The Little Red Hen - Scholastic

1 The Little Red Henby Paul Galdone (Clarion)Themes: Animals/Work/preserveranceGrade Level: Pre K-1 Running Time: 8 minutes, iconographicSummaryThe Little Red Hen is the story of a hen who makes herhome with a very lazy cat, dog, and mouse. When thehard-working hen discovers grains of wheat in the gar-den, she asks her housemates to help her plant and tendthe wheat. When they refuse, she does the chores hen asks the others to help her bring the wheat tothe mill to be ground into flour and to bake a cake fromthe flour. When her lazy friends refuse once again, thehen not only does all the work herself, but enjoys thecake by herself, Children will explore the value of hard work and per-severance Children will investigate the process involved in mak-ing breads/cakes from grains of wheat Children will explore the many different kinds ofchores involved in caring for a homeBefore Viewing ActivitiesShare the book The Little Red Hen with childrenThen ask:Why were the hen's friends willing to help her at theend of the story?

2 Talk with children about the kinds of chores they per-form at home. Ask: What chores do your other familymembers do? What other kinds of things need to bedone around the house? How would it feel to do all thechores by yourself? What kinds of things can you thinkof to make chores more fun?Talk with children about the different steps in making acake. Begin with the process of growing wheat, har-vesting it, grinding the wheat into flour, etc. If possible,share photographs of this process with children. Later,see if children can arrange the photos in the Viewing ActivitiesHave children dramatize the story of The Little RedHen. Supply props such as a broom, rake, watering can,straws, sticks to represent stalks of wheat, baking pan,etc.

3 That children can use in their children to think about what a house thatbelonged to a hen, dog, cat, and mouse might look children paint the interior of the house on a largesheet of kraft paper. Use the painting as a backdrop forchildren's each child in the class in the baking of thisdelicious, nutritious whole wheat will need:1 pkg. dry yeast2 cups warm water1 1/2 tsp. salt1/3 cup honey6 cups whole wheat flourshortening1/4 cup plus 1 tbs. vegetable oilDissolve yeast in 1 cup water. Mix remaining water,honey, salt, and oil. Add to yeast. Add flour gradually,beating after each addition. Knead on floured surfaceabout ten minutes. Place dough in greased bowl, coverwith damp towel and let rise approximately one houruntil double in size.

4 Punch down and divide into twoportions. Cover and let rise another hour. Bake at 350degrees for 25 the qualities of the hen in the story. Then ask:What do we know about the hen? How do you thinkthe hen felt about the work she was doing? How wasthe hen awarded for her efforts at the end of the story?What other things do you think the hen might be goodat? What might the hen not be very good at? If youwere living with the hen, what kinds of things wouldyou want to say to her?Other book based films and videos about animals areavailable from Weston Woods. These include:CAPS FOR SALE by Esphyr Slobodkina"CHARLIE NEEDS A CLOAK" by Tomie De PaolaCIRCUS BABY by Maud and Miska PetershamTHE COW WHO FELL IN THE CANAL written byPhyllis Krasilovsky and illustrated by Peter SpierCURIOUS GEORGE RIDES A BIKE by ReyFLOSSIE AND THE FOX written by PatriciaMcKissack and illustrated by Rachel IsadoraTHE FOOLISH FROG by Pete and Charles SeegerTHE HAPPY LION written by Louise Fatio and illus-trated by Roger Duvoisin HOT HIPPO written by Mwenye Hadithi and illustrat-ed by Adrienne KennawayOVER IN THE MEADOW written by John Langstaffand illustrated by Fedor RojankovskyPICNIC by Emily Arnold McCullyTHE Little RED HENCALL 1-800-243-5020 TO ORDER THESE AND OTHER WESTON WOODS

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