- samples of straw
- twigs
- brick
- brick
- build
- folktale
- material
- straw
- stick
MA Standards:
Speaking and Listening: SL.PK.MA.2 Recall information for short periods of time and retell, act out, or represent information from a text read aloud, a recording, or a video (e.g., watch a video about birds and their habitats and make drawings or constructions of birds and their nests).
Head Start Outcomes:
Language Development/Expressive Language Engages in storytelling.
Language Development/Receptive Language Attends to language during conversations, songs, stories, or other learning experiences.
Language Development/Expressive Language Engages in communication and conversation with others.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Language 2 Participate actively in discussions, listen to the ideas of others, and ask and answer relevant questions.
Watch Together: “Huff and Puff” #1 (BTL show)
STEM Key Concepts: Different materials are useful for making different structures and different parts of structures
ELA Focus Skills: Active Viewing, Genre, Make Connections, Sequencing, Story Comprehension, Vocabulary
Tell the children that they will be watching the Between the Lions video “Huff and Puff.” Provide a viewing focus for children by asking them to pay attention to what each little pig’s house looks like and what material it is made of so they can figure out if the wolf will be able to blow it down.
Before You Watch
Explain to children that in the story, Leona’s dad reads her favorite story, The Three Little Pigs. Ask children to remember what the wolf says when he tries to blow the little pigs’ houses down. Say it together, Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in!
As You Watch
Model active video viewing—name the characters, describe the action, repeat the featured words, and sing along with the songs. Point to each of the materials as you read about them in the text.
- Pause in the introduction and have children repeat with Leona the wolf’s refrain: Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in!
- Have children join in when the pigs say, No, no, you can’t come in! Not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin!
- Pause when the wolf gets to the second little pig’s house. Ask, What do you think will happen next?
- If you were the second little pig, what do you think you might do when the wolf starts to huff and puff?
- Pause at the end of the story. Ask, What do you think the pigs do after the story ends? What do you think the wolf does?
After You Watch
Ask questions such as,
- Which part of the show did you like best?
- Why do you think the straw house blew in but the brick house did not blow in?
- What is different about each of these materials? (Invite children to hold, touch, and explore samples of each of the materials.)
- Which material would you use to build a house? Why do you think that is the best material?
- What materials do you think your house is made of?
Explain to children that sometimes there are many different versions of a folktale. Say, A folktale has been told for many years and some of the details change as it gets told over and over again. Help children connect the text to the video by asking questions such as,
- What is different about the way the story in the book begins and the way the story in the video begins?
- What is the same in both versions of the folktale?
English Language Learners: To help children grasp the meaning of the word strong, give them a tissue or paper towel. Have them hold it in front of their face. Tell them to huff and puff and then blow the paper towel to understand that the wolf could blow the first two houses in because they were not built of strong material. Then give each child a book and have him or her repeat the process to understand how the wolf could not blow in the brick house.
