The Dog and the Manger The Dog and the Manger 4B

Extensions 20 minutes

Personification

Make a T-chart with two columns on chart paper, a chalkboard, or a whiteboard. Label the top of the left-hand column “Things that Animals Really Do.” Label the top of the right-hand column “Things that Animals Can’t Really Do.”

Explain to students that you are going to talk about the fable and that you are going to write down what they say, but that they are not expected to be able to read what you write because they are still learning all the rules for decoding. Emphasize that you are writing what they say so that you don’t forget, and tell them that you will read the words to them.

Have students name the animals from the fable. Remind students that these animals are called the characters of the story. Have them say characters with you.

Talk with students about the animal characters. Ask students to list the things that the animals do in the story that they would not normally do in real life, e.g., talk. Write down their answers in the right-hand column of the T-chart.

Next, ask students to list the things that the animals in the story would do in real life, e.g., pulling a plow. List students’ answers in the left-hand column. (Save this chart for use in later lessons.)

Tell students that they have already learned several words to use when talking about fables and stories—characters, setting, and plot—and that now they are going to learn a special word for animals acting like people: personification. Have students echo the word. Explain that the word personification actually starts with the word person. Personification means acting like a person.

You may extend the activity by having students brainstorm other things the dog or ox could have done in the fable that would be examples of personification, e.g., going to the store to buy food.