Summary
Students will explore the cultural characteristics that appear in various versions of the story "Little Red Riding Hood." Additionally, students will compare and contrast how the cultural characteristics appear in each story and how American authors have revamped the story to mirror popular culture in American society.
Essential Question(s)
How do the characteristics of a culture show up in the stories from the region? How do these characteristics affect the ways in which people live?
Snapshot
Engage
Students determine what cultural characteristics are by using a Word Splash activity.
Explore
Students engage in an interactive activity that will alert them to cultural characteristics included in the story "Little Red Riding Hood" by The Brothers Grimm.
Explain
Students analyze each page of the story "Honestly, Red Riding Hood Was Rotten!" by Trisha Speed Shaskan and identify the different cultural characteristics present in the pages, images, dialogue, and text.
Extend
Students read a new version of "Little Red Riding Hood" and analyze the text independently, and then collaboratively.
Evaluate
Students compare and contrast the cultural characteristics found in all three versions of the "Little Red Riding Hood" story that they read and respond to the essential question either in a paragraph or through the use of a Padlet.
Materials
Chart paper
Sticky notes in multiple colors
Pencils
World map
Lesson Slides - Grandmother, What a Big Culture You Have!
Cultures Snap-Clap-Pop Posters (one set)
Cultural Characteristics T-Chart (13 copies, one per page of Honestly, Red Riding Hood Was Rotten!)
Gallery Walk Sample Responses (one copy)
Discussion Questions (one copy)
Venn Diagram handout (one per student)
Venn Diagram and Essential Questions rubric (one per student)
Tablets, computers, or personal devices
Internet access
Little Red Riding Hood (or Little Red Cap), by The Brothers' Grimm
Honestly, Little Red Riding Hood was Rotten, by Trisha Speed Shaskan
Additional Book List (You may not have access to all of the books listed below, but you will need to have at least one of them for the lesson):
Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China, by Ed Young
Pretty Salma: A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa, by Niki Daly
Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood, by Mike Artell
Little Red Cowboy Hat, by Susan Lowell
Little Red Riding Hood Stories Around the World, by Jessica Gunderson
Little Red Hot, by Eric A. Kimmel
Ninja Red Riding Hood, by Corey Rosen Schwartz
Isabel and the Hungry Coyote, by Keith Polette
Little Roja Riding Hood, by Susan Middleton Elya
Into the Forest, by Anthony Browne
Engage
Customs
Traditions
Heritage
Way of Life
Habits
Beliefs
Food
Clothing
Shelter
Language
Family Structure
Use the attached Lesson Slides to guide the instruction. Begin the lesson by telling students they will be engaging in a Word Splash activity to activate their prior knowledge and make predictions about the lesson and what the topic might be. Display slide 2 or refer students to the words you wrote on the board. Give students time to gather their thoughts about the displayed words, and encourage them to think about how the words might fit together. Once students have had a few minutes to think about the words on their own, have them share out their thoughts with an Elbow Partner and come to a consensus about what the topic for today's lesson might be. After all pairs have had a chance to discuss their ideas, have a few share with the class.
Once your students have determined the topic of the lesson, share the essential questions with them on slide 3. Make sure to let them know that they will be answering these two questions at the end of the lesson.
Share the lesson objectives on slide 4.
Explore
in the Explore activity, students will use a variation of the Snap-Clap-Pop strategy to identify cultural aspects revealed within a story. Tell students that you are going to read them a version of the Little Red Riding Hood story that comes from Germany, and when they identify a cultural reference in the story they will perform a different and new physical action and explain why they chose the action. If your students haven't heard the story before, consider reading it once just for enjoyment, then a second time for the activity. Display slide 5 and explain each of the different physical actions:
Customs - Pretend to play a musical instrument (e.g., flute).
Traditions - Dance in your seat.
Heritage - Make a tree pose.
Way of Life - Make a heart shape with your hands.
Habits - Stack your hands on top of each other to demonstrate “building.”
Beliefs - Put your hands over your eyes.
Food - Pretend you are eating out of a bowl.
Clothing - Stand up and pretend you are putting on pants.
Shelter - Make a roof over your head with your hands.
Language - Put your hands over your mouth.
Family Structure - Hug yourself.
Read Little Red Riding Hood (or Little Red Cap as it was originally titled) by the Brothers Grimm to your students, encouraging students to perform the corresponding actions from the list as you read. After the read-aloud, take a moment to visit your world map. Point out where Germany is on the map compared to your location.
Explain
Display slide 6. Now that students have had an opportunity to explore how authors can incorporate cultural characteristics into their stories, they will take some time to explain how Trisha Speed Shaskan incorporates them in her story Honestly, Red Riding Hood Was Rotten! They will participate in a Gallery Walk to observe each of the individual pages. For this activity, it is important that the students look at the text, images, dialogue, and pages in isolation. It isn't so much about the story right now as it is about identifying the cultural characteristics within the story.
To begin the gallery walk, group students in teams of 3–4, and assign each group to a starting page. Give students a few minutes per page to analyze the images, read the text, and record their findings on the T-chart. On the left side of the T-chart, students should list any of the cultural characteristics from the list presented in the Explore activity that they see on that particular page. On the right side, students should provide examples from the page that led them to choose those cultural characteristics.
Once the time is up, or when you notice that all of the groups have contributed something to their pages, call time, and have them rotate to the next page. When the students arrive at a new poster, remind them to read the previous groups' responses first, and then look for new examples of culture that haven't already been mentioned.
After students have had an opportunity to analyze each of the pages individually, take some time to read the story from start to finish as a whole class. Pause to point out some of the observations that you noticed they made during the gallery walk, and ask a few questions to spur discussion throughout the reading. Refer to the Discussion Questions attachment for a list of possible questions, organized by page.
Extend
After students have had an opportunity to read and discuss both Honestly, Red Riding Hood Was Rotten! and Little Red Riding Hood, share with them that the Red Riding Hood story has been retold and rewritten many times over hundreds of years. Each time the story has been introduced to new cultures, it has been rewritten to match the values, customs, and beliefs of that culture. Similar adaptations can be seen in many fairy tales, folk tales, myths, and legends, which often makes identifying the original version of the story difficult.
Display slide 16. Students now have the chance to choose which version of the Red Riding Hood story they would like to read on their own and will use the Affinity Process strategy to identify themes and compare themes across stories. As students are reading, they should analyze the text for examples of and differences in how the author addresses cultural characteristics. To facilitate this, provide your students with sticky notes so that they can make annotations in the text as they read. Consider assigning each book its own color of sticky note, as, later on, all of the students will be combining their notes together, and the variations in colors from book to book will provide a good visual of similarities and differences.
Brief descriptions of the stories for students to choose from appear along with visuals of the book covers starting on slide 7.
Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China, by Ed Young
Pretty Salma: A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa, by Niki Daly
Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood, by Mike Artell
Little Red Cowboy Hat, by Susan Lowell
Little Red Riding Hood Stories Around the World, by Jessica Gunderson
Little Red Hot, by Eric A. Kimmel
Ninja Red Riding Hood, by Corey Rosen Schwartz
Isabel and the Hungry Coyote, by Keith Polette
Little Roja Riding Hood, by Susan Middleton Elya
Into the Forest, by Anthony Browne
Display slide 17. Once all of the students have completed the reading and documented their ideas on sticky notes, have those who read the same version of the story come together as a small group to pool their sticky notes. Group members should collaborate to combine similar notations and examples for each of the cultural characteristics the class has been discussing.
Display slide 18. Combine groups and have students combine their notations. This might involve pairing pairs, grouping tables together, or another method that works for your classroom setup. Repeat this process of combining groups until the whole class forms one large group with an agreed-upon set of themes.
Evaluate
Show slide 19 and pass out copies of the Venn Diagram Comparing Three Stories handout. Tell students they will now use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the version of the Red Riding Hood story that they just read on their own with the first two versions that we read as a class. Use slides 20–22 to show students how to fill in a Venn diagram if they have never done so before or might need a refresher.
Display slide 23. To wrap up the lesson, students will write a Two-Minute Paper to respond to the essential questions: "How do the characteristics of a culture show up in the stories from the region? And, how do these characteristics affect the ways in which people live?" In the paper, students should reflect on their learning experiences in this lesson and how those experiences pertain to the essential question.
A Venn Diagram and Essential Questions Rubric is included in the attachments that you can use as a guide for reviewing students' work on the two evaluation activities.
Resources
Grimm, J., Grimm, W., & Rackham, A. (2015). Little Red Riding Hood. Grimm's complete fairy tales. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 132-137.
Gunderson, J., Fari´as C., Madden, C. M., & Montanari, E. (2014). Little Red Riding Hood stories around the world: 3 beloved tales. North Mankato, MN: Picture Window Books.
K20 Center. (n.d.). Affinity Process. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/87
K20 Center. (n.d.). Anchor Charts. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/58
K20 Center. (n.d.). Canva. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/612
K20 center. (n.d.). Padlet. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/1077
K20 Center. (n.d.). Gallery Walk/Carousel. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/118
K20 Center. (n.d.). Snap-Clap-Pop. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/190
K20 Center. (n.d.). Two-Minute Documentaries. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/177
K20 Center. (n.d.). Two-Minute Paper. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/152
K20 Center. (n.d.). Word Splash. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/199
Larsson, C. (1881). Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf in the forest. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carl_Larsson_-_Little_Red_Riding_Hood_1881.jpg
Parsons, A. (n.d.). Anchor chart. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/64f2b35101a470dda36d44421900af08
Parsons, A., & McHale, S. (n.d.). Elbow partners. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/ccc07ea2d6099763c2dbc9d05b00c4b4
Shaskan, T. S., & Guerlais, G. (2011). Honestly, Red Riding Hood was rotten! The story of Little Red Riding Hood as told by the wolf. North Mankato, MN: Picture Window Books.
