Wednesday with Words: A folktale

This week's words are actually brought to you by my 9 yo son.  One of my goals is to help my kids find worthy things that they love and want to remember as they read.  I want them to be commonplacers.  We have been using English Lessons Through Literature for a while so he has done quite a bit of copywork!   Last week we read a story from his literature book and he loved the ending.  He asked if he could copy it down.  I hadn't really talked with him much about copying down what he liked best but he is getting the idea anyway.  In essence this is his first "common place" selection.  I was so excited (but tried not to get to giddy around him and scare him off).  This totally reflects his personality.

And the fox replied, "Oh, most worthy King, you should yourself know that this beast (the ass) had neither heart nor ears.  If he had had ears, which are the seat of hearing, he would have known that I spoke falsehoods and if he had had a heart, which is the seat of feelings, he would have been overcome with fear at the very sight of you." And with these last words of treachery, the Fox escaped into the woods. 

"The Ass, the Lion and the Fox" from The Tortoise and the Geese by Maude Barrows Dutton

We have also been reading The Penderwicks aloud and my boys are loving it.  I like seeing how they respond to the different personalities in books and each of the sisters has a clear personality in this book.  I can see why reading fiction is so good for empathy!

   See what others are reading over at ladydusk.