FABLES AND FOLKTALES CAN BE A USEFUL TEACHING MATERIALS

FABLES AND FOLKTALES CAN BE A USEFUL TEACHING  MATERIALS.

Yesterday my son was reading about ' The Tortoise and The Hare '. Suddenly something came across my  mind. As an English Language teacher in primary school , i think fables can be useful teaching material. This is because a fable is a story that has meaning and it gives a moral or lesson. It also involves human qualities with animals, plants etc.

Children love folktales and fables. With their simple characters and settings, as well as an enticing conflict early in the story, folktales immediately grab a reader’s attention and, of course, everyone loves when humor and cunning are used to outsmart an adversary.

Reading world folktales and fables is not only a wonderful way to entertain and bond with children, it is also an effective way to educate them. The stories in classic folklore offer both social lessons as well as an opportunity to teach about cultures and languages.

Folktales and fables provide an excellent way to teach kids about the consequences of good and bad behavior, the importance of cooperation, and the rewards of courage and ingenuity. In one of my favorite stories, The Giant Turnip (an adaptation of the Russian story The Enormous Turnip), a class grows a huge turnip and works together to figure out how to pull it out of the ground. The story helps young children grasp the benefits of community and working together.

Folktales and fables also offer a great entry point for teaching children about other cultures. For instance, the fable Dragon’s Tears is a wonderful starting point to explore Chinese Culture. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves can be used to begin teaching and learning about Arabic culture.

Bilingual editions of these traditional stories allow the parent or teacher to expose children not only to a different culture, but also to another language. I like to use Language Lizard’s bilingual version of the Indian folktale Buri and the Marrow (in which Buri wears an Indian sari) to expose my children to traditional Indian stories and foreign language scripts. The audio CD even lets them hear the story in Bengali and other foreign languages.

Folktales and fables have survived the test of time for a reason. So pick up a story, sit down with a child, and enjoy!

Here  I would like to share The Tortoise and The hare. In this fable  The hare believes that he’s faster than the tortoise, and he’s right. In a flat out run, the hare will beat the tortoise every time. But the hare makes a huge mistake, believing in his ability but then not actually proving it.

 Here pupils will learn that in life they  may have great skill, one which everyone acknowledges, but they must still use that skill in competition to actually win competition. Overconfidence that leads to a lackadaisical attitude will often be punished by embarrassing failure.