Fable

[armymom]

I have been looking over Fable for next year. We were not able to do the DVD at this time. I think we will be fine except for one thing...I cannot wrap my brain around doing a story backwards. I can image in media res. I can image beginning with the end and doing a flashback. But I cannot figure how a story would make any sense working backwards. So is there a picture book or something that works a story in that order? Something I could read to give me an example.

Thanks.

Lena

[Mary]

Re: Fable

Hello! We're doing Fable this year and we have not yet used the DVD. Telling the story in reverse order feels strange at first but it does get easier! If you take a peek in your TG, you'll find examples given of retelling the fables backward. I don't have it in front of me but an example off the top of my head from the Fox and the Grapes might be, "Those grapes were probably sour, anyway," said the dejected Fox after failing to grasp a cluster of grapes high in a tree. He had become thirsty trying to jump for them after spying them while walking through the forest one fine day. (That was a really poor example, but I hope it helps to give you an idea of what they're looking for.)


The TG should help you out - and the first few times we did it, I would look at the example given and lead the kids a bit. They got the hang of it pretty quickly.

[rweston]

Re: Fable

Hi Lena,

For rewriting the fable backwards the student is expected to craft a rewrite by telling the same story but with the events inverted. For instance, the fable, "The Flies and the Honey-Pot" (Lesson 6) is about a group of flies who landed upon a bit of honey spilled from a jar. They eat their fill only to realize they are stuck and cannot escape. To rewrite this story starting at the end, the student could open with the flies already stuck and proceed to retell the story from the flies perspective, explaining how they came to be in the situation in the first place.

Hope this is helpful!

[jenniferjb]

Re: Fable

The suggestion that helped me with this, was to start telling the story from the last major bullet of your outline. So, if you have sections I, II & III, start with III, transition to II, and finally to I. My daughter did Narrative online and her teacher made them retell the story in reverse order point by point which was a much harder way to do it. Inverting the major sections was much easier in my opinion.