Teaching Lessons from Stone Soup
Students of All Ages Can Learn a Lesson through Literature
Dec 16, 2008
A great whole group language arts lesson that can be done in an elementary classroom at any grade level is the story of Stone Soup by Ann McGovern [Scholastic Inc, 1986]. If the students are old enough and you have enough copies of the book, they can read it themselves; otherwise, follow the lesson for a read aloud.
Introduction to Stone Soup
Prepare cut out paper stones large enough for your students to each write on, and have enough paper plates for each student. Distribute the paper plates and have students draw their favorite meal to eat when they are very hungry. Allow the students to quickly share what meal they drew on their plate before continuing. For older students, have them verbally share their favorite dinner instead of having them draw the meal.
Stone Soup Predictions
Explain to the students that they are now going to read a story called Stone Soup. Ask the students what they think the story will be about (if they have not heard of the story before) and have them write their prediction on the paper stone. If the students are already familiar with the story, you can skip the prediction. Review with younger students what a good listener does, and that they need to be good listeners while you read the story.
After reading the story, ask the students to raise their hands if their prediction was correct. Have the students determine if their predictions were accurate by having them help you locate the page number that proves or disproves the prediction and reread the passage orally. If you skipped the prediction earlier, this activity can be skipped as well.
Lessons Learned from Stone Soup
As a class, discuss the story and what lessons can be learned from it. List the lessons that they come up with on the board, and ask the students to explain why each lesson is important. For older students, have them write an essay about one of the lessons from the story that they learned another way. For example, if the lesson was that the student learned to share, he can write a story about something he learned to share with his family.
For younger students, group them by pairs and have them turn their paper stone over and write a new title for the story. Then, have each pair share their new story title and explain what made them choose that title. If there is still time, you can have the students vote on whose new title is the best.
As a great follow up to the story, the students can put together a reader’s theater of the story, complete with costumes and a script. If you decide to put on a reader’s theater, consider inviting the parents to come and enjoy the show! With a bit of creativity, students of all ages can learn a lesson from Stone Soup.
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