Big Bad Wolf Unit Study
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Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Unit Study
Do wolves really dress in Grandma's clothes and eat little girls? Could a wolf really blow down a house?
In this unit study we will explore the way wolves have been viewed in fairy tales such as Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, Peter and the Wolf and the Boy who Cried Wolf. There are fun games, activities and hands-on learning activities to accompany the stories as well as music, playgound games and much, much more. I'm not one to cry wolf! Let's learn all about the Big, Bad Wolf...
Photo Credit: The Big Bad Wolf enters Grandma's Cottage
on Karen's Whimsey, Public Domain Images
The Tale of the Big Bad Wolf
Wolves in Fairytales
Little Red Riding Hood
Forgets Her Mother's Advice
and Talks to a Stranger, the Wolf!
Available at AllPosters.com
Tales of Werewolves and the Big Bad Wolf brought fear to generations of people who believed that wolves were snarling, lurking beasts hiding in the forest waiting for someone to drop by for lunch.
Between 1520 and 1630 there were over 30 000 supposedly proven cases of people being attacked by werewolves.
Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth
by Carol Rose, The "Werewolves" may actually have been people who were mentally ill, drunk or on drugs, or even have had rabies. Thieves may have skulked around in wolf skins, trying to scare people. This may have helped fuel the werewolf legend.
She-Wolf, c. 500 BC with Figures of Romulus and Remus
by Antonio Pollaiuolo (1433-98) c. 1484-96
Buy at AllPosters.com
Another famous tale that has not been so deadly for wolves is the mythical founding of Rome.
When the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome, were condemned to death as babies and thrown into the River Tiber a female wolf found the twins. The story goes that her maternal instincts took over. She nursed them and cared for them in a cave overlooking Rome. The children were later discovered by a shepherd and became part of his family.
Stories from India between between 1843 and 1933 also included cases of children being raised by wolves. In 1920 there was a well documented case of a Doctor Singh brought back two girls to his orphanage who had lived with wolves. The oldest girl was eight and they walked on all fours at their time of rescue. They fed entirely on raw meat, and they lapped their water crouched on all fours. When they felt threatened, they hunched their backs, bared their teeth and growled.
Norse mythology tells the legend of the giant Fenrir.
Note:These two images comes from Wikipedia
and are in the public domain.
There is also the beloved tale of Peter and the Wolf which introduces the instruments of the orchestra to young children and the Boy Who Cried Wolf by Aesop.
Wolves have been featured in the folklore and mythology of many cultures throughout history.
Little Red Riding Hood, Wolves and Venn Graphs
Comparing Wolf Information
Little Red Riding Hood Meets the Wolf in the Woods
Crane, Walter
Buy at AllPosters.com
When we finish we talk about the difference between fiction and non-fiction and make a Venn Graph to describe the similarities and differences between the wolves in the two stories.
We talk about how the wolf is portrayed in each version. What happens to the wolf in the end? Is the wolf more cunning or fearsome?
Ask the children to show the point in the book that they are talking about in order to help them learn to check their facts.
As you reread the story on other days, children may find other similarities and differences to be added to the Wolf Venn Graph.
Venn Diagram comparing Wolves
Wolf Venn Graph
I read many stories about wolves throughout the day and throughout the Wolf Unit.
Children are encouraged to read stories on their own, to take books home and to listen to stories about wolves on tape.
Each day we take a few minutes to review what we have learned and to compare the different versions.
A Venn Graph can be introduced to show how certain elements are in one wolf story, other elements are in the other story and some elements are in both stories.
Wolf pawprints make a beautiful decoration around the edge of the Venn Graph as a border.
You might also like to have your students try creating their own Wolf Venn Diagram with this Venn Diagram Creator. After researching wolves, your students may create their own Venn Diagram by inputting information into the program. They will then be able to print a copy to add to their research journal or included in a book they may be writing about wolves. If your children have Internet Access at home, this activity might be included as a possible activity in a Wolf Literacy Bag.
Note: There is no cost or signup to use this Venn Diagram Creator.
Beyond Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf
Fairytale Wolves
Little Red Riding Hood
Dore, Gustave
Buy at AllPosters.com
These books will extend your understanding of the Little Red Riding Hood story and how wolves are depicted in fairy tales.
Little Red Riding Hood
Buy at AllPosters.com
Compare different versions of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.
What are the similarities? Is the wolf always treated in the same way? What happens to the wolf in the end?
I'll Huff and I'll Puff and I'll Blow...
Wolf and Sheep Game
Photo Credit: Lamb Costume on Flickr, Creative Commons.
Photo Credit: Wolf Costume on Flickr, Creative Commons.
Physical Education for Little Wolves:
Wolves work together in packs to run around and capture their prey.
Outside on the playground form two teams. Divide into two teams, the wolves and the sheep.
To differentiate the wolves from the sheep, get an old white t-shirt and rip it into strips. Use these strips as headbands. When a sheep gets captured they take off the headband and become a wolf.
Each sheep that is captured becomes a wolf until there are no more sheep and the game starts over again.
This game not only gets kids moving but also helps kids learn cooperative skills and illustrates the way wolf packs work together to capture prey.
Blogging about Wolves
What are people saying about Wolves?
Photo Credit: Wolf Howling
From WPClipart
Some of the best and most unique stories about the Big Bad Wolf can be found on blogging sites. These are my favorites.
Big Bad Wolf's Hut
The Big Bad Wolf's Hut is an illustrated story book from the 1930's.4 points
Take off your shoes: Another big bad wolf story
"A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves." The children thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee simply replied: "The one I feed."3 points
Wolf Math
Wolf Unit Study Math
Big Bad Wolf's Card Game
Big Bad Wolf's Hut: Cut-out and Card Game Connection from 1938
The illustrations from this cut-out collection were also printed on the cards of a card game from Britain titled as 'Shuffled Symphonies', as seen in this scan of the Big Bad Wolf card:3 points
Big Bad Wolf Literacy Bag
Big Bad Wolf Homework
Literacy Bags consist of books and activities to extend learning from the classroom to the home. As opposed to homework, these bags offer variety and options which encourage practice and extension of the skills being taught in the classroom.
The wolf backpack contains a couple of books such as Red Riding Hood and a non-fiction book about wolves. The wolf tangrams help children work on spacial relations and geometry. The Topsy Tervy doll is wonderful for retelling the story. Children are fascinated with the way it can transform from Little Red Riding Hood to the Wolf and then to Grandma. I include a graph for the children to interview their families as to how they feel about wolves. When they bring the Wolf Literacy Bag back to class, the children get to add the information that they gathered to the class graph. I also include a journal for the children to record the adventures that the Topsy Tervy Wolf Doll had while visiting their home.
Huff and Puff the Short Vowels
A Phonics Lesson from the Big Bad Wolf
short u (huff and puff)
short i (chinny chin chin, big, and pig)
When you huff you actually use the short u sound. As you retell the story of the Big Bad Wolf use that to reinforce the short u sound. Make a house for one of the pigs and put pictures of words that have short vowel sounds on them as tiles of the roof. These could be made out of pieces of cardstock with Velcro on the back.
As the Wolf huffs the words with the short u sound blow off first. Then the ones that begin with the p sound as in puff.
Three Little Pigs Lesson Plans
English
* For the little pups, this story is a treasure trove of short vowel sounds. We especially like it for short u (huff and puff) and i (chinny chin chin, big, and pig).
* For older pups, point of view is a natural lesson here, considering the wealth of versions of the story from the wolf's point of view.4 points
Use Huff and Puff Spelling Rules
The first Floss spelling rule is a rule of thumb used to help students understand when to double the letters f, l and s in words. According to this simple Floss spelling rule, these letters double at the end of a word when they follow a short vowel sound. Thus, words like huff, puff, stuff are 'f' floss words. Hills and pills are 'l' floss words, while grass and miss are 's' floss words.4 points
Funky Phonics: Learn to Read vol. 1 - Songs for Teaching Phonics - Synthetic Phonics
Song number 7 is the Huff and Puff song which teaches ("h" and "p") onsets.3 points
Little Red Riding Hood and Wolf Paper Dolls
Big Bad Wolf Paper Dolls
These patterns are fun for children to use to reenact the story of Little Red Ridinghood and the Big Bad Wolf. By putting them together with brads they can be used in puppet theaters or as shadow puppets.
Red Riding Hood and the wolf
Five and Nineteen Blackbirds: Pencil Sketches and Finalized Paper Dolls5 points
Little Red Riding Hood Paper Doll
The Wolf and Red Riding Hood Paper Dolls are based on an original Gouache painting.3 points
Wolf Stand-Up Paper Toy Model to Print Out Craft for Kids
Today, we will show you how to make some stand up paper-figure animals. This one is a standing wolf paper figure. You can choose a black and white version to...3 points
Riding Hood Sewing Center
Make your own Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf Clothes
Sewing is a great way to help children work on their fine motor skills.
1.Make a center with felt, needles, thread, scissors, thimbles, and small dolls, wolves and pigs.
2.Store all the items in Granny's Sewing Basket.
3. The children make riding hoods, aprons, belts or whatever their imaginations come up with.
4. Take pictures of the dolls dressed in their costumes and let the children write stories about their characters during Writing Workshop.
Papa Wolf's Publishing Office
Bid Bad Wolf Worksheets
Little Red Riding Hood Forgets Her Mother's Advice and Talks to a Stranger -- the Wolf!
Little Red Riding Hood Forgets Her Mother's Advice and Talks to a Stranger -- the Wolf!
Available at AllPosters.com
Big Bad Wolf Emergent Reader
The following link will take you to a Fairytale Unit Study with an Emergent Reader to help small children learn about self control. In this version of the tale the wolf huffs and puffs but doesn't blow down the house. He uses self control.
The wolf came to the little pig's straw house.
He huffed and puffed but he didn't blow.
The wolf came to the little pig's stick house.
He huffed and puffed but he didn't blow.
The wolf came to the little pig's brick house.
He huffed and puffed but he didn't blow.
He received an award for using self-control.
A big celebration was held!
The Three Little Pigs Kindergarten and Preschool Activities and Lesson Plans
The Three Little Pigs Kindergarten and Preschool Activities and Lesson Plans including an Emergent Reader3 points
Three Little Pigs Book, A Printable Book: 4 - EnchantedLearning.com
Three Little Pigs Book, A Printable Book: 4. Print out a an early reader book.3 points
The Story of the Three Little Pigs illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke
Interactive personalized children's books created by Gayle Gosh. Free, online - the best classic short stories, poems, novels, and children's stories. How does the wolf fare in this version?3 points
Wolf Resources for Lapbooks and Literacy Bags
Fairytale Wolf Worksheets
Photo Credit: Peter and the Wolf Flag Book
by Jimmie on Flickr, Creative Commons
Lapbook and Literacy Bag suggestions for the Big Bad Wolf Unit Study
What's the time Mr Wolf?
Year 1 + 2 activities about time and number arising from the storyboard work with the Three Pigs.3 points
Peter and Wolf Lapbook
Flag book for Peter and Wolf3 points
Who is the Big Bad Wolf?
Stories of Fairytale Wolves
Red Riding Hood
Wilcox-Smith,...
Buy at AllPosters.com
Big Bad Pig is one of the Red Nose Readers. The joy of the Red Nose Readers is that they are designed to make beginning readers laugh out loud. And if they're laughing, they're enjoying themselves, and if they're enjoying themselves, they'll be back for more!
Big Bad Pig is one of sixteen hilarious titles designed to send your beginning reader into fits of giggles!
They were created by the combined talents of Allan Ahlberg and Colin McNaughton and are a great antidote to the usual dull basal readers that are apparently meant to encourage young children to enjoy reading!
The Wolf and the Shepherd
Wolf Fable
Illustration by Milo Winter
The Wolf and the Shepherd an Aesop Fable
A Wolf had been prowling around a flock of Sheep for a long time,
and the Shepherd watched very anxiously to prevent him from
carrying off a Lamb. But the Wolf did not try to do any harm.
Instead he seemed to be helping the Shepherd take care of the
Sheep. At last the Shepherd got so used to seeing the Wolf about
that he forgot how wicked he could be.
One day he even went so far as to leave his flock in the Wolf's care
while he went on an errand. But when he came back and saw how
many of the flock had been killed and carried off, he knew how
foolish to trust a Wolf as he exclaimed. "I have been rightly
served; why did I trust my sheep to a Wolf?"
Moral:
Delegate your task wisely, and only to people you trust.
Peter and the Wolf
Wolf and Muscial Instrument story
The Boy Who Called Wolf!
Wolf! Wolf! by John Rocco is the story of an old wolf who has been raising vegetables because he can't catch prey anymore. Only the weeds have overtaken his little garden, so one day he sets out to find a nice young meal of goat. When he finds a flock of goats at the top of a mountain, it's tended by a young boy. A boy fond of crying "Wolf!" Which he does to great effect, much to the exasperation of the townsfolk.
The old wolf takes advantage of the situation by convincing the boy that nobody will listen to his pleas anymore, and threatens to wreak havoc unless the boy brings a goat to his house and ties it to his fence. The boy agrees, to the wolf's delight. Will the wolf eat the goat? Will the goat eat the garden?
This one has a delightful resolution, but more importantly, it has phenomenal artwork. Go on, have a gander:
WOLF! WOLF!
A playground game
This is a "TAG" game. Everybody forms a large circle around the person who is "IT." If there are a lot of children they may hold hands. The person who is "IT" is the "WOLF." The children then chang, "Wolf! Wolf! What are you doing?" and then wait for the WOLF to say some kind of a response. The WOLF may respond by saying something like "Brushing my teeth," or "washing my hands," or "combing my hair," and so forth...BUT, if the WOLF replies with "CHASING YOU!" The kids must scatter so that they won't be tagged by the WOLF. The first person who gets tagged becomes the new wolf.
For more outdoor activities see Recess.
Caperucita Roja / Little Red Riding Hood
Bilingual Wolves
Caperucita Roja / Little Red Riding Hood (Bilingual Tales) (Spanish Edition)
Red Riding Hood, The Big Bad Wolf and Grandma
Red Riding Hood, The Big Bad Wolf and Grandma puppets pattern fabric by daniellehanson at Spoonflower - custom fabric0 points
Are you afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?
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debnet
Aug 15, 2011 @ 9:50 am | delete
- Yet another informative lens Evelyn! Blessed by a squid Angel ;)
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Tolovaj
Jun 17, 2011 @ 9:55 am | delete
- Well presented, thumbs up! I have an entry about symbolic meaning of wolf in fairytales (http://dobrepravljice.blogspot.com/2011/01/volk.html), but it is is Slovene language, maybe google translate it and find something new for yourself? Cheers:)
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imolaK
Apr 5, 2011 @ 12:57 am | delete
- I enjoyed reading your lens. Blessed by an Angel!
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Evelyn_Saenz
Apr 8, 2011 @ 8:42 pm | delete
- Thank you so much, SquidAngel!
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About the Author
Teaching about Fairytale Wolves!
by Evelyn_Saenz
My passion is teaching and finding ways to teach children in fun, hands-on, creative ways. The unit studies I make on Squidoo reflect my view that learning... more »
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