Goldilocks Text Talk Lesson Plan
Text Talk Lesson for Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Retold and Illustrated by: James Marshall
Puffin Books, 1998
SUMMARY: Goldilocks and the Three Bears is the familiar tale retold with added wit and humor. In this version, Goldilocks is warned not to take the shortcut through the forest while on a mission to buy muffins in the next village. However, because she is one of those “naughty little girls” who does exactly as she pleases, she finds herself at the home of those three roving bears, out enjoying a bicycle trip while their porridge is cooling. She enters the house and begins to eat their porridge, sit in their chairs, and lie in their beds. They discover what has happened when they return, and baby bear discovers all of his porridge has been eaten, his chair is broken, and Goldilocks is sleeping in his bed! When she is awakened by the bears, she jumps out of the window and is never seen again.
FOCUS: The focus in this story is learning what happens when Goldilocks disobeys her mother and takes the shortcut in the forest. What Goldilocks gets herself into, and the mistakes she makes, are another focus of the story.
COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS:
Cover: Show the cover and read the title to the class. Ask the class if they recognize the little girl on the cover. Then ask them what other characters are in this story that is on the cover. Have them predict how the two characters will meet each other in the story. Pose questions such as, “Will they become friends?” “Will the bears tear her house down?” “Will baby bear and the little girl become best friends?” Have them think about different scenarios for the story. If they have read or heard the story, they may know the right answer, and the teacher should start the book by saying “Well, let’s find out…”.
Page 1
When looking at the picture, why did the neighbor say, “That’s what you think” when the new person in town said she looked sweet? (She was about to jump in the water and get everyone wet, showing she was not as sweet as she looks).
Page 2
Do you think Goldilocks is going to keep her promise to her mother? (No. Because it says she is a naughty little girl who does exactly as she pleases).
Page 3
Do you see anything in this picture that tells Goldilocks taking the shortcut may not be a good idea? (Yes. The signs on the trees: Danger!, Very Risky!, Not a Good Idea, Turn Back, Go the Other Way).
Page 5
No wonder Goldilocks wanted to go inside the bear’s house. It looks so nice and warm. Maybe the bears are not as bad as Goldilocks’ mother thought.
Page 8
The book said that there were three inviting bowls of porridge on the dining room table. What does the word inviting mean? (To look good, appealing, welcoming; like it was ‘calling her name’). But, can porridge really invite someone in? (No).
Page 9
Goldilocks went right into the bear’s house. Should she have done that? (No). What should she have done first? (Knocked to see if anyone was home and not go in if no one was there).
Page 11
She is making herself right at home in the bear’s house! She is making a terrible mess in their house!
Page 12
1. Why did Goldilocks think the bears had a kitten? (Because she found coarse brown hair everywhere). Whose hair was it? (The bears).
2. The book says there were three chairs in the parlor. What is a parlor? (Living room).
Page 16
Using the picture, can you figure out what ‘tuckered out’ means? (Goldilocks is tired, sleepy).
Page 18
What do you think is going to happen when the bears come home? (Responses). Do you think they will be happy or mad to find their house a wreck and a little girl sleeping in their house? (Mad).
Page 20
The book says the bears could scarcely believe their eyes. What is another word the author could have said in place of scarcely? (Not believe their eyes, hardly believe their eyes, barely believe their eyes).
Page 27
What do you think is going to happen to Goldilocks? (Eat her, make her clean her mess up, wake her up and yell at her, etc.). Let’s see what happens next!
Wrap-Up: Do you think Goldilocks wishes she had never gone in the bears house? Do you think she will listen to her mother next time? Do you think the bears might come looking for her?
Vocabulary: inviting, parlor, scarcely
INVITING
In the story, when Goldilocks arrives at the house, there were three inviting bowls of porridge on the dining room table. Inviting means “Looks good, appealing, welcoming”.
Say the word inviting. Now think about a time when you were at a store or a restaurant and you saw something that you wanted. You knew you had to have it; ‘it was calling your name’. Let’s share some of those things. What did you see that you just had to have? Start your sentence as follows: I saw an inviting ____________ and had to have it.
PARLOR
In the story, Goldilocks finds three chairs in the parlor. A parlor is like a living room. It is a place in your home that people get together and hang out.
Say the word parlor. The bears had lots of books in their parlor. What are some things you have in your parlor at home? What do you and your family enjoy doing in your parlor?
SCARCELY
In the story, when the bears came home, they could scarcely believe their eyes when they saw their dining room a mess! Scarcely in this story means that the bears could hardly/barely/not believe their eyes. Hardly, barely, and not are words that mean the same thing as scarcely. These are called synonyms-words with the same meaning.
Say the word scarcely. Now that you know what a synonym is, pick out a couple of words from the book and come up with a synonym for the word. For example: a synonym for hungry could be starving. Good luck on your synonym searching!
Let’s think about these words some more…
-Would going to the doctor’s office be inviting? Would going to get ice cream be inviting? (No/Yes).
-What is a parlor? (A living room).
-Is the word sad a synonym for the word happy? Do they mean the same thing? (No. those are not synonyms). Can you come up with a synonym for sad?
Image by Google.com
3 Comments »
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Velma Said:
on September 20, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Megan,
You did such a great job! I really should have used the words scarcely, invited and parlor. I didn’t, but I think you made the right choices.
Chase Said:
on September 20, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Megan,
You did a great job on this lesson plan. I think the way you have broken the questions down will really help students comprehend what is happening in the story.
re3030 Said:
on November 2, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Nice lesson.
Woody Trathen