Thinking Routine to explain what they noticed about the use of each utensil while eating certain kinds of food. Ask: “What did you observe?” Elicit answers such as “I noticed that …”. Then ask them: “Why is it so?” or “Why did it happen that way?”
Encourage them to examine the design of the utensils once more. Go over each item, asking: “Is it big or small? What shapes can you identify? Why do they have those shapes and sizes? How do you hold them? What kinds of food can you eat with them? Why?” Keep a record of their findings by taking notes, pictures or by recording them.
Get ready for the story!
Ask the group if they have ever heard the fable The Fox and the Stork. Show them the illustrations with the characters which are on Aperte o Play. The teacher may either tell the story to the class or present the audiobook version of the fable. These are different reading challenges: while the former encompasses listening to an audiobook without the aid of images, the latter relies on the teacher performing a storytelling session of the fable, duly supported by illustrations. A third option allows the teacher to press play for the students to listen to the recorded story, either in English or in Portuguese, while showing scenes of the fable. Choose the one that suits your group best!
>> Before the story:
Tell the students that they have been invited to dinner and that, in this dinner, only soup will be served, but they won’t be given a spoon. How will they have the soup?
>> During the story: Something similar happened to a fox and a stork. Let’s take a look at that. As the story unfolds, make sure they pay attention to the characteristics and the needs of each of the animals.
>> After the story: Imagine that the fox and the stork had a second opportunity to offer each other dinner. What suggestions would you give them? What should you take into consideration when cooking for someone?
Using the foods presented during the activation phase, defy the students to eat without using their hands. Which of the foods were easy to handle? Which were more difficult? Why?
Empathy Map: What were your fears? Your wishes? Your needs?
Repeat the procedure, but encourage the children to close their eyes while eating, or to eat using only one hand, for instance.
Show them three animals: a mole, a kangaroo and a parrot.
Can you create something to serve soup to these animals? What are their needs? Their wishes? Their fears?
Supply them with clay to allow them to create something.
What if we could make utensils to help the people around us? Choose someone to give a gift to. What does this person need? What do they want? What are they afraid of?
Get the students together and tell them that you are all going to walk around the school to find objects that are not serving their purpose. How can that situation be improved?
[TAKING IT FURTHER]
Discuss how people eat in different cultures. Some use hashi, others sit on the floor and use their hands to eat…
Have cooking classes to explore various cultures.
How can we respect people’s different eating habits? Kosher, halal, vegan, vegetarian, etc.
How can we help our friends with food allergies? Discuss common types of food allergies in your class and how to identify the foods that contain ingredients that might cause allergies. Also, discuss how you and your class can find ways to promote student independence in dealing with their food allergies and in identifying potentially harmful foods. In addition, how can students identify a type of food allergy and how can they deal with an allergic reaction? Create classroom protocols.
Mud Kitchen. Prepare different menus for your friends using loose parts.
Explore different types of animals and their eating habits.
Food and Art: a brief history of food in art — Google Arts & Culture
The Straw Challenge: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/stem-activities/long-straw