Embedded Files
Inside the Story:
OBJECTIVE: Students will discover how a character’s feelings, traits, and choices shape a story, and explore creative ways to bring those characters to life.
GRADES: PreK - 2nd
DISCIPLINES & ARTISTIC PROCESS: Music, Visual Art, and ELA / Responding, Connecting, Creating
VOCABULARY: character, emotions/feelings, gesture, pantomime, story, traits
Story Warm-Up: Meet the Characters
Who are the characters in The Tortoise and the Hare and what are their traits?
🐢 Tortoise – slow, steady, patient, determined
🐇 Hare – fast, confident, sometimes distracted
Use emotion cards to lead a class discussion:
How do you think each character was feeling at the beginning, middle, and end of the story?
How do you think Tortoise felt when the Hare ran ahead?
Why do you think the Hare decided to take a nap?
How do you think the Hare felt when he woke up and saw Tortoise finishing the race?
What do you think each character learned from the race?
How do the characters help or challenge each other?
Invite students to make faces or body poses to show each feeling.
How do the character's actions show their feelings or traits?
Story Through Movement
As a class, retell the story of The Tortoise and The Hare using voice, body, and expression to illustrate the characters' traits and feelings.
Key story moments: Starting line → Hare speeds off → Tortoise keeps going → Hare naps → Tortoise crosses finish line.
Narrator (teacher) reads simple lines, and students pantomime silently.
Switch roles so everyone gets to try both characters. Encourage students to use big gestures and facial expressions to communicate the emotions and character traits you discussed in the previous activity.
Challenge: Add a short spoken line that shows each character's feelings or personality traits.
Optional Art Extension:
Represent character traits visually by giving each student a paper plate mask or drawing space.
Choose a character and decorate a mask to show their feelings during the race (e.g., sleepy Hare, proud Tortoise).
Add a label with one describing word: brave, sleepy, happy, determined, etc.
Parade or "mask walk" to share.
Reflect
What kind of friend would you rather be—Tortoise or Hare? Why?
What did the Tortoise teach us?
Are there times in our classroom or at home when you’ve felt like the Tortoise or the Hare?
How do you show patience, kindness, or teamwork like the Tortoise?
What can we learn from the Hare about confidence and humility?
How can we use what we learned from this story in our classroom?
Journal or Art Extension:
Draw or write about a time when you worked hard and didn’t give up, just like the Tortoise.
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