Add a Little Dramatic Play to Learning
Play Script Fables
These well-known Aesop Fables, based on the Tapsy Tales Fables in French, are written using simple English in the present tense so that they can be used by all levels of students.
ESL Lesson Plans?
Teachers find that listening to, reading and performing these short fables are effective activities for teaching vocabulary. Each play script also has an audio file so that students can hear the story as they read along - a great way for students to practise independently before presenting the play themselves!
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Download PDF Files |
The Ant and the Grasshopper The Crow and The Fox and The Fox and The Hare and |
The Farmer The Ant and The Frogs Who The Milkmaid The Oak and the Reeds |
The Lark and Her Young Ones The Frog and The Bundle of The North Wind The Bat, the Birds and the Beasts |
Wanda loves words! Sometimes she goes a bit overboard but she has a great time doing it. Her play scripts add an element of linguistic play to the play. The traditionally simple style of the fable is maintained, but since she loves words, Wanda expresses herself in longer sentences with more descriptive vocabulary. These free play scripts were written to encourage playful learning.
Students will enjoy dressing up and playing the roles themselves or staying behind the scenes to present the fables with puppets.
A Few Ideas for Learning Through Play ..........
The scripts can also be used as materials for:
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vocabulary extension
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studying common expressions / figures of speech
.......... similies, metaphors
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devices - alliteration, personification, humour, exaggeration
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discussions/debates over the morals
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examples for student writing
(give students one of the simple ESL versions of a fable to compare to Wanda's version; then challenge students rewrite one of the other fables) -
integrate the fables into your music program by having students compose their own music for the chants, create theme melodies for each character (study Peter and the Wolf) or use orff instruments to create background music and sound effects for the play
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integrate the stories into a science study of insects etc. - how has Aesop drawn upon the true characteristics of the natural world for his stories ..
The links in the table below open the html views of the fables.
Each page shows both the ESL and Wanda's version of the play script.
Series A |
Series B |
Series C |
