Sometimes it's necessary to view the whole picture before making a judgment about a small part. Read a short story about five blind men who try to identify an elephant by feeling different parts and coming to their own conclusions. Readers then respond to four short comprehension questions.

Concepts

short stories, reading comprehension, fables, perspective, point of view

Show More Show Less

Additional Tags

english language arts

Show More Show Less

Instructional Ideas

• Add to a reading assessment at the beginning of the year
• Have learners discuss the story and their answers with a partner or small literature groups before sharing their responses with the rest of the class
• Include in a unit about point of view or perspective
• Use as an example of fables or parables in your language arts class
• Prompt young readers to expand their last answer into a longer response, drawing on personal experience about a time when they jumped to conclusions

Classroom Considerations

• The resource does not provide a lot of space for each answers, but there is blank space on the bottom of the page for learners to write their responses if necessary

Pros

• Teaches a valuable and applicable lesson
• A great addition to a fables unit, or when discussing metaphors

Cons

• None

Common Core

RL.3.1 RL.3.2 RL.3.3 RL.4.1 RL.4.2 RL.4.3