Discussing the Read-Aloud 15 minutes

Comprehension Questions 10 minutes

If students have difficulty responding to questions, reread pertinent passages of the read-aloud and/or refer to specific images. If students give one-word answers and/or fail to use read-aloud or domain vocabulary in their responses, acknowledge correct responses by expanding students’ responses, using richer and more complex language. Ask students to answer in complete sentences by having them restate the question in their responses.

1. Evaluative Were your predictions about what happens in the fable correct? Why or why not? (Answers may vary.)

2. Literal What is the setting of this fable? (in a barn on a farm) What other fable have you heard that was set in a barn? (“The Goose and the Golden Eggs”)

 Show image 4A-1: Ox talking to the dog in the manger

3. Evaluative Does this illustration depict the beginning, middle, or end of the fable? (the end) How do you know? (because the dog is barking at the ox)

4. Inferential How do the oxen feel when they enter the barn? (tired and hungry) Why? (They had been pulling the plow all afternoon.)

5. Evaluative Why do the oxen want the dog to move from the manger? (so they can eat their dinner) Is their request reasonable? (yes) Could this really happen? (no) So, is this fable fact or fiction? (fiction)

6. Evaluative How does the ox in the story act like a person? (talks) How does the ox act like an animal? (wants to eat the hay)

7. Evaluative Does the dog budge and get out of the manger? (no) Why or why not? (Answers may vary.)

8. Evaluative If you were the ox and the dog refused to get out of the manger, what would you do? (Answers may vary.)

9. Evaluative All of Aesop’s fables, or stories, were meant to teach a moral, or a lesson, about how to behave. What is the moral of this fable? (“Don’t be mean and stingy when you have no need of things yourself.”) [Accept paraphrasing by students, e.g., “Share with others.”] Is this an important lesson for you to remember? Why or why not? (Yes, because sharing is important for everyone.)

[Please continue to model the Question Pair Share process for students, as necessary, and scaffold students in their use of the process.]

10. Evaluative Why? Pair Share: Asking questions after a readaloud is one way to see how much everyone has learned. In a moment you are going to ask your neighbor a question about the fable that starts with the word why. For example, you could ask, “Why was the dog napping in the barn?” Turn to your neighbor and ask your why question. Listen to your neighbor’s response. Then your neighbor will ask a new why question, and you will get a chance to respond. I will call on several of you to share your questions with the class.

11. After hearing today’s read-aloud and questions and answers, do you have any remaining questions? [If time permits, you may wish to allow for individual, group, or class research of the text and/or other resources to answer these questions.]

Fables and Stories 4A | The Dog in the Manger 45 © 2013 Core Knowledge Foundation

Word Work: Budge 5 minutes

1. In the read-aloud you heard, “But the dog, who did not even eat hay, but only enjoyed it for its comfort, barked and snapped in response, and refused to budge.”

2. Say the word budge with me.

3. When someone won’t budge, they will not move, not even a little bit.

4. We waited for our teacher at the door, and did not budge!

5. Think of a time when you or someone you know didn’t budge. Try to use the word budge when you tell about it. [Ask two or three students. If necessary, guide and/or rephrase students’ responses: “I didn’t budge when . . .”]

6. What’s the word we’ve been talking about?

Use a Movement activity for follow-up. Directions: We are going to play a game called “Budge, Don’t Budge,” which is very similar to a game you may know, called “Red Light, Green Light.” (Have students stand on one side of the room.) When I say, “Budge,” you should begin walking toward me. When I say, “Don’t budge,” you should stop. (You may also adapt other popular games, such as musical chairs and freeze tag, using the commands, “Budge,” and “Don’t budge.”)