The Hare and the Tortoise

The Hare and the Tortoise is perhaps one of the most well-known of Aesop’s Fables; a collection of tales thought to have originated in ancient Greece by Aesop, a Greek storyteller. Over the years his many stories have been published and adapted. A fable is a short story featuring animals instead of human characters. The stories carry a strong moral message. The fable of the Hare and the Tortoise tells the tale of a race between two unequal partners and the moral of its ending has been interpreted in several different ways.

# Learning objectives

1: To retell the story as a sequence of events.{.info}

2: To identify the key messages from the story.{.info}

# Who Wanted to Race?{.objective .objective1}

In this section the hare is boasting to the other animals of the forest how fast he can run. The tortoise challenges the hare to a race which makes the hare laugh. In this activity students are asked to explore the hut and the start of the race trail. Why did the hare think he could win? Why did the other animals not want to race the hare?

# Who Won the Race?{.objective .objective2}

The race begins, and the hare runs ahead. He is so far ahead that he decides to take a nap to mock the tortoise. In this activity students are asked to consider the reason why the tortoise won. The hare could run faster than the tortoise, why did the tortoise win?

# What Could the Tortoise Teach the Hare?{.objective .objective3}

Students should reflect on why the hare lost the race. He was so confident he would win that he stopped trying and didn’t notice the tortoise taking the lead. In this activity students are asked to consider the morals of the story. How do you think the hare felt when the tortoise won? What do you think the message of the story is?

# Teacher Resources

**Download Teacher Notes**

[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/793227/files/The%20Hare+and+the+Tortoise+Teachers+Notes+1.pdf?date=1677054930&size=1170456&md5=88f905591aad14d68de66f32ebf3a85b)

**Student Quiz Answers Document**

[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/793229/files/The%20Hare+and+the+Tortoise+Teachers+Notes+2.pdf?date=1677055011&size=657962&md5=31f211a07c04469846f4c35f27bd4d50)

**Download Student Quiz Document**

[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/793230/files/The%20Hare+and+the+Tortoise+Teachers+Notes+3.pdf?date=1677055112&size=79659&md5=baa9f9584672809e7ed69b74bfaeaa23)