Casting
Flexible casting from 8-40 students.
You can have all your class sing every song;
or you can have several students take the part
of an animal; or you can have individual students
take solo parts. Note that all roles can be played by either boys or girls.
Script
This is the first one-third of the script:
CHARACTERS:
Storytellers
Fox
Toad
Dog
Hare, Tortoise
Boy, Wolf
Androcles, Lion
Crow
Dove, Ant
Lion, Mouse
(We recommend that all the songs be sung by the entire class.
Individual animals can act out the actions of the song.)
Song 1
STUDENT A: We mop
STUDENT B: We chop
STUDENT C: We drop
STUDENT C: We hop
CLASS:
But we can’t top Aesop’s fables
Can’t top Aesop’s fables
Can’t top Aesop’s fables now.
STUDENT E: We pop
STUDENT F: We bop
STUDENT G: We flop
STUDENT H: We stop
CLASS:
But we can’t top Aesop’s fables
Can’t top Aesop’s fables
Can’t top Aesop’s fables now.
Lots of famous stories
Now we’ve made them choral
Lots of famous stories
Even with a moral or two
Lots of famous stories for you.
We mop
We chop
We drop
We hop
But we can’t top Aesop’s fables
Can’t top Aesop’s fables
Can’t top Aesop’s fables now.
STORYTELLER (as FOX acts out the attempt to get grapes): Our first
fable is the story of the fox and the grapes. A fox tried to steal some ripe,
juicy grapes off a vine. But the grapes were too high for him to reach.
Song 2
CLASS:
Big red grapes up on the vine
Big red grapes wish they were mine
Big red grapes too high for me
Big red grapes not ripe I see
I’m sure that they must be
Sour sour grapes
I’m sure that they must be sour grapes.
Purple grapes a lovely bunch
Purple grapes I’d love to munch
Purple grapes too high for me
Purple grapes not ripe I see
I’m sure that they must be
Sour sour grapes
I’m sure that they must be sour grapes.
Woh oh oh
No matter what you say
Woh oh oh
Didn’t want them anyway.
Chartreuse grapes best I have seen
Chartreuse grapes nice shade of green
Chartreuse grapes too high for me
Chartreuse grapes not ripe I see
I’m sure that they must be
Sour sour grapes
I’m sure that they must be sour grapes.
I’m sure that they must be sour grapes.
STORYTELLER: This is the story of the toad and the ox. One day a
Toad saw an ox and wanted to be as big as he was. He took a very big
breath and puffed himself out as big as he could.
TOAD: “Am I as big as that ox now?”
CLASS: NO!
STORYTELLER: So the Toad kept puffing himself out, bigger and bigger.
Song 3
CLASS:
A crack in his back
A pop when he hopped
A rip in the tip of his nose
A creak and a squeak
A shriek from his cheek
Oh no Mister Toad don’t explode!
Yi dee di di di dee di
Yi dee di di di
Yi dee di di di di
Yi di di.
TOAD: Look, am I as big as an ox yet?
CLASS:
A whine in his spine
A peep when he leaps
A bit of a split in his toes
A snap and a clap
A gap in his lap
Oh no Mister Toad don’t explode!
Yi dee di di di dee di
Yi dee di di di
Yi dee di di di di
Yi di di.
TOAD: Look look, now am I as big as an ox?
CLASS:
A crack in his back
A pop when he hopped
A rip in the tip of his nose
A creak and a squeak
A shriek from his cheek
Oh no Mister Toad explodes!
(accompanied by students making exploding sounds)
Yi dee di di di dee di
Yi dee di di di
Yi dee di di di di
Yi di di.
Yi dee di di di dee di
Yi dee di di di
Yi dee di di di di
Yi di di.
(There is a board of some kind in front of the stage with three very large,
movable block letters that spell out D O G. As STORYTELLERS tell the
opening story, we see a DOG act out the tale on stage.)
STORYTELLER: Our next tale is about the dog and the bone. Once
there was a very hungry dog who found three bones that spelled out
D-O-G. He picked up the D in his mouth and started home. As he crossed
a bridge, he looked down and saw his reflection in the water. He thought
he saw another dog with another bone. Being very greedy, he opened his
mouth to snap at the D in the reflection. But when he opened his mouth,
his bone fell out, dropped into the water, and disappeared.
Song 4
CLASS:
I once was a dog
But then I lost my D
That letter I love
Floated out to the sea.
I once was a dog
Won’t you help little me?
I can’t be a dog
If I don’t start with D.
(As CLASS sings its lines, either they hold big cards with letters, or
maybe just one student holds up a big letter on the board that had the
D O G and now just has O G):
CLASS: How ’bout an F?
DOG: I’d be lost in a fog
CLASS: Here’s a nice J
DOG: Should I go for a jog?
CLASS: What about L?
DOG: Do I look like a log?
CLASS: Try on this H
DOG: Now you’ve made me a hog!
CLASS:
I once was a dog
But then I lost my D
So who am I now?
What am I going to be?
I once was a dog
Now there’s just O and G
I can’t be a dog
If I don’t start with D.
CLASS: How ’bout an F?
DOG: I’d be lost in a fog
CLASS: Here’s a nice J
DOG: Should I go for a jog?
CLASS: What about L?
DOG: Do I look like a log?
CLASS: Try on this H
DOG: Now you’ve made me a hog!
I once was a dog
I once was a dog
I once was a dog.
(This concludes the first one-third of the script.)
Common Core and Other National Standards
Language Arts
- Aesop's Fables was specifically written to improve phonological awareness for younger students, fulfilling common core reading standards
- Common Core Reading Standards for Literature: K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
- Common Core Reading Standards: Foundational Skills:
- K and 1st: Phonological Awareness, Phonics and Word Recognition
- 2nd: Phonics and Word Recognition
- 3rd, 4th, 5th: Phonics and Word Recognition, Fluency
- Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards: Comprehension and Collaboration - K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
- Common Core Language Standards: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use - K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
- Common Core Standard 10: Range, Quality & Complexity: Range of Text Types for K-5th
History/Social Studies
Fine Arts
- National Music Standards 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8 for K-4th
- National Theater Standards 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8 for K-4th
- National Dance Standards 1 and 2 for K-4th
Vocabulary
| fable |
flop |
choral |
moral |
"sour grapes" |
munch |
| chartreuse |
puffed |
shriek |
spine |
peep |
gap |
| trudge |
shepherd |
vowel |
thigh |
calf |
grateful |
| emperor |
arena |
recognized |
plenty |
spare |
vowed |
| various |
individual |
