Students always love familiar tales and Goldilocks and the Three Bears story is one of the classic tales that many kindergarten students know. The story of Goldilocks offers a fun way to compare texts.
In this blog post, I will share some of my favorite Goldilocks and the Three Bears activities. There are even a few suggested books that have a different twist to this classic story.
When we wrote the lesson plans for our Engaging Readers units, we decided to use three different versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Caralyn Buehner is a classic tale retold with a delightful twist. The tale starts like most variations with the bear family going to a walk while their porridge cools. In this version, Goldilocks is a lively little girl who stumbles upon the home belonging to a family of bears. Little did they know a “jump-roping, curly-haired terror ” named Goldilocks would go into their home.
Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Little Wee Bear discover the mess she makes!
In this book, Goldilocks does exactly as she please in the bears’ house. She eats the bears’ porridge, she breaks Baby Bear’s chairs and sleeps in Baby Bear’s bed. This is a funny version of the classic fairy tale.
“Goldie and the Three Hares” by Margie Palatini is a whimsical and clever adaptation of the classic “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” In this charming retelling, Goldie, a spunky girl, stumbles upon the home of three hares. The story unfolds with humor and surprises as Goldie interacts with the hares’ belongings. Palatini weaves a hilarious narrative filled with playful language. Your young students will love this variation.
This might be my favorite of the three!
Each week we select a book for our interactive read aloud lessons. We read the text or sections of the text to make a deeper connection with the story. The teacher does the decoding, and the students, through discussion questions, are in charge of making meaning!
We start this Engaging Readers Unit off by visualizing! I love looking at these student illustrations. As primary teachers, we sometimes forget to be explicit with this comprehension strategy. After all, these are picture books, so young students can just look at the illustrators’ version… right? But what happens when these emergent readers move into chapter books? Have they developed this comprehension “muscle?” Please don’t skip these valuable lessons. In fact, when I taught reading intervention to fourth graders, this was one of the important skills that was underdeveloped for those who struggled with comprehension. It is so important, don’t skip it.
Why is retelling important? Sequencing key events, utilizing chronological markers like first, next, then, last, creating story maps, concentrating on plot structure, and incorporating visual aids are effective methods. These strategies empower students to boost their retelling proficiency, fostering confidence and competence in reading.
After the picture cards are put in order by the sequence of events, students get with their partners and practice orally retelling the story. This activity provides extra practice for oral language development. Kindergarten and first grade students, have picture illustrations to look at should they get stuck.
You will start to hear students repeat the repetitive phrases, but we also ask students to synthesize the story and include their own words as well. Over time, you will see your students’ language skills blossom!
Once they have had the chance to retell the story for a few minutes, then students complete the retelling activity in their notebooks.
After reading each version, our young children will discuss the different ways each Goldilocks story was the same and different. We discuss the main characters and how the end of the story unfolded.
Students were asked to think about the characters, different story parts, and the end of the story. Here are the categories for this chart:
Students add Post-It notes where they drew the ending of a story.
This close reading set of lesson plans include three different versions of the story with a variety of activities that last 10 days. I’m just showing you a few of the ones that are included.
Authors drop hints or clues to help you read beyond the obvious. This skill of using clues to grasp a deeper understanding is called inferring. It means going beyond what’s directly said and finding implied or suggested meanings from the details.
We used this lesson for Goldie and the Three Hares. Here is the writing and discussion prompt:
Students compared two of the characters from book. This is a great way to work on their critical thinking skills.
Students were challenged to create a new chair for baby bear Students were challenged to create a new chair for baby bear and the bear family. This is such a fun activity and you can have a group of children work together to complete it.
Students also worked on making a baby bear. Working with dough helps to strengthen their fine motor skills. Cute little brown bear… right?
We included a few math activities and literacy skills to go with this book as well! Students can do this activity as part of your small groups or math center. SWEET!
Students spin and graph the bears.
Here are few photos of students working on the included rhyming activities. In this literacy center, students are looking for words that rhyme.
We also included a few kindergarten and first grade worksheets for student independent work.
You can find all of the Goldilocks and the Three Bears activities I shared above in our Engaging Readers Reading Comprehension Lesson Plans.
A few years ago, I created a set of differentiated centers to cover a variety of literacy skills and math skills. I love having multiple activities available to help meet the needs of all of the individual students’ needs.
Here are a few of the activities.
You can find all of these center activities by clicking:
Would you like to download this free lesson plan template? Click on the lesson plan image below to download this file from my Google Drive… EASY! The PDF version of these lesson plans is linked to the resource so you can find it quickly.
If you would like to find more lesson plans like this one, you can find them by clicking:
Here are a few other blog posts you might find helpful.
My teaching career allowed me to experience teaching in different classroom environments and grades. My heart belongs to early childhood education. My job is to make teaching FUN, ENGAGING, and EASIER. Welcome!
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