The Boy Who Yelled Wolf: Aesop's Fables ESL Story Time Listening

(TESOL Worksheets--Aesop Fables, Story Time ESL Listening)

Worksheet: docs, pub
Slow speed Version: HERE, Normal speed version: HERE, Quizlet: HERE
(The text is based on this lesson HERE).

The Boy Who Yelled Wolf Aesop’s Fables #210

(Original Title: The Boy Who Cried Wolf)

Video slow speed: https://youtu.be/KASysdw_wEw

Video normal speed: https://youtu.be/JI6BeM1q-sE

Quizlet: https://quizlet.com/_5vzo2q

Suggested Use:

Step 1: Look at the vocabulary. Check any words that you don’t know in your dictionary.

Step 2: Listen to the video. (Listen only.  Don’t look at the reading yet).

Step  3: Practice the vocabulary on Quizlet 

Step 4: Watch the video again.  This time look at the reading. Read and listen at the same time.

Step 5: Practice the vocabulary on Quizlet again.

Step 6: Listen one last time.  The last time, don’t look at the reading. 

Vocabulary

angrily, bored, chase, face, fool, fun, funny, hillside, jump, laugh, liar, lie, loudly, moral, nobody, once, once upon a time, return, sheep, sunset, townspeople, truth, upon, yell, wolf, wonder

The Boy Who Yelled Wolf Aesop’s Fables #210

Once upon a time, there was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside watching his sheep. To have some fun, he yelled out, "Wolf! Wolf! A wolf is chasing the sheep!"

The townspeople came running up the hill to help the boy. But when they came to the top of the hill, they found no wolf. They got very angry.  The boy thought it was all very funny, and he laughed at their angry faces.

"Don't say 'wolf' when there is no wolf!" said the townspeople.  Then they went angrily back down the hill.

Later, the boy yelled out again, "Wolf! Wolf! A wolf is chasing the sheep!" And again, he watched the townspeople run up the hill. 

When the townspeople saw no wolf, they angrily said, "Don't say ‘wolf' when there is no wolf!"  But the boy just laughed and watched them go angrily down the hill once more.

But then, the boy saw it: a real wolf coming up the hill.  He jumped up, and yelled as loudly as he could, "Wolf! Wolf!"

But the townspeople thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn't come.

At sunset, the townspeople wondered why the shepherd boy hadn't returned to the town with the sheep. They went up the hill to find the boy. They found him crying.

"There really was a wolf here! The sheep are all gone! I cried out, ‘Wolf!’ Why didn't you come?"

An old man put his arm around the boy. “This is what happens when you tell lies,” he said.

 

The moral of the story is:

Nobody believes a liar...even when he is telling the truth

 

.

Vocabulary

angrily - adverb form of angry

bored - feeling tired and unhappy because something is not interesting or because you have nothing to do:

I'm bored with doing homework.

chase - to run after someone or something in order to catch them:

The dog was chasing a rabbit.

face - the front part of the head where the eyes, nose, and mouth are, or the expression on this part:

She's got a long, thin face.

fool - to trick someone:

He fooled the old man into giving him the money.

fun - enjoyment or pleasure, or something that gives you enjoyment or pleasure:

You'll like it - it's good fun!

funny - making you smile or laugh:

It's not funny. Don't laugh!

hillside - the sloping side of a hill

jump - to push your body up and away from the ground using your feet and legs:

I jumped over the log.

jump up - to get up quickly

laugh - to smile while making sounds with your voice that show you are happy or think something is funny:

You never laugh at my jokes.

liar - someone who tells lies

lie - something that you say or write which you know is not true:

I told a lie when I said I liked her haircut.

loudly - Adverb form of "loud":

he was speaking very loudly.

moral - something you learn from a story or event about how to behave:

The moral of the story is never lie.

nobody - no person:

There was nobody I could talk to.

once - in the past, but not now:

This house once belonged to my grandfather.

once upon a time - used at the beginning of a children's story to mean that something happened a long time ago

return - to go or come back to a place where you were before:

She returned to America in 1954.

sheep - a farm animal whose skin is covered with wool:

There was a flock of sheep.

sunset - the time when the sun disappears in the evening and the sky becomes dark

townspeople - people who live in a particular town, considered as a group:

The townspeople have embraced the summer music festival.

truth - the real facts about a situation:

Do you think he was telling the truth?

upon - on:

The jar had been placed on the table.

yell - to shout something very loudly:

The policeman yelled at them to stop.

wolf - a wild animal like a large dog

wonder - to want to know something or to try to understand the reason for something:

I wonder what he's making for dinner.