The Three Pigs



Author: David Wiesner

Award: The Caldecott Medal

Genre: English Literature, Folklore

Grade Level: First Grade

Theme:

The three pigs try to build a house made out of different material so they wolf cannot blow their houses down. However, the wolf blows the first two houses down relatively easily. However, he fails to blow the third pig’s house down which was made of bricks.

Can students identify and describe what the houses were made of and why the final house was able to stay standing?

Pre-Reading Strategies: Discuss the importance of the different materials used in the book. Have the students observe and handle a piece of hay, a stick, and a brick. Ask them to visualize blowing a full house made of these three different materials. From partaking in this hands-on activity, the students should figure out which house would hold up the best.

Post-Reading Strategies: After the reading, the children in the class will try to retell the story from memory. This shows who really paid attention to the short story to the fullest. If the students cannot retell the story successfully, the story will be read in groups and the activity will begin all over again. This is an interesting activity because the Three Little Pigs is a very common story and also can be retold differently the second time around. The groups can also incorporate their own versions of this story. This helps build imagination and creative thinking.

Also, I could incorporate a Readers' Theatre activity since this story is very common and redundant.

Assessment: Sequencing of Events worksheet

Summary: This is a classic story retold by author David Wiesner. Three pigs are being tormented by a big, bad wolf who wants to eat them. The wolf blows the first two houses down because they are made of hay and sticks. However, the third pig learns from the past two pig’s mistakes and builds a house out of bricks. The wolf cannot blow the house of bricks down. The pig ended up tricking the wolf by putting a pot of hot water by the edge of the chimney. The wolf declared that he would jump down from the chimney to eat the little pig. Bur instead, he jumped into a pot of hot water. The third little pig enjoyed wolf stew and the wolf never was able to bother him again.

Reflection: This is an excellent retelling of the many tails of the Three Little Pigs. It is fascinating to hear the many versions of the story and how they cna change.

Wiesner, David. (2001). The Three Pigs. New York: Clarion Books. Grades K-2.