Fairy tales: Another point of view

This lesson is on comparing and contrasting (alike and different) two different versions of The Three Little Pigs. Students will use the original fairy tale The Three Little Pigs previously learned in the lesson Fairy Tales and compare it to the story The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. This story gives the wolf's point of view.

A lesson plan for grade 1 Visual Arts Education, English Language Arts, English Language Development, and Theater Arts Education

By Audra Penrod and Vivian Lages

Learn more

• Tell Your Own Three Little Pigs Story From children's author, Rick Walton is a great website to give you more ideas to accompany a fairy tale unit.

Related pages

• Inside and outside: Paradox of the box: This lesson serves to introduce students to symbolism (the box), to the literary element paradox, and to the abstract notion of ambiguity (freedom vs. confinement). It is designed for 2nd and 3rd graders, but may be adapted for use with upper elementary or early middle school grades.
• Molly's Pilgrim Activity: Using the book by Barbara Cohen, students will respond to the social and historical significance of this portrayal of the Thanksgiving holiday. Students will also participate in constructing a Venn diagram and completing a cloze activity.
• Letter recognition with Alphabet Band and Express: This activity will reinforce letter recognition along with letter order. Students will watch a video, listen to stories and play CD games on the computer to aid in recognition of alphabet letters, sounds and order.

Related topics

• Learn more about The Three Little Pigs, Venn diagrams, compare, contrast, differences, fairy tales, language arts, listening comprehension, read-alouds, and similarities.

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Learning outcomes

Students will take their knowledge of The Three Little Pigs and share what is alike and different about this story compared to The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Students will use a Venn diagram to tell what is alike and different in the stories.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 hour

Materials/resources

• worksheet with a blank Venn diagram for each student

Alternative versions of The Three Little Pigs story:

• The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Skieszka
• The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas
• The Three Little Javelinas by Susan Lowell

To make masks:

• paper and a printer (colored card-stock works very well)
• markers or crayons
• scissors
• stapler
• elastic–about 1 foot per mask

Technology resources

Websites to visit:

• Mask directions and examples from Enchanted Learning.
• Circle map example.
• Triorama examples.

Pre-activities

Prior to this lesson, students listened to a traditional version of The Three Little Pigs and completed several related activities. See the first lesson in this two part series, Fairy Tales.

Today, begin by reviewing the previously taught story The Three Little Pigs.

Students will work in collaborative groups to act out the story The Three Little Pigs. Review with students the characters in the story.

Characters are:

• first pig
• second pig
• third pig
• the wolf

In small groups of 4, let the students choose amongst themselves which character they want to be.

Other suggestions on choosing parts:

• Put the characters’ names on a piece of paper and let them draw a piece of paper out of a hat (each group).
• Put each child’s name on a large popsicle stick and draw out names for the parts. (This is a great idea for any situation like this. I keep these on hand daily!)
• If you have shy students in the class, try giving them a pig part instead of the wolf part.

Students will make an animal face mask to go with their character. See the mask directions in the “Technology Needed” section.

After the students make their masks, let them get into their small groups and practice acting out their story. Bring the class together, and let each group perform their play to the class.

This can also be a time to review the questions from the previous lesson, Fairy Tales. (See the Question Sheet attachment.)

Activities

1. After students have completed their plays, bring students back together and introduce the story The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Explain to students that this is a different version of the same story they listened to before. Ask students what they know about point of view.
2. You may want to stop here and generate some discussion on it. This is a good time to stop and ask students if they have ever experienced a time when they saw a situation differently then someone else. I suggest bringing up a situation on the playground or in the classroom that may have occurred recently.
3. Ask students how the pigs felt about the wolf in the first story. Explain that yesterday’s story was about the pigs’ point of view. Explain to students that today they are going to read about the wolf’s point of view.
4. Share with the students the story for today. Let them look at the front cover and let them predict what they think the wolf will say about the situation. Turn to the inside first page and have students also predict why he might be in jail (the picture is of the wolf behind bars).
5. As you read the story, take time to ask how the wolf’s view of what happened is different from what the pigs’ point of view was.
6. Introduce a Venn diagram to students. Draw a large example of a Venn diagram on the board. Pass out a copy of the Venn diagram worksheet to each student. Show students how each circle represents the two different stories. Label the left circle The Three Little Pigs and label the right circle The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Explain to the students that the circles overlap because these stories may have some things in common.
7. Ask students to tell what was alike and different about the two stories. As students share their ideas and have them choose where their answer would correctly go. Students will copy ideas onto their paper as the teacher writes the ideas on the classroom Venn diagram.

Concluding activity: Making a triorama (See an example of a triorama and directions in the Technology Needed section.

1. Students will each receive a square piece of paper. (10 inches by 10 inches) Have students fold their paper from corner to corner to make a triangle. Have students unfold it and fold the other two corners together. Students will open their paper back up to see that there are four fold lines going to the center of the paper. Ask students to take their paper and cut along ONE fold line until they get to the center and STOP. Take the two cut pieces, folding one underneath the other and tape or staple them together. Once this is completed, your triorama can sit up on its own.
2. There are 3 spaces for students to write on. Have students write one thing that is alike about the two stories on the left side and one thing that is different about the two stories on the right side. On the bottom space, let students draw a picture of the characters in the two stories. (You may have other ideas of what to put in your three sections. These are only suggestions.)
3. Let students share their projects with the class. These are great projects that students can display in the room!

Assessment

• Students will act out the story in small groups.
• Students will answer questions about the two stories during and after the reading of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.
• Students will complete a venn diagram on The Three Little Pigs and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Students will share what is alike and what is different about the two stories.
• Students will make a triorama sharing one thing that is alike about the two stories and one thing that is different about the two stories. Students will also illustrate the characters in the two stories.

Supplemental information

These are wonderful books that would go well with this lesson and other lessons on fairy tales:

• Literature Pockets Folktales and Fairy Tales K-1 (Evan-Moor EMC 2730)
• February Monthly Reproducibles Grade 1 (The Education Center, Inc. TEC 940)
• 12 Fabulously Funny Fairy Tale Plays (Scholastic, by Justin McCory Martin)
• Easy-to-Read Folk and Fairy Tale Plays(Grades 1-3) by Carol Pulgliano

Comments

These two lessons plans (Fairy Tales and Fairy Tales: Another Point of View) can be adapted to other fairy tales. Here are some great book examples that you may want to use.

Jack and the Beanstalk

• Jack and the Beanstalk by Steven Kellogg
• Jack and the Beanstalk by Carol Ottolenghi
• Jack and the Beanstalk/Giants Have Feelings, Too by Alvin Granowsky
• Juan y los frijoles magicos/Jack and the Beanstalk
• Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne

Little Red Riding Hood

• Little Red Riding Hood by Candice Ransom
• Little Red Riding Hood by Trina Schart Hyman
• Red Riding Hood by James Marshall
• Little Red Riding Hood/the Wolf’s Tale (Upside Down Tales) by Della Rowland
• Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young

Relevant websites for these two stories:

• Little Red Riding Hood Sequence Activity from Quia
• Online stories of Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk (animated) from the BBC’s CBeebies

This lesson plan was developed during the English Language Development Standard Course of Study lesson planning institutes hosted by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and LEARN NC, June and July, 2004. It includes specific strategies, instructional modifications, and alternative assessments which make this lesson accessible to limited English proficient students. Please note that this lesson has been aligned with the goals and objectives of the N.C. English Language Development standards.