The Three Billy Goats Gruff Unit Study
Goat's milk and goat cheese are staples in many parts of the world which easily leads us into a study of cultures and geography as well as animal husbandry and domestication of the wild goat.
In order to present our findings we write our own books, present plays and do craft projects about goats.
Let's join the goats and build a bridge to learning...
The Three Billy Goats Gruff Table of Contents
- The Tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff
- Three Billy Goats Gruff Bilingual Flannel Board Story
- Building Bridges
- Goatherd Song and Puppet Show
- Goat Counting Game
- Raising Goats
- Goat and Troll Math Activities
- Tangram Goats, Bridge and Troll
- Goat Coloring Pages
- Goats looking for better pastures.
- The Grass is Always Greener
- Give a Goat This Christmas
- The Three Billy Goats Gruff is in the Four Wheeler's Online Unit Study Directory
- Chat with The Three Billy Goats Gruff
The Tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff
Billy Goat
Richard, Ilene
Buy at AllPosters.com
Once upon a time there were three Billy Goats named Gruff who lived together on a
mountain side. On their mountainside there was hardly anything to eat, but just
across the way was a beautiful pasture of green grass. On the way to this pasture
they had to pass over a bridge, and under the bridge lived a big bad troll.
Nearly every child has heard this tale. Here is a version written with simple text and beautiful illustrations.
- The Three Billy Goats Gruff
- Once there were three billy goats.
There was Little Billy Goat Gruff.
There was Big Billy Goat Gruff.
And there was
Great Big Billy Goat Gruff.
Compare Versions of The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Read various versions of the Three Billy Goats Gruff and make a graph to show how they are alike and how they are different. Use Venn Graphs to show the comparisons and contrasts.
The Three Billy Goats Gruff Puppet Theater
The beautifully illustrated scenery book comes with three scenes with pop-up features that enhance each scene. The hand-painted rod-marionette puppets are made of wood and resin, and are simple to control for dramatic performances. Set comes with scenery book, cast of four puppets and story outline.
The Three Billy Goats Gruff Story Set
Amazon Price: (as of 12/06/2009) 
Three Billy Goats Gruff Bilingual Flannel Board Story
- La chiva terca a bilingual version of the Three Billy Goats Gruff
- This cumulative tale, retold by Paola Ferate-Soto, may be chanted like a rap song or you may make up a melody. Use the patterns of the goat / la chiva, dog / el perro, stick / el palo, flame / el fuego, bucket of water / el agua, and bear / el oso to make a flannel board story. Place the objects onto the flannel board as you introduce them in the song. Point to each object as the tale repeats it self.
The Three Billy Goats Gruff Theater
Acting out the Story
The puppet theater encourages writing down the script as well as making program bills, tickets and reviews.
The flannel board version has printed words to help with learning to read. More words or sentence strips can easily be made by gluing them to flannel.
The Finger Puppets can be made in the art center and have words written on the back to help children read words such as troll, biggest, smallest etc.
The 3 Billy Goats Gruff/3 Little Pigs
Amazon Price: (as of 12/06/2009)
Goats for the Sensory Table
When children recreate a scene from stories they have read or make up stories from facts they have learned they internalize the information and integrate it into their core knowledge.
1. Make hills and valleys with oil based plasticine.
2. Use toothpicks for supporting a bridge.
3. Pour water down the riverbeds to see how the water always flows downhill.
4. Add the goats and use the boy for a troll.
Building Bridges
These books are essential for any classroom. They spark the imagination and offer direction when needed.
Challenge children to make bridges from different materials found in the classroom.
Keep a record of the ideas that worked and those that didn't.
Take digital photos and make a class book.
Science Fair Bridges
- Science Fair Projects - Demonstrate the strength of a suspension bridge using egg shells
- Science fair projects - Demonstrate the strength of a suspension bridge using egg shells - view this science fair project
- The Effect of Bridge Design on Weight Bearing Capacity
- Investigate which type of bridge has the greatest weight bearing capacity.
- Quake: Seismology at the Science Fair
- Test different bridge structures to see how they reacted to ground shaking associated with earthquakes
- The Toothpick Bridge
- Another bridge to build.
Goatherd Song and Puppet Show
From the Sound of Music
The Three Billy Goat's Bridge Maze
- Family Literacy Activities / The PA Center for the Book
Three Billy Goats Gruff Rhyme
Three little goats went walking
one lovely summer's day.
They crossed a bridge to get some grass
but a troll got in their way!
They tricked the troll and down he fell
into the water wet.
Now three little goats are getting fat
and the troll hasn't come back yet!
Crossing the Bridge
The Goats go to PE Class
Lay the boards down end to end in a straight line and have the children line up on the boards facing the teacher.
Variation: Lay the boards parallel about 2 feet apart and ask your little goats to help eachother cross from one bridge to the other.
This game, inspired by Margaret Meads's research encourages cooperation, negotiation and helping.
The Peaceful Classroom: 162 Easy Activities to Teach Preschoolers Compassion and Cooperation
Amazon Price: $11.84 (as of 12/06/2009)
Goat Counting Game
Bo Peep has lost her sheep and now she has some goats. More counting. This time its goats rather than sheep.
Set up a computer and you have center for practicing counting up to 5.
- Maths Game: Counting goats!
- Had enough of counting cows? Try some goats!
The Three Billy Goats Gruff learn to Yodel
As you might have learned from reading Heidi or watching the Sound of Music, goats and their herders love to yodel, so go check out Chef Keem's wonderful yodeling lens.-
Are You Yodeling?
-
Female country singers, male country singers, Swiss yodeling, a Korean yodeler star; Germany, Bavaria, Austria, America - international vocalists with stellar talent can be found on this Squidoo.com lens. I'm not a yodeler. I can't even sing without...
Raising Goats
There are over 210 breeds or goats. Some are raised to give more milk. Some give richer milk. Some are grown for their wool. Others are raised for their meat.
How to Milk a Goat
Did you know that around the world more people get their milk from goats than from cows?
1. Suspend a rubber glove over a sink or dishpan.
2. Prick a tiny hole in each finger.
3. Pour water in the top.
4. Pretend to milk the goat.
Milk: From Cow to Carton (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Book)
Amazon Price: $5.99 (as of 12/06/2009)
Goat Word Center
Small, Medium and Large Goat Words
Worksheet with 3 goat outlines that are small, medium and large.
1. Children rearrange the letters to form as many words as possible.
2. Write the small 2 letter words on the small goat.
3. Write the medium 3 letter words on the medium goat.
4. Write the large 4 letter words on the large goat.
Possible words include: go, at, to, so, got, tag, sat, goat, tags, and oats.
It is much easier for children to find the words when they can rearrange the letters manually rather than trying to do it in their heads. This is why we use the Scrabble Tiles.
Scrabble Tiles (100 Letter Tiles)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/06/2009)
More Scrabble Word Games
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Scrabble Apple Word Building Game
-
Scrabble Apple is the newest Scrabble games to come out. A variation on the traditional Scrabble Games, Scrabble Apple contains 100 letters and is stored in a bright red, zippered apple. Scrabble Apple is a fast-paced vocabulary building games that...
Goat and Troll Math Activities
Patterns and Questions
Arrange the goats and trolls in patterns such as goat, goat, troll.
- The Three Billy Goats Gruff Story
- Written in English and Urdu with ideas for making goat and troll patterns.
- Math Stories
- Word Problems involving the Three Billy Goats Gruff.
Three Billy Goat Gruff Math Pattern
ABC Patterns in Math
The Three Billy Goats Gruff go across the bridge in an ABC pattern of small, medium, large. This pattern can be translated into other objects and repeated like in this acorn, shell, leaf, acorn, shell leaf pattern.
What other objects could you use to make the ABC pattern of the goats?
- This Vintage Chica: los ninos
- Incorporating vintage ways into modern day living through traditional mothering - gardening - sewing - repurposing - crafting - crochet - thrifting - and treading gently upon our Earth
Tangram Goats, Bridge and Troll
Tangrams help children learn about geometry and spacial relationships at a concrete level. Challenge your children to make a goat, bridge and a troll from Tangrams.
If you use paper Tangrams you could have the children glue the pieces down and use those pages to retell the story of the three billy goats gruff asking each child or group of children to illustrate one page.
Make this into a class book and put it on the classroom library shelf for the whole class to read. It would also be a wonderful start to another Literacy Bag.
To extend this activity you might ask them to form the letters of each of them out of Tangrams.
- Tangram Construction
- A Math Forum Web Unit Constructing Your Own Set of Tangrams by Tom Scavo
The Three Billy Goats Gruff Word Problems
For Example:
During the winter, the billy goats stay in the barn and eat hay. Hay costs $0.50 for each bale. They all share one bale each day. How much does it cost each week for hay?
1. One child suggested that we could use yellow pattern blocks for hay bales.
2. Another got out the three goats.
3. Someone pointed out that there are 7 says in a week.
4. If each hay bale coast fifty cents then two bales cost $1.
5. We still had one bale left over and that was worth fifty cents.
We wrote the answer on the board.
With each step we re-read the problem to make sure that we were headed towards the right answer.
This group process helps children to review the math they are learning and prepares them for more complicated word problems in later grades.
- Math Stories
- Word problems related to The Three Billy Goats Gruff story.
Goat Coloring Pages
Make copies of this labeled goat with lines instead of words for the children to use in a Write the Room center.
- Biggest Billy Goat Gruff
- Color the Goat
- Know Your Goat
- Use as a goat coloring page or as a word wall of goat terms.
Lenses with a Meadow Theme
The Three Billy Goats Gruff have crossed the bridge and are now ready to learn about bluebirds and fireflies. They watch the cows on the adjoining meadow and wonder what other animals give milk.
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Bluebirds of the Meadow
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Summer nears and the bluebirds start nesting along the fenceline. The children are fascinated with the way they fly back and forth to build their nests. They become the focus of our next Unit Study, Bluebirds of the Meadow. As your little bluebirds...
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Cows Aren't The Only Ones
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Sure you know that milk comes from cows but did you know people around the world milk other animals as well? There are many books about milk and milking to start off a Unit Study about dairy animals and their products. Finding a friendly farmer who...
-
Fireflies: Twinkling Lights of the Meadow
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Have you ever gone out on a summer evening to catch fireflies. They flit and fly everywhere. Soon you have five and then six. One escapes and then you catch two more. In the morning you let them go. These wonderful experiences of childhood may be dis...
Goats looking for better pastures.
The Grass is Always Greener
Grow some Green Grass for the Goats
Goat
Art Print
Buy at AllPosters.com
Plant some grass seed and learn about the tender shoots that the goats cross the bridge to eat.1. Put some potting soil in the sensory table.
2. Sprinkle grass seed over the soil and press down gently.
3. Put on the clear cover and move to a sunny window.
4. Keep the soil damp but not wet.
5. The grass seeds should sprout in about 5 days.
Catgrass (Sweet Oats for Cats) - 900 Seeds
Fill a shallow bowl or saucer with moist potting soil, sprinkle oats over the soil at about 10 seeds per square inch.
Lightly press the seed into the soil Then just set the container on a windowsill, and keep it evenly moist not wet or dry. Germination is in about 5 days.
Amazon Price: $2.99 (as of 12/06/2009)
Jonti-Craft 2870JC SEE-THRU MINI SENSORY TABLE
SEE-THRU MINI SENSORY TABLE - Clear, tough, nine-inch deep acrylic tub provides an interesting perspective on sensory play. Great for teaching lessons such as floating versus sinking. Bottom drain plug makes clean up a snap.
See the roots grow. Watch fish swim. See what's happening from the side as well as the bottom.
Amazon Price: $348.23 (as of 12/06/2009)
Miracle-Gro 784386300 16-Quart Premium Potting Mix
Miracle-Gro, 16 QT, Potting Mix, Superior Blend Of Composted Bark, Sphagnum Peat Moss & Perlite, Enriched With Miracle-Gro Plant Food, Feeds Instantly & Continuously For Quick Root Development & Sturdy Growth, Stand Up Resealable Waterproof Bag.
Amazon Price: $11.36 (as of 12/06/2009)
Grasses: An Identification Guide (Sponsored by the Roger Tory Peterson Institute)
How to identify 135 of the most common species of North American grasses, sedges, and rushes, with their economic and ecological importance.
Amazon Price: $10.88 (as of 12/06/2009)
Weeds of the Northeast (Comstock books)
This is one of the best weed books. It has very clear descriptive text and the photos are all clear and crisp.
The authors have included photos of seedlings and seeds of each species! The book even has a section on common weed tree seedlings.
Amazon Price: $25.46 (as of 12/06/2009)
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
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Give a Goat This Christmas
- Give a Goat This Christmas - Parenting
- If your family is looking for meaningful ways to reach out to others this Christmas, try one of these ideas:
1. Get Their Goat Donate a goat to a family in India ($120) or a cow to a Romanian village ($50 for a share). The Heifer Project catalogue (you can order one at www.heifer.org or by calling 800-698-2511) allows you to send honey bees ($30) to families in Ecuador, llamas ($150) to Bolivian families who market the fuzzy wool the animals produce, or baby chicks ($20) to Camaroon. You can even challenge your church to raise $5,000 to support an "ark" full of animals to be sent all over the world.
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The Three Billy Goats Gruff is in the Four Wheeler's Online Unit Study Directory
Thank you to the Four Wheelers for including the The Three Billy Goats Gruff in their Online Unit Study Directory.
- Internet Directory of Unit Studies
- The Four Wheelers Internet Directory of Unit Studies contains a list, roughly arranged by subject, of links to unit studies that are published on the Internet.
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- iPrograms
- The Three Billy Goats Gruff - by P.C. Asbjornsen. http://tinyurl.com/ylp5hgn
Chat with The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Tell us how this lens has helped you cross a bridge.
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Reply
- nickupton nickupton Nov 30, 2009 @ 10:08 pm
- I love this story. I have used it with 4-6 year olds for acting out where I play the horrible, scary old troll. Kids love it and everyone wants to get involved.
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Reply
- Evelyn_Saenz Evelyn_Saenz Dec 1, 2009 @ 1:18 pm
- I can just hear the squeals of delight, Thank you for sharing.
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- amandascloset0 amandascloset0 Sep 14, 2009 @ 4:35 pm
- I love this lens! Great Job! I had totally forgotten about this tale until seeing your lens! 5 stars!!
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- ElizabethJeanAllen ElizabethJeanAllen Mar 21, 2009 @ 5:23 am
- What an entertaining lens.
Thanks for sharing
Lizzy
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- nightbear nightbear Jan 14, 2009 @ 1:50 am
- Wow, What a great lens. I've said it once and I'll say it again. I wish I could have learned from this teacher.
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Meet the Author of this Lens
Evelyn's Hands-On Learning Blog.
Find out what else I'm up to when I'm not building bridges with the goats:
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Evelyn Saenz: Lensography of a Teacher
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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 should be integrated and no skills should be taught in isolation. I believe that each topic s...
by Evelyn_Saenz
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