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Library / The Flies and the Honey Pot

Lesson plan

The Flies and the Honey Pot

Grades
2–4
Time
45 min
Reading level
1
PDFPrint the worksheetRead the story

Lesson flow

5 min

Before we read

Before the lesson, check quietly whether any pupil has had a recent loss, and seat them beside a friend. Tell the class plainly: "This story ends sadly for the flies. They get stuck in the honey and they do not get away. We will think about the choices they made, and we will not act out the ending." Teach "fast" here.

10 min

Sticky test

You handle this, and nobody tastes it. Put a spoonful of honey on a plate and tilt it so pupils can watch it creep, "slow and gold". Touch a cotton bud to it and lift it slowly so they see the honey pull back. Do the same with a spoonful of water. Ask: "Which would be harder to walk out of?" Teach the other five words.

10 min

Read and pause

Read the story aloud; in Grade 4, pupils read it in pairs. The class joins in on "Just one more sip!" Pause after the second one and ask: "Can they still leave? How do you know?" Read the last part in a calm, even voice with no buzzing or sound effects, and leave a quiet moment after it.

10 min

One more sip steps

Draw five steps going down the board. Pairs put these in order: "One fly smelled it", "they stepped in deeper", "The honey was on their legs", "one fly tried to leave", "the honey held them fast". Pupils use two fingers on the desk for the fly's feet, left up and right pressing down, and stop there. Each pair stars the last step where the flies could still have left.

5 min

What the flies saw

Read "For one little treat" from their last words. Ask: "What did they want, and when should they have stopped?" Keep the talk on the choice they made, then write the moral on the board.

5 min

Exit ticket

Pupils write the exit ticket on their own. Finish with a calm minute before the next lesson.

STORY OVERVIEW

  • Title and Moral: The Flies and the Honey Pot - "Too much of a good thing can trap you."
  • Plot Summary: A honey jar tips over and a crowd of flies drop down to eat, saying "Just one more sip!" until the honey holds them fast. They cry out that they have thrown away their lives for one little treat.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • Retell, in order, how the flies go from the first smell of honey to being stuck.
  • Identify the words that show the honey taking a stronger hold on the flies.
  • Explain what the flies understand at the end and how it fits the moral.

WORDS TO TEACH FIRST

  • housekeeper: a person whose job is to look after a house.
  • crept: moved slowly and quietly.
  • sip: a very small drink.
  • fast: held tight so it cannot move, as in "held them fast".
  • fools: people who do something silly.
  • treat: a special thing you enjoy.

TEXT QUESTIONS

  1. How did so many flies come to the honey? Sample answer: "One fly smelled it. Then ten flies smelled it." Then a whole crowd came through the window.
  2. Which words show the honey getting a stronger hold? Sample answer: "The honey was on their feet. The honey was on their legs." Later, "the honey held them fast".
  3. What do the flies understand at the end? Sample answer: They see they stayed too long for something small. They say, "For one little treat, we have thrown away our lives!"

EXIT TICKET

On the board: Finish this sentence, using your starred step. "The flies should have stopped when ... because ..."

SUPPORT AND STRETCH

  • Support: Read the Easier version with these pupils, saying "Yum, yum, yum!" together. It is also the right version for any pupil who finds the ending upsetting. Pupils draw the jar and say when the flies should have flown away.
  • On level: Order the five steps, star one and write the exit ticket.
  • Stretch: Write a warning for the next fly at the window, using "one more sip" and "treat", and explain why a warning may not stop it.

ENGLISH LEARNERS

Walk two fingers across the desk as the fly, then press them down as if stuck, saying "stuck" and "pull". Give the frame: "The flies wanted ___, but the honey ___." Pupils say it to a partner before they write.

Answer key

Comprehension

  1. In the housekeeper's room.
  2. They came buzzing through the window.
  3. They kept saying, "Just one more sip!"
  4. His right foot sank.
  5. Accept any point before they could not lift their feet, with a reason, such as when the honey was on their feet.

Vocabulary

  1. B
  2. C
  3. F
  4. A
  5. D
  6. E

Writing Task

A good answer warns the fly that the honey holds on tight and that "just one more sip" leads deeper in. It uses a detail from the story.

Original text available on the story page.