The Three Little Pigs

January Weeks 3-4

Last week we focused on The Three Little Pigs. First we read a classic version by Paul Galdone.

In this version, the first 2 pigs get eaten up. The wolf tries to trick the third pig a number of ways before finally scrambling down the chimney. He ends up being boiled and eaten up by that pig.

There are so many great spinoffs from this tale. We read a few of my favorites.

 

The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Ken Geist is hilarious! It's the classic tale retold and is a great way to compare characters and settings, while the plot remains the same. In the end, the poor shark's teeth fall out.

David Weisner's illustrations are amazing. The Three Pigs won a Caldecott- another fun topic to talk with the kids about. The story begins as the classic tale, until the first pig gets huffed and puffed right out of the story. The pigs go on to fold the pages into paper airplanes, visit other familiar stories, and eventually enter back into their own story, inviting a dragon to join them and scare the wolf away.

 

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugune Trivizas is adorable.  The three fluffy, cuddly wolves can't seem to build a house that the big bad pig can't knock down. After three failed attempts, they decide to try something different. They build a house of flowers. As the big bad pig is huffing and puffing, he begins to smell the flowers and has a change of heart. He becomes friends with the wolves and they live happily ever after.

 

Finally, we read The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieska. The kids have a hard time grasping this alternate point of view. They still want to see the wolf as big and bad, especially after he ends up "accidentally" killing and eating the pigs. It gives them some food for thought, at least.

Three Pigs Big Book

After reading the traditional tale, we created our own big book. I split the kids into groups of 3 (varying ability levels), and had them illustrate a certain part of the story. Here were the groups:

1. Beginning: The mother waving goodbye to the three pigs.
2. Middle: The first pig's house of straw being blown down.
3. Middle: The second pig's house of sticks being blown down.
4. Middle: The third pig's house of bricks NOT being blown down.
5. End: The wolf coming down the chimney and the pig ready with a fire and a pot of water.

At first, a couple groups didn't understand that they were ONLY drawing one part of the story. They wanted to illustrate everything!

I asked them to add labels and write a sentence about what was happening in the picture.

When we were done, we sequenced the story, and I read it aloud. Then I laminated and bound the pages, and added it to our big book collection.

Storytelling Center

 

In our storytelling center this week, I added my wooden wolf & pigs that I found on Etsy. Love them!

 

I also added some bricks and sticks. I couldn't find anything to use for hay this year!

Sequencing the Story

 

This idea is from Mrs. Goff's PreK Tales. I made a template for the kids with the 3 houses, and had them tear strips of yellow paper for straw and brown paper for sticks. Then they cut rectangles out of red paper for bricks. Each child had a quarter page of each color- and that was plenty. You can print my template below.

Retelling with Props

 

 

 

Love these simple props from Fairy Dust Teaching. I just used white sentence strips and stapled on the ears. The only problem is the interchangeability between the kids. Head size varies considerably in my class! 

Acting out familiar stories is something I really need to work on. This was one of our first attempts, and I guided them through everything. I just had 1 student who really put his all into it. The rest of the kids were very shy. I'm hoping with more practice, they'll get more comfortable with the process.

I left the props and book in the reading center for them to use during playtime, but they really didn't know what to do independently. Basically, they'd put the hats on, run around chasing each other a little, and take them off. Hoping this improves with more practice as well!

Rhyming Practice

 

This one is from The Kinder Garden.  I set up the chart, and then did a think, pair, share to come up with as many rhyming words as possible! Great peer tutoring for struggling rhymers!