Tapestry of Faith: Moral Tales: A Program on Making Choices for Grades 2-3

Activity 4: Story - Mullah Nasruddin Feeds His Coat

Part of Moral Tales

Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

  • Read the story a few times.
  • Consider telling the story rather than reading it. Practice telling it aloud. Try a different voice for Mullah Nasruddin. You may find it helpful to picture the rich man's dining room, where most of the story takes place, and observe the characters and action of the story as if you were watching a movie.
  • Think about how you might use items from the story basket as props. You may want to begin the story by putting on a ragged and/or dirty item of clothing and change to a fancy coat when Nasruddin changes his clothes.

Description of Activity

Before you begin, look around the room and make eye contact with each person.

Tell the children that this story takes place during the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is a holy time for Muslims during which they don't eat any food or drink any water from sun-up to sun-down. Every day for a month, they break the fast with a large meal at the end of the day, often shared with friends and family. One reason for this fasting is to develop empathy for people who are hungry because they have no food. Giving charity is an important part of Islam (one of its five pillars) and is an important part of Ramadan. The main character in this story is Mullah Nasruddin. A Mullah is a Muslim religious teacher or leader.

Read or tell the story.

Ring the chime to indicate that the story is over.

Including All Participants

There are children for whom it is very difficult to sit still, even when they are paying attention to what is happening around them. This can be frustrating for teachers, as well as for the children who are expected to maintain stillness for prolonged periods of time. If you have children in the group for whom this is the case, consider adopting the use of "fidget objects" as described in Leader Resources. These fidget objects can provide a non-disruptive outlet for the need to move.