Wordle
This version of Little Red Riding Hood is the traditional, age-old story. Sweet Red Riding Hood lived in a cottage beside the deep, dark woods. One day, her mother asks her to bring some custard to Granny, who was not feeling well. Her mother warned her to go straight to Granny’s; do not talk to strangers! Soon, Red Riding Hood found herself in the middle of the woods. A wolf appears, and charms Red Riding Hood into letting him escort her to Granny’s house. Red Riding Hood does not know that the wolf is planning to eat both her and Granny. While Red Riding Hood picks sunflowers for Granny, the wolf hurries ahead to the house, eats Granny, and puts on Granny’s clothes and jumps into her bed. Red Riding Hood sees her Granny and notices some changes: big eyes, big arms, and big teeth. Before she can react, the wolf eats her too. A hunter passes by the house and hears the noise. He jumps through the window and kills the wolf and saves Granny and Red Riding Hood. From then on, Red Riding Hood never talked to strangers.
I would use this text in a similar way that we used them in class. I could potentially include this story, as well as many other traditional folktales, in a book pass. This would serve as an introduction to a unit on traditional/folk literature. Specifically, we could look at Red Riding Hood and compare this story to other similar folktales in other cultures. We have learned that wolves are a frequent motif, so students could read folktales from other cultures and try to find wolves in other stories. I could also have students use the theme of this book and try to find other folktales with the same theme. As a class, we can compare and contrast these stories and how they are influenced by the specific culture. Then, I would ask students to write their own folktale, using a wolf as the antagonist and maintaining the overall theme.
