Aesop's Fable: "The Frogs and the Well"

ESL Lesson Plan

Green Frog Well Camouflaged Amont Waterlily Leaves
Federica Grassi / Getty Images

Here is a free ESL lesson plan based on "The Frogs and the Well," including vocabulary and key phrase explanations and follow-up questions.

Text of "The Frogs and the Well"

Two Frogs lived together in a marsh. But one hot summer the marsh dried up, and they left it to look for another place to live in: for frogs like damp places if they can get them. By and by they came to a deep well, and one of them looked down into it and said to the other, "This looks a nice cool place. Let us jump in and settle here." But the other, who had a wiser head on his shoulders, replied, "Not so fast, my friend. Supposing this well dried up like the marsh, how should we get out again?"

Key Vocabulary Words and Phrases

  • Marsh - wet area, pond
  • To dry up - to lose all water
  • Damp - humid, wet
  • By and by - over time, eventually
  • Well - A hole in the ground used to access fresh water
  • To settle - to begin living in a new place
  • To leap - to jump into

Moral

Look before you leap. - Look at all sides of a situation before making a decision.

Questions / Discussion

  • Why did the Frogs decide to move?
  • Why did they decide not to jump into the well?
  • Vocabulary Building - Make a list of words related to these categories presented in the fable: nature and movement.
  • Do you have any stories/fables in your culture that has a similar message? If so, try to tell the story or fable in English.
  • Have you ever moved? If so, explain why you moved with as many details as possible.
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Your Citation
Beare, Kenneth. "Aesop's Fable: "The Frogs and the Well"." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/aesops-fable-lesson-the-frogs-and-the-well-1212009. Beare, Kenneth. (2020, August 27). Aesop's Fable: "The Frogs and the Well". Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/aesops-fable-lesson-the-frogs-and-the-well-1212009 Beare, Kenneth. "Aesop's Fable: "The Frogs and the Well"." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/aesops-fable-lesson-the-frogs-and-the-well-1212009 (accessed March 29, 2024).