Aesop's Fables Deluxe

This 5-25 minute musical play can be done as a complete play, skits, read-aloud, or you can just sing songs. No music or drama experience needed. Grades K-3.

Our Easiest Show!

We've put together a handful of Aesop's fables into a format especially written for young students. The songs are simple and playful, encouraging students to delight in the sounds of language while they practice basic word-building skills. This show is also uniquely designed so that teachers can choose to have their kids do the entire show or merely perform any number of individual scenes/songs. We've also left it up to you and your students to examine the tales for issues of character and value-building.

A PRELIMINARY NOTE:
The duration of the show is anywhere from 5 minutes to 25 minutes, depending upon how many Fables you choose to perform. We have designed this show so you can have your kids perform all of the songs, or you can select just those tales that suit your needs (i.e. the amount of time you have to rehearse or perform, your students’ skills, etc.). If you have the CD version, you can simply skip over those tracks you don’t perform. If you have the cassette, you will want to make your own copy that leaves out the songs you aren’t singing.

Aesop's Fables Deluxe is a great complement to your curriculum resources in elementary school language arts.

"I just wanted to let you know that 'Aesop's Fables' was very successful! You are absolutely correct that this is great for word building, phonological awareness and language. I have 12 English Language learners (levels 2 and 3) in my class of second graders. They were ALL highly successful. I appreciate your creativity and talent and your ability to make it accessible for the general classroom teacher."

---Monique Poldberg (2nd grade) Butterfield Elementary, Lake Elsinore, CA

"What an absolute delight! It brought out the musical side of my students and they had a lot of fun. I could hear the musical gifts of many of the students as well as see how the play connected with many of our district's standards. It was a way of differentiating instruction which was fantastic. I will use your wonderful plays throughout the new school year! Thanks for creating this treasure."

---Sonia Lockert, Teacher (2nd grade), Dollahan Elementary, Rialto, CA

"We used some of the songs which the children loved. They will remember doing this play for years---each child had an opportunity to shine in his or her own way."

---Barbara Pohlman, Teacher (1st grade), Incarnation Elementary, Collierville, TN

"There are parts for lots of children, catchy tunes, and it was easily adaptable to fit our needs...There are so many children who have the chance to shine in a way that isn't always obvious in the classroom. I have had students 'discover' that they have so much talent in the singing/acting curriculum."

---Karen Beisee, Teacher (1st-2nd grades), Evergreen School, Eugene, OR

"I liked that it was so adaptable to our needs. The music was fabulous. I would tell a teacher who has never done a play to invest in one of yours. It is well worth it. Ya'll did a great job!"

---Barbara Chauvin, Teacher (2nd grade) Chateau Estates School, Kenner, LA

"Thank you again for providing the materials that work beautifully with my students. If you eliminated any one of the ingredients (humor, song, tapes, accessible language, illustrations, staging suggestions, familiar themes, age-appropriate language, et al.), we could never have enjoyed such success. The children and I are grateful."

---Maggie O'Hara, Teacher, Del Rey School, King City, CA

"This play was a true success when performed by my second grade class and their 6th grade "Discovery Buddies". The students worked together to perform the play for the entire school and enjoyed every minute of it. We combined this play with a unit study of fables in second grade and were able to add some fables of our own to the play. The songs and the messages behind the fables were understood and enjoyed by both grade levels."

---Kirstina Frazier, Teacher (2nd grade), Andover Elementary, Andover, CT

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.

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.)

(STUDENTS act out the various activities mentioned in their song as
individual students sing the first lines of each verse.)

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.)

Sample Songs

Click on the song name to hear samples. Please note that internet song samples have low fidelity and rest assured that the CDs we sell sound much better! (This player requires Flash. If you have any trouble hearing the samples, just contact us for help.)

Full Song List

1. "We Can’t Top Aesop’s Fables"
2. "Sour Grapes"
3. "Oh No, Mr. Toad"
4. "I Once was a Dog"
5. "Hippity Hoppity"
6. "The Boy Who Cried Walf"
7. "Thorns in my Paws"
8. "Thorns in my Paws: Reprise"
9. "1,2,3,4"
10. "A E I O U"
11. "Some Day I Will Help You"
12. "Some Day I Will Help You: Reprise~~
13. "We Can’t Top Aesop’s Fables"

National Education Standards

Fulfills National Arts Standard 3 for Dance, 1 and 8 for music, and 2, 3,
and 5 for Theater.
Fulfills National History Standard 4 for K-4.

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

Vocabulary From Stage Directions
various
individual