Level: Grades 5 to 7

Overview

This lesson and all associated documents (handouts, overheads, backgrounders) is available in an easy-print, pdf kit version.  To open the lesson kit for printing, click here.  To print only this page, use the "printable version" link at the top of the page.

This lesson helps students recognize and understand stereotyping and bias in literature and film by looking at representations of wolves. The lesson begins with a discussion about storytelling and an introduction to the many different versions of the fairy tale: The Three Little Pigs. Students then analyse depictions of wolves in popular film and compare these story and film renditions to real facts about wolves. Once students have separated fact from fiction, they will share their findings through a series of group activities.

Preparation and Materials

A collection of children's literature and films about wolves is needed for this unit. Suggested resources can be found in the Wolf Unit Bibliography. Contact your local school or public librarian regarding the availability of these books and your school board's Video Resource Library for videos.

You will need:

• Three or four different versions of The Three Little Pigs
• Preview one or two films and videos featuring wolves, such as Beauty and the Beast, White Fang and Never Cry Wolf
• For a realistic depiction of wolves, obtain the National Film Board of Canada's film Wolf Pack, a twenty-minute documentary of the habits of wolves
• Download Wolf Questions master sheets
• Photocopy group assignment Wolf Story Analysis Sheet 

The Lesson

Daily Activities

The following activities can be conducted during the course of this unit: 

• Daily grammar: sentences written on the board containing information about wolves
• Weekly spelling and vocabulary regarding wolves
• Science activities looking at topics such as animal behavior, habitat and food webs 

Activity One: Media Concepts

This lesson introduces students to the following concepts: point of view; message; stereotype; and bias.

Begin the lesson with a general background on storytelling: 

• Storytelling was a pre-printing press way of teaching lessons or warning about dangers.
  
  
• Stories would be passed down from generation to generation.
  
  
• The message and story might change depending on the storyteller (use example of argument on playground, students involved each have a different point of view).
  
  
• Discuss the messages that appear in religious myths, fairy tales and advertising. (Show examples of ads from Sports Illustrated for Children or other child-oriented magazines. Ask students about the messages in these ads and how they differ from the messages in religious myths and fairy tales.)
• Talk briefly about the role of wolves in fairy tales. (You might point out the Brer Rabbit Tales, Aesop's Fables and Native legends as examples of the strong presence of wolves in fairy tales and mythology.)
• Introduce the different versions of Three Little Pigs. The original version of this story is English, but it has been adapted to suit different cultures. For example, the German version of this story has houses made of mud, cabbage, and brick; the Appalachian version has houses made of chips, cornstalks, and bricks; the Italian version uses goslings instead of pigs; the African American slave version has 5 pigs with houses of brush, sticks, mud, plants, and rock; and the Hungarian version has 1 pig and 10 wolves.
  
  
• Read four or five versions of this story to your students such as
  • Claverie, Jean. The Three Little Pigs
  • Rounds, Glen, Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf
  • Lowell, Susan. The Three Little Javelinas
  • Celsi, Teresa. The Fourth Little Pig
    
    
• When choosing your versions of this story, try to include adaptations that are told from the wolf's perspective, such as Jon Scieszka's The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs and Eugene Trivizas' The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig.

After looking at how wolves are depicted in these versions of The Three Little Pigs, compare and contrast the messages from these stories to the stereotyping, bias and messages in the stories of Red Riding Hood by Christopher Coady and Lon Po Po by Ed Young. 

• Have students read more children's literature about wolves in small groups and have each group complete a Wolf Story Analysis Sheet for their story.
  
  
• Have each group present their findings to the class.
   

Activity Two: Film Facts

• Integrating films or videos into this unit might be done in two ways:
  
  
  • After previewing and "bookmarking" pertinent scenes, show your students video clips from films such as Beauty and the Beast, White Fang and Never Cry Wolf. (Note to teachers: Copyright laws in Canada permit you to copy and show excerpts of films to your class without infringing copyright laws.)
    
    
  • Or, you might decide to show students one of these films in its entirety as the basis for class discussion.
    
    
• As you view the videos, pause the film frequently
  
  
  • On one erasable easel, brainstorm and discuss the "facts" about wolves that are presented in each video. Students may also include "facts" that are generally believed about wolves. 
    
    
  • On another erasable easel, list the Questions the video clips or video generates about wolves. Augment your student's suggestions with questions from the master sheet.
    
    
• After viewing the video clips, students return to their groups, where they are to decide which video facts about wolves they think are true, and then discover which of these facts are true by answering the questions about wolves that these films generate. (Students can use wolf resources in the classroom, or a library period might be booked for them to research their answers. Sources for research might also include CD Rom encyclopedias and internet sites such as Canadian Wildlife Service Hinterland Who's Who.)
  
  
• When students have researched their answers, show the NFB film Wolf Pack. Give students the opportunity to review their answers one more time before submitting them.
   

Activity Three: Putting It All Together 

• Have students collect color pictures of wolves for a picture collage.
  
  
• Students are given time in the classroom to read from the class collection of non-fiction books about wolves. New facts that are discovered about wolves will be shared through a "chalk talk." Rules for sharing information are:
  
  
  • No talking. All communication is done by writing.
    
    
  • Fact written on board must be new knowledge (not a commonly known fact about wolves).
    
    
  • Each student gets one turn before any student can have a second turn.
    
    
  • Facts written should be short, not long paragraphs.
    
    
  • Facts can be challenged or a student can ask for more information by writing questions beside the facts (done with different color chalk).
     

Wolf Facts Bulletin Boards

Divide your students into three groups.

Group One: will create a picture collage from the collected photographs, illustrating the physical characteristics of wolves.

Group Two: will create a word collage, printing adjectives and adverbs about wolves using different fonts, font sizes, and font colors.

Group Three: will draw a "wolf habitat" scene illustrating the pack concept.

Closure

• In a journal entry, have students record how their perceptions and stereotypical ideas about wolves have changed during the course of this unit.