ESL WORKSHEET - Animals and fables

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

FABLES

LinguaHouse

Apr. 26, 2021

Level: Pre-intermediate (A2-B1)
Type of language: General English
Tags: Animals and Plants; Storytelling; Describing Sound; Entertainment; Vocabulary and Grammar; Past Tenses; Present Tenses; 10-12 Years Old; 13-15 Years Old; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old
Publication date: 04/26/2021

Students match animals with the qualities they often have in fables. They listen to a well-known fable to identify the moral, as well as for how past simple and past continuous verb forms are used. The language point compares these two verb forms, and students activate the language in a pair work story-telling activity. There is an optional extension activity related to the verbs we use to describe animal sounds. (by Stephanie Hirschman)

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in British English.

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Narrator: One day, a rabbit was watching a tortoise. He was laughing because the tortoise was so slow.
The rabbit said to the tortoise, "I can’t believe that you’re going to get anywhere today. Can’t you go any faster?"
The tortoise replied, "Don’t worry. I’m faster than you think. Do you want to have a race?"
The rabbit thought this was a funny idea, but he agreed. They decided on the start and finish lines for the race. "Ready, set, go!" said the rabbit, and he ran off quickly.
The tortoise started too, but much more slowly. After a few minutes, the rabbit looked back. He didn’t see the tortoise, so he decided to take a short rest.
While the rabbit was sleeping, the tortoise moved as fast as he could. Soon, he passed the rabbit and continued toward the finish line.
The rabbit woke up. He was surprised to see the tortoise was almost at the finish line. He ran as fast as he could, but he didn’t catch the tortoise. The tortoise was the winner.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/fables. Accessed on October 10, 2025. LinguaHouse.com © 2008–2025. All rights reserved.