Little pigs, little pigs-LET ME COME IN!
We have had a lot of good times with some traditional stories and their not so traditional counterparts. We started with the MWF classes last week. We read 'The Gingerbread Cowboy' and 'The Gingerbread Girl'. We discussed how they were the same and different with the original story.
This week was 'The Three Little Pigs'. There are many non-traditional versions of this classic children's tale-'The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark', 'Piggie Pie', 'The True Story of the Three Little Pigs' and my personal favorite-'The Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig'. Note that several of the books have words we don't use in the classroom like 'dumb'. When I come across these words in children's literature, I skip over them or substitute an appropriate word for young children.
So we read the stories and had a chart labeled THE THREE LITTLE PIGS. The chart was divided by book and several questions. Three pigs? One big bad wolf? House of straw, sticks and bricks? Happy ending?
After we read the story, we answered each of the questions YES or NO and spelled YES and NO as I wrote on the chart. 'The True Story of the Three Little Pigs' created a little discussion about the wolf. Was he big and bad? Did it have a happy ending? Good discussion for you and your child.
Our highlight was a 'special snack' which always is very exciting! We ate straw, sticks and bricks and had a Three Little Pigs snack. Very yummy! Not so much you say? Well, if you pretend potato sticks are the straw, pretzel sticks are the sticks and chocolate chunks are the bricks, you get a super duper sweet and salty snack. Combine 1 can potato sticks, 1 bag pretzel sticks (we broke them into bite size pieces) and one bag chocolate chunks in a large bowl. Mix. Store in an airtight container.
We also have some fun dramatic play in the nursery with a house of straw, sticks and bricks for the children. There is a lot of huffing and puffing and blowing down of houses! They are very animated in the dramatization of this story.
What else can you do? See if you and your child can come up with your own version of the Three Little ??? and the Big Bad ??? Read the books at home. Talk about how they are the same and different. These books are available at most libraries or they can request them for you. Remember reading is more than just a recitation of words. It is also discussing what we have read together.
