ELA / 1st Grade / Unit 4: Making Old Stories New
In this unit, students compare and contrast events and characters in multiple versions of The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood.
ELA
Unit 4
1st Grade
Jump To
This unit is focused on two classic fairy tales: The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood. With each fairy tale, students are first exposed to a classic version, familiarizing themselves with the basic plot and lessons. Then students explore the ways authors change the setting, characters, and plot while still maintaining the overall essence of the classic story. Some of the changes the authors make reflect the nuances of different cultures and environments, while others are made for entertainment and humor. Either way, students will explore the idea that different authors can use their perspectives and culture to shape the stories they write or retell. By reading multiple versions of the same classic fairy tale, students will also be able to grapple with the bigger lessons of each tale—the importance of not talking to strangers and the importance of respecting others’ property and privacy. Throughout the unit, students will be challenged to think about how each of these unique themes is portrayed and how in each different version of the fairy tale the characters may learn the lesson in slightly different ways. It is our hope that this unit, in connection with others in the sequence, will help students see the power of storytelling and how simple stories can be changed and improved based on an author’s ideas and preferences.
In reading, this unit builds directly onto the reading strategies from previous units. Students will continue to be pushed to be inquisitive consumers of text, asking and answering questions about characters, settings, and plots as they listen to and engage with a text. Students will continue to work on retelling stories and including key details. Similar to previous units, students will continue to think deeply about characters and the setting, but in this unit, students will be pushed to think about how the setting of a story can influence a character’s actions. A new focus of this unit is on comparing and contrasting the adventures and experiences of characters in stories. Students will be asked at multiple points to use the information they have learned about key events, characters, and setting to compare and contrast different versions of the classic fairy tale. When discussing the text with partners, small-group, or whole-group, students will continue to work on engaging with the thinking of others. Students will build on the strategies they learned in previous units as they continue to work on continuing conversations through multiple exchanges by building on others’ talk in conversations.
As writers, students will continue to build their writing fluency by writing daily in response to the Target Task question, with an added emphasis on expanding their sentences using more details and a variety of conjunctions. Students also have an opportunity to continue to refine their narrative writing skills by writing their version of The Three Little Pigs.
Fishtank Plus for ELA
Unlock features to optimize your prep time, plan engaging lessons, and monitor student progress.
Some of the links below are Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click and make a purchase, we receive a small portion of the proceeds, which supports our non-profit mission.
Book: The Three Little Pigs by Paul Galdone (HMH Books for Young Readers, 2010) — 550L
Book: The Three Little Tamales by Eric A. Kimmel (Two Lions, 2009) — 550L
Book: The Three Little Javelinas by Susan Lowell (Cooper Square Publishing Llc, 1st edition, 1992) — 580L
Book: The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen (G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, 2012) — 630L
Book: Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas (Margaret K. McElderry Books, Reprint edition, 1997) — 700L
Book: The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka (Puffin Books; Reprint edition, 1996) — 510L
Book: Little Red Riding Hood by Paul Galdone (HMH Books for Young Readers, First Edition Thus edition, 2012)
Book: Lon Po Po, A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young (Puffin Books, Reprint edition, 1996) — 670L
Book: Little Roja Riding Hood by Susan Middleton Elya (G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, Bilingual edition, 2014)
Book: Ninja Red Riding Hood by Corey Rosen Schwartz (G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, 2014) — AD570L
Book: Little Red Riding Hood by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2007) — AD700L
Book: What Really Happened to Little Red Riding Hood: The Wolf's Story by Toby Forward (Walker Books Ltd, 2006) — AD520L
Book: Wolves (National Geographic Readers) by Laura Marsh (National Geographic Kids; Illustrated edition, 2012) — 570L
Assessment Text: “Red Riding Hood Was Rotten!” by Trisha Speed Shaskan and illustrated by Gerald Claude Guerlais (Picture Window Books) — 460LL
These assessments accompany this unit and should be given on the suggested assessment day or after completing the unit.
Download Content Assessment
Download Content Assessment Answer Key
Download Cold Read Assessment
Download Cold Read Assessment Answer Key
Suggestions for how to prepare to teach this unit
Unit Launch
Prepare to teach this unit by immersing yourself in the texts, themes, and core standards. Unit Launches include a series of short videos, targeted readings, and opportunities for action planning.
The central thematic questions addressed in the unit or across units
Write complete simple sentences.
Include details that describe “who,” “what,” “where,” “when” and “why.”
Use conjunctions “because,” “but,” and “so.”
Write a narrative with a beginning, middle and end.
Include details about what happened with each event.
Use temporal words to signal event order.
Use specific vocabulary. Use vocabulary that is specific to the subject and task to clarify and share thoughts.
Build on others' talk in conversation by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges.
When readers retell a story, they tell events from the story using a clearly sequenced order of events.
The setting of a story is when and where a story takes place. The setting can influence a character’s actions.
To compare and contrast stories, readers notice what is the same and different about the characters, setting, key events, and central message.
Literary terms, text-based vocabulary, idioms and word parts to be taught with the text
anticipation bully cunning discouraged equipped frightened hastily hoarseness intelligent kindly outsmart persistent pleasant resourceful scoundrel sly stereotype suspicious wretched
To see all the vocabulary for Unit 4, view our 1st Grade Vocabulary Glossary.
In order to ensure that all students are able to access the texts and tasks in this unit, it is incredibly important to intellectually prepare to teach the unit prior to launching the unit. Use the intellectual preparation protocol and the Unit Launch to determine which support students will need. To learn more, visit the Supporting all Students teacher tool.
Fishtank ELA units related to the content in this unit.
Retell what happens in The Three Little Pigs.
RL.1.2 RL.1.3
Describe why the third little tamale was resourceful.
L.1.1.g RL.1.2 RL.1.3
Explain why the third little javelina was intelligent.
L.1.1.g L.1.1.j RL.1.2 RL.1.3 RL.1.6
Describe why Pig Three is persistent.
L.1.1.g L.1.1.j L.1.6 RL.1.2 RL.1.3
Use the words “persistent,” “resourceful,” or “intelligent” to describe the three little wolves.
Defend if the wolf’s side of the story is true or not.
L.1.1.g RL.1.2 RL.1.3 RL.1.4
Discussion & Writing
Determine the moral of the Three Little Pigs and explain how the moral can be used in your own life.
L.1.1.f RL.1.2 RL.1.9 W.1.1
Writing – 4 days
Write your own version of The Three Little Pigs.
L.1.1 L.1.1.e L.1.1.i L.1.2 L.1.2.d L.1.2.e W.1.3 W.1.5 W.1.6
Retell what happens in Little Red Riding Hood.
RL.1.2 RL.1.3 RL.1.4
Explain what lesson Little Red learns and how she learns it.
Analyze specific words in a text and explain how they help the reader better understand the story.
L.1.1.f L.1.4 L.1.6 RL.1.2 RL.1.3 RL.1.4
Explain why Little Roja is intelligent.
Defend if the wolf is or is not cunning and why.
Use the words “sly” and “pleasant” to describe how the wolf changes.
Defend if you agree or disagree with the wolf’s side of the story and why.
Determine the moral of Little Red Riding Hood and explain how the moral can be used in your own life.
RL.1.2 RL.1.9 W.1.1
Defend if wolves deserve the stereotype of being evil animals.
RI.1.1 RI.1.2
Assessment
Create a free account to access thousands of lesson plans.
Already have an account? Sign In
Project
Act out and retell different versions of The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and The Three Bears by dramatically retelling familiar stories.
SL.1.1 SL.1.6
The content standards covered in this unit
L.1.1 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L.1.1.e — Use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future (e.g., Yesterday I walked home; Today I walk home; Tomorrow I will walk home).
L.1.1.f — Use frequently occurring adjectives.
L.1.1.g — Use frequently occurring conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, so, because).
L.1.1.i — Use frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., during, beyond, toward).
L.1.1.j — Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts.
L.1.2 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
L.1.2.d — Use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.
L.1.2.e — Spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions.
L.1.4 — Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 1 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
L.1.6 — Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using frequently occurring conjunctions to signal simple relationships (e.g., because).
RI.1.1 — Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
RI.1.2 — Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
RL.1.2 — Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
RL.1.3 — Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
RL.1.4 — Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.
RL.1.6 — Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.
RL.1.9 — Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories.
W.1.1 — Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.
W.1.3 — Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.
W.1.5 — With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
W.1.6 — With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
Standards that are practiced daily but are not priority standards of the unit
L.1.5 — With guidance and support from adults, demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
RL.1.1 — Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
RL.1.7 — Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
RL.1.10 — With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for grade 1.
SL.1.1 — Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups
SL.1.2 — Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.
SL.1.5 — Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
SL.1.6 — Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation.
Unit 3
Being a Good Friend
Unit 5
The Power of Reading
Join our Summer Institutes in July and August 2023.