The Elementary Spelling Book, being an Improvement on the American Spelling Book · Fable I · Part 9: Reading lessons and fables
113. Fable I: The Boy that Stole Apples
Goal: Your child reads the fable aloud, tells it back in order, and says what it teaches.
You'll need
- The book, open to this reading lesson
- A slate or paper and pencil
What's in the book
At the top of the page is "The Squirrel", a short piece about gray and black squirrels. Then Fable I, "Of the Boy that Stole Apples": an old man finds a boy stealing his apples and tries words, then grass, then stones to bring him down. It ends on the next page with its moral.
The lesson, step by step
Before you read
Read "The Squirrel" at the top first, as a warm-up. Then say: A fable is a short story that teaches a lesson. Listen for what the old man tries first, second and third.
Read it aloud
Read the whole piece aloud while your child follows with a finger. Then your child reads it to you, a few sentences at a time. Help with hard words without fuss. Here is how it goes:
An old man found a rude boy upon one of his trees stealing apples,
and desired him to come down; but the young saucebox told him plainly he would not.
if neither words nor grass will do, I must try what virtue there is in stones
Talk about it
Read the moral at the end on the next page:
If good words and gentle means will not reclaim the wicked, they must be dealt with in a more severe manner.
Ask: Was the boy wrong? Why did the old man start with kind words? What does "reclaim" mean here? (To bring back to doing right.)
Tell it back
Your child tells the story in three parts: words, grass, stones. Then says the lesson in one sentence of their own.
Spell a few words
Pick a few words from the piece. Your child spells them aloud by syllables, then writes them: apples, pardon, gentle, severe.