Weekend Fun: Tell a Tale! The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf
Learn a story to tell to your family and friends – it’s easy!
What you need:
• A short story that you like – it could be one you “almost know” already, like Little Red Riding Hood or the Three Bears – or find a short story online at one of these sites:
o Heather Forest, Storyteller www.heatherforest.com (Stories in a Nutshell)
o The Library of Congress http://www.read.gov/aesop/001.html The Aesop for Children
• Print out your story or copy it in your own handwriting (this is actually a good way to learn it).
What you do:
1. Read the story several times.
2. Who is the hero of your story? Write that down.
3. Where does the story take place? Write that down, too.
4. What happens in the story? Make a list of the important things, like this:
The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf
Hero: Shepherd Boy
Where: A dark forest near a village
What happens:
• Shepherd boy is watching sheep.
• He (or she) is bored.
• Runs into village crying, “Wolf! Wolf!” just to see what happens.
• Everyone runs to help – shepherd boy laughs at his trick.
• Shepherd boy repeats the trick a few days later.
• One evening as the sun was setting a real wolf came.
• Shepherd boy runs to village crying “Wolf! Wolf!” but no one believes him.
• The wolf kills many of his sheep.
• Moral: No one believes a liar.
5. Make a wolf prop to use when telling your story:
• Use two triangles for ears and a larger one for the face.
• Use crayons or paint to color your wolf face – it doesn’t have to be traditional. We used pink, beige, blue, and white paint mixed together.
• Draw eyes and a nose and make shaggy edges on the ears and sides of the face to look like a wolf’s shaggy fur.
• Tape a cardboard strip for a handle to the back of the head.
• Every time the boy in the story cries, “Wolf! Wolf!” shake your wolf head prop.
