Micro Video Lesson
Lesson Plan
Level: Basic
Business/Materials
- Aesop Fable: The Lion & The Mouse
- Four sequential pictures from the story
- Whiteboard and markers
Lesson Objectives
- Students will be able to define a fable
- Students will understand and identify the moral of a fable in English
- Students will be able to write their own fable with a clear moral
- Students will compare Aesop’s moral to one from a fable in their native culture
Warm-Up and Objective Discussion
Begin with a quick brainstorm:
Draw a lion and a mouse on the board.
Ask:
- “What words do we associate with a lion?” (e.g., strong, king, scary, loud)
- “What words do we associate with a mouse?” (e.g., small, quiet, afraid, fast)
Write responses on the board. Then ask:
- “Are there any fables or folk stories in your country that feature a lion or a mouse?”
- “What kind of stories do animals usually appear in?”
Transition to today’s topic: fables.
Explain that fables are short stories with a lesson, often using animals to teach about human behavior.
Instruct and Model
Instructor Explanation
Introduce Aesop and the concept of a moral — a lesson the story teaches.
Show a picture from The Lion and the Mouse (e.g., the mouse chewing through the rope).
Teach key vocabulary:
- Rope
- Trap
- Hunter
- Big / Small
- Chew / Escape
Ask: What do you think is happening in this picture?
Modeling in Groups
Divide the class into four groups.
Give each group one of the four story pictures (out of order).
Task: Write one or two sentences explaining what’s happening in the picture.
Once each group is done, come together and reorder the story.
Ask the class:
What is the moral of this story?
Guided Practice
Distribute a printed version of The Lion and the Mouse.
Each group reads the full story together.
They write down the moral and share with the class.
Mini Grammar Lesson: Quotation Rules in Fables
Show examples of how dialogue is used in fables:
Old style:
“You saved my life,” said the Lion.
Modern style:
The lion said, “You saved my life.”
Cover:
- Quotation marks
- Capital letters at the start of speech
- Punctuation placement
- Verb placement (“said the mouse” vs. “the mouse said”)
Pre-Writing Brainstorm
On the board, brainstorm new animal pairs. Examples:
- Elephant & Ant
- Dog & Cat
- Frog & Fly
Ask:
- “What do we associate with each animal?”
- “Who would help who?”
- “What kind of lesson could this story teach?”
Emphasize that fables are meant to teach and have a clear audience.
Independent Practice
In groups, students create a new fable using the animals and morals brainstormed earlier.
They take turns writing one sentence at a time to build the story together.
Encourage creativity—but remind them that a fable must have:
- A beginning, middle, and end
- A problem and a solution
- A clear moral
Assessment
Each group presents their original fable to the class.
The rest of the class listens carefully and tries to guess the moral of each new story.
Wrap up with a short discussion:
- “Was the moral clear?”
- “How was it similar or different from The Lion and the Mouse?”