The Elementary Spelling Book, being an Improvement on the American Spelling Book · Fable VII · Part 9: Reading lessons and fables
116. Fable VII: The Bear and the Two Friends
Goal: Your child reads the fable aloud, tells it back, and says what makes a true friend.
You'll need
- The book, open to this reading lesson
- A slate or paper and pencil
What's in the book
The page begins with the end of Fable VI (a fox who hides in a bramble bush and decides that "each bitter has its sweet"). Then Fable VII, "The Bear and the Two Friends": one friend climbs a tree and leaves the other to face a bear; the other lies still and pretends to be dead.
The lesson, step by step
Before you read
Read the end of Fable VI at the top first, and ask your child what the fox decided. Then say: Listen for what each friend does when the bear comes.
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:
They had not proceeded far, before they perceived a bear making toward them with great rage.
Well, my friend, what said the bear?
Talk about it
Read the answer the friend gives at the end of the fable. Its lesson is
never to associate with a wretch, who, in the hour of danger, will desert his friend.
Ask: Which friend was the true friend? What would a true friend have done?
Tell it back
Your child tells the story in order: the forest, the bear, the tree, the friend on the ground, the question, the answer.
Spell a few words
Pick a few words from the piece. Your child spells them aloud by syllables, then writes them: friends, forest, danger, desert.