Morals in Fables, Folktales and Myths · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Finding the Message in a Story

English · Reading Comprehension · ages 8-9
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Read this story. 'A magpie found a shiny button in the road and told every bird it was a jewel from a king. When the birds came to look, she pushed it deep into the mud so nobody could touch it. By morning the mud had swallowed the button, and she had nothing left to show anyone.' Which kind of story is this?

    • A myth, because it explains how the world was made
    • A folktale, because it is told in a village
    • A fable: short, animals act as people, a lesson

  2. A folktale is a story that ordinary people pass down, and different families may tell it a bit differently.

    Circle one:   True   False

  3. What is the 'topic' of a story?

    • The lesson the story teaches
    • What the story is mainly about
    • The last sentence of the story

  4. The topic of a story and its central message are always the same thing.

    Circle one:   True   False

  5. A story is about a girl who plants a garden and waters it daily until it grows. What is the central message, not just the topic?

    • A girl planted a garden
    • Gardens need water
    • Daily care grows things

  6. Read this story. 'A young crane practised landing on the same flat stone every dawn, and the older cranes laughed at her for it. A heron told her practice was only for birds with weak wings. When the winter storm came, the crane set down safe on the ice and the heron could not.' What is the central message?

    • Cranes fly better than herons
    • Winter storms are dangerous for birds
    • Early practice keeps you safe later

  7. Only fables teach a lesson, so any story that ends with a lesson must be a fable.

    Circle one:   True   False

  8. Read this story. 'The first bear was made out of winter. The sky woman rolled a drift of snow into a body and breathed on it, and ever since bears sleep through the cold months as if they were going home.' Sam says this must be a fable because a bear is in it. What is the best answer to Sam?

    • Sam is right, since any story with an animal in it is a fable
    • Animals fit all three kinds; this myth explains winter sleep
    • It cannot be a myth, because myths never have animals in them

  9. Read this story. 'Old Rana kept one lamp burning in her window all winter, and the oil cost her half her wages. Her cottage had a blue door and a crooked chimney. In the blizzard, three lost travellers found her by that one light.' The lesson is that a small kindness kept up over time can matter more than you know. Which detail could you leave out without weakening that lesson?

    • The oil cost her half her wages
    • Her cottage had a blue door
    • Three lost travellers found her by that one light

  10. You want to write a story that explains why the sea tastes salty, using a giant who spills a barrel he was told never to open. Which kind of story are you writing, and how do you know?

    • A myth: it explains the salty sea through a giant
    • A fable, because the story will be short enough to read in one sitting
    • A folktale, because giants are not real
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Finding the Message in a Story W1-mt_H0ajATAlus-s1

  1. A fable: short, animals act as people, a lesson · Three marks line up. The story is short, the magpie boasts and hides things the way a person would, and the ending leaves you with a lesson about guarding what you have.
  2. True · That is the folktale mark. Nobody owns a folktale, so it can change a little every time it is told again.
  3. What the story is mainly about · The topic is the subject, like 'a race between two animals.' The lesson is a separate idea called the central message.
  4. False · The topic is what happens in the story. The central message is the lesson learned from it.
  5. Daily care grows things · 'A girl planted a garden' is just the topic. The lesson about care and effort is the central message.
  6. Early practice keeps you safe later · A crane and a heron is the topic. The lesson comes from what her early practice does for her once the storm arrives.
  7. False · Fables, folktales, and myths can all carry a central message. A lesson tells you the story has a message, not which kind of story it is.
  8. Animals fit all three kinds; this myth explains winter sleep · An animal is not a mark on its own. What decides it here is that a sky woman makes the first bear, and the ending explains why bears sleep all winter.
  9. Her cottage had a blue door · The cost shows the kindness was not easy to keep up, and the travellers show it mattered in the end. The colour of the door tells you nothing about the lesson.
  10. A myth: it explains the salty sea through a giant · The plan is to explain something real about the world through a giant's actions. That is the myth mark. Length, and whether giants are real, are not marks at all.
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