Fable of the Crab Who Wanted a Bigger Shell

Read the short definition at the top of the sheet aloud first, so your child knows what kind of tale it is. After reading, talk about what the main character learned before your child writes the lesson.

Read a fable about Coral the hermit crab and a big shiny shell, fill in a story map and tell the lesson. A fable is a short story, often with animal characters, that teaches a lesson. A lesson is an idea about how to act. The directions on the page read: Read the fable. Think about what the main character learns. Then, turn the page and answer the questions. On page 2: Write a few words in each row of the story map. Then, circle the letter for 2 and 3. Then, write your answer to 4 on the lines. The answer key covers the questions on page 2.

Yes, both. We made it for 3rd Grade fables, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with myths, fables and folktales. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

A fable is a short story, often about animals, that teaches how to act, like the goose who learns to listen to good advice. A folktale is a story people pass along by telling it aloud. A myth explains something in nature with a powerful being, like the giant who made the mountains.

A pourquoi tale is a made up story, not a science fact, about why something in nature is so, like why the zebra has stripes. In a trickster tale, a clever character wins by fooling others, the way little Mouse fools Elephant. A tall tale tells of a hero with exaggeration, like Bess throwing her lasso so high that it tickled the sun.

Ask what the main character wanted, what they did and what happened because of it. The lesson usually sits in that last step, as when Pip says he took more than he needed and still went hungry.

Yes. All 15 myths, fables and folktales sheets have an answer key, with sample chart or story map answers, the multiple choice answers and a sample lesson.