Exploring the Theme of Gratitude in Aesop's Fables (middle school reading and ELA activities perfect for Thanksgiving)

I read through a bunch of Aesop's Fables in the public domain searching for ones that had to do with being grateful, or not being grateful, or giving thanks, or not giving thanks...in time for Thanksgiving, so that students could read literature related to the holiday. Well I found several good ones! It turns out there are a lot of ungrateful animals out there that need to learn to be happy with what they have lol!

So I curated some great fables for you and your students. At first I created an activity that required students to find the morals in the lessons themselves. Then, I realized the tales are a little challenging and they might get frustrated trying to figure out the morals themselves (though I think that would be a good activity for easier fables, just not these). So, then I changed it up and provided them with the morals but asked them some questions that require them to do some analysis and make some connections.

I also added some other ELA activities to go with the fables. For example, since there is some challenging vocabulary in the fables, I selected some that I provided definitions for and then made an analogies activity using those words in order to preview the vocabulary.

I also have students to a quick prewriting/journal activity with four possible topics to get them thinking about gratitude in their own lives first.

WANT MORE ENGAGING READING FOR YOUR STUDENTS? WANT TO HAVE THEM PRACTICE ALL 10 READING INFORMATIONAL TEXT STANDARDS SKILLS? TRY THESE: