Lesson2fables-Jeandelafontaine 1

Subject Area and Grade Level
French III - Grade 11

Description of Lesson
Students will be introduced to the fables of Jean de la Fontaine, the most seminal
French fabulist of the 17th century. In addition to reading and critically examining
several of his most prominent fables, students will study the socio-historical
context of the genre of fable-writing and analyze the influence of la Fontaines
works on the French language in general and on European/francophone fables and
folkloric works in particular.
Students will study four primary fables, each dealing with an overarching cultural,
moral, or ethical theme that they will have to relate back to their personal lives or
to society as a whole:
Deception and Flattery : Le Corbeau et Le Renard
Realism vs. Romanticism : La Cigale et La Fourmi
Feminine Suffering and Mourning : La Lionne et lOurse
Revenge, Navet, Reasoning : Le Loup et lAgneau
Objectives
Students will be able to
identify at least three salient elements of the fable genre.
read, translate, analyze, and present a fable of La Fontaines by:
inferring word meanings from context and expanding lexical
knowledge through French English translations.
extrapolating the main idea of the story and translating that concept
into an overarching moral or lesson.
connect 17th century morality to present day cultural, moral, and
ethical themes and issues.
Materials
Powerpoint Presentation to introduce socio-historical context
Fable handout (see attached - there are a total of 4 handouts, one for each group)
Anticipatory Set
Do-Now Activity
: Brainstorm the following questions with a partner:
a. What are fables? What is their purpose within a culture? Do you remember
any from your childhood? What are some characteristics of a good fable?
(The purpose of this do-now activity is to activate prior knowledge and to allow students
to make the connection between fables that they have read in English and the fact that
there are prominent fabulists who have written fables in French.)
Activities
Do-Now Activity
: 3 minutes; 2 minutes sharing some responses.
Review of Powerpoint Presentation
: 5 minutes
A Powerpoint presentation was shown in a prior lesson in order to introduce
students to Jean de la Fontaine, the history of fables in French culture, and
the impact of la Fontaines contributions to the European literary canon. To
ensure student retention of those key concepts and to prepare them for the
primary activity in this lesson, I will quickly review some key aspects of each
slide.
Groupwork
: 20 minutes
Students will read and analyze their selected fable with their group
members. They will then discuss and share their interpretations of the fable
and determine the moral of the story to eventually be shared with
classmates during the group presentation component of this lesson. They
will also talk about some modern-day examples that illustrate that moral
from the media, from pop culture or our culture at large, or from their
personal lives.
Group presentations
: 10 minutes
Each group will present their answers to questions #1 and #2, giving a brief
description of the fable to the rest of the class.
Wrap-up & Debriefing
: 5 minutes
Class discussion: What are some features and characteristics of well-written
fables? How has morality changed over the past 300 years? Why is
anthropomorphism an effective way to make social commentaries?
Presentation of homework assignment.
Assessment
Informal Formative Assessment
: As students are reading their fables and
working in groups, I will be circulating the room and evaluating participation and
engagement with the following rubric:
+ Full participation and active engagement

Partial participation and adequate engagement
Inactive participation and complete disengagement
Formal Formative Assessment
: Each group will be responsible for handing in a
written response to questions #1 and #2 on the handout. They will be evaluated on
a 10-point scale: 5 points (oral) for their ability to explain the salient features of the
fable to their classmates and create real-world, authentic connections; and 5 points
for the written accuracy of their fable analysis and precision of their real-world
example.
Homework
: See attached handout.
Extensions and Modifications
Visual and auditory modification for students who have difficulty reading or
grasping text:
https://youtu.be/xYMgdW7-s9E
All students might want to use this resource to ensure comprehension of the
fable before presenting to the class.
Nom: _____________________________________
Date: ____________________
Le Corbeau et Le Renard
Directions
: In your small groups, read the following
fable from Jean de la Fontaine. Using your dictionary,
annotate the fable with any relevant translations that
are necessary to help you understand the text.
Once you have read and understood the fable, discuss
the following two questions with your groupmates:
1. What is the moral of the fable?
2. What is a present-day moral or cultural example
that represents the lesson presented within the fable? Your example can be from pop
culture, the media/society at large, or a personal example from your own life.
After, be prepared to A) explain the fable to your classmates; B) discuss questions 1 & 2; and
C) answer any questions that your classmates may have about the fable or about the
examples you chose. Please be sure to answer questions 1 & 2 in
written form
, as your
responses will be collected and graded! (3-5 sentences per question)
Matre Corbeau, sur un arbre perch,
Tenait en son bec un fromage.
Matre Renard, par l'odeur allch,
Lui tint peu prs ce langage :
Et bonjour, Monsieur du Corbeau.
Que vous tes joli ! que vous me semblez beau !
Sans mentir, si votre ramage
Se rapporte votre plumage,
Vous tes le Phnix des htes de ces bois.
ces mots, le Corbeau ne se sent pas de joie ;
Et pour montrer sa belle voix,
Il ouvre un large bec, laisse tomber sa proie.
Le Renard s'en saisit, et dit : Mon bon Monsieur,
Apprenez que tout flatteur
Vit aux dpens de celui qui l'coute.
Cette leon vaut bien un fromage, sans doute.
Le Corbeau honteux et confus
Jura, mais un peu tard, qu'on ne l'y prendrait plus.
Nom: _____________________________________
Date: ___________________________
Les Fables de Jean de la Fontaine

Directions:
En vous basant sur les discussions quon a eues en classe et les lectures que
vous avez faites sur cette thmatique, rpondez aux questions suivantes
en franais afin
dassurer votre comprhension des concepts cls dans cette unit. (
Basing yourself on the
discussions that weve had in class and the readings that you have done on this theme,
answer the following questions
in French in order to ensure your understanding of the key
concepts of this unit
)
1. Qui est Jean de la Fontaine ? (
Who is Jean de la Fontaine?
)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
2. Quels sont les lments cls de la fable ? (
What are the key elements of fables?
)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Comment Jean de la Fontaine a-t-il rvolutionn le canon littraire europen lors du
17me sicle ? (
How did Jean de la Fontaine revolutionize the European literary canon
during the 17th century
?)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
4. Est-ce que vous pensez que la moralit change depuis les annes 1600 ? Expliquez et
justifiez votre rponse (
Do you think morality has changed since the 1600s? Explain and
justify your answer
.)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
5. Pensez un thme moral sur lequel vous aimeriez travailler. Pourquoi est-ce que ce
thme vous est important ? Comment pourriez-vous en faire une fable ? (
Think of a moral
theme on which you would like to work. Why is this theme important to you? How might
you be able to turn it into a fable?
)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________

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Subject Area and Grade Level

French III - Grade 11

Les Fables de Jean de la Fontaine

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