Select common words used in the fable you are reading such as "ant" in "The Ant and the Grasshopper" or "egg" in "The Goose and the Golden Egg," or select basic sight words such as "at," "the" and "but" to focus on. Write the focus words on the board and teach children what they say. Blow up the text of the selected fable, or use a big book version of the fable and read the text aloud, point to each of the focus words and encourage children to read them aloud.
Photocopy images from the fable or print out pictures illustrating the events occurring in the story. Glue the pictures to index cards and place the cards in a jumbled-up order in the pockets of a pocket chart. Encourage children to examine the pictures and rearrange the cards in the order in which they occurred in the story. Being able to identify the order in which events occur in a story is an important part of reading comprehension.
Learner.org suggests "sketch-to-stretch," a comprehension building technique prompting students to "sketch" pictures to "stretch" their understanding of a text. After reading a fable, provide children with construction paper, crayons, markers, colored pencils, paints and craft materials. Prompt students to think about the story they have heard and encourage them to draw pictures to illustrate the moral, or the important message conveyed in the story. After they create their pictures, invite them to share their creations with the class.
Assign students roles from the fables you are reviewing. Provide them with props or encourage them to create their own props using craft materials such as paper plate masks or pictures of the setting. Invite children to act out the series of events that occurred in the fable to retell the stories. This activity allows children to bring literature to life, sparking their interests and curiosity and fostering a greater understanding of the fables.