Fairy Tales and Point of View : The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

Essential Questions:

• What is perspective or point of view?
• Can there be more than one point of view in a story?
• How does point of view affect a story?
• How will a fairy tale differ when it’s written in a different character’s point of view?

Objectives:

• Students will understand that stories are written in first, second, or third point of view.
• Students will relate how point of view affects their daily lives.
• Students will understand that every character in a story has a point of view.
• Students will explore ways that point of view can change or affect a story.

Materials:

• The True Story of the Three Little Pigs , differentiate the beginning, middle, and end, put sticky notes to divide up the book.
• Point of View: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs Handout (see attached)

ADAPTED FROM CHARACTER ANALYSIS FORM (from seminar!) Procedure:

1) Prior to this lesson, students were scaffolded to think about point of view. In class, we were reading Bunnicula, a book the children enjoyed very much. I typed up a paragraph from another character’s point of view, and presented point of view by juxtaposing what they already were experiencing in the book with this different point of view. (See attached- I used this as an overhead). ( Whole Class)

2) Teacher discusses definition of point of view. Asks “If you and your sister were fighting, would both of you have the same story to tell your mom?” Would I feel the same as you if you happened to spill spaghetti sauce all over my shirt?

3) Previews The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Many students may have read it before.

3) Read aloud book. (Whole Class)

5) Discuss different perspectives in story, and how the wolf character differs from The Three Little Pigs. Why does the wolf seem different in this version of the story? Were the pigs nice? Who was to blame? Also explain, how authors can change the tone of the story. Look at the “words that show you speak”. These are words such as “he said”, “she shouted”, “she yelled”, “she politely asked”. Look for these kinds of word in the story.

6) Students will work in pairs. Each pair will either examine the beginning, middle, or end of the book. They will look at how the various characters speak, and how one even in the story has two different points of view. (see handout, attached)

Differentiation Ideas:

• Students can think of role plays to demonstrate “point of view”.
• Students can Connect “point of view” with Social Studies. Research. What are the different perspectives/ points of view about global warming? About Iraq? Other current events? Point of View becomes very important when we try to understand current events, especially political ones. (8.1.3.C. Understand fundamentals of historical interpretation: The existence of multiple points of view.)

Assessment:
For this lesson, students will complete the sheet, and they will be assessed through the Fairy Tale Finale (writing project).

Standards:

• After listening to book (1.3.3.A. & 1.3.5.A. Read and understand works of literature), students will identify the elements of a fairy tale such as the characters, message/theme, and events. First in pairs, and then as a group. (1.6.5. participate in small and large group discussions and presentations.)
• After establishing the elements of fairy tales as a class, each student will examine The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (1.3.3.B. Identify literary elements in stories describing characters, setting, plot, and point of view.)