Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

By: James Marshall

Grade Level K-2

Michele Aloisio

                               

The book Goldilocks and the Three Bears by James Marshall is about a little girl who has gold locks of curls that is very curious and sneaky. Goldilocks goes in the woods and stumbled on a little house. A family of bears, Papa Bear, Mamma Bear and Baby Bear were trustworthy bears. Because the bears were gone, Goldilocks was impatient and went into the bears’ house without them there.

                The family of bears was having their breakfast, but the porridge they were eating was too hot. They decided to go on a bicycle ride while their porridge cooled. When Goldilocks got to the house she noticed no one was there, and the door was open. She let herself in and tried the big bowl, but it was way too hot. Next the medium-sized bowl, but it was too cold. The last bowl she tried was the little bowl, which was just right, not too cold or not too hot. After her meal, she wanted to look around; she went into the living room. Goldilocks climbed into the biggest chair which was too hard. Then she saw the medium-sized chair which was way too soft.  Goldilocks spotted Baby Bear’s rocking chair, which wasn’t too hard or too soft; it was just right.  After rocking, Goldilocks got a little sleepy, so she decided to go upstairs to fine the bedrooms. When she got upstairs, she found three beds. The biggest one was too high for her.  The next bed she tried was smaller, but that was much too low. The last bed was Baby Bear’s, and his was just right. She felt so cozy in his bed that she did not hear the family come home from the bicycle ride.  When the bears got into their home, they saw the damage Goldilocks did. They could tell that someone ate Papa and Mamma Bear’s porridge and Baby Bear’s porridge was all gone. When they walked into the living room, they noticed that someone was sitting in their chairs and Baby Bear’s chair was broken. So the Bear family tiptoed upstairs and noticed that someone had been lying in Papa and Mamma Bear’s beds. In Baby Bear’s bed, someone was still in it. Goldilocks woke up in a fright and jumped out of the window before the Bear family could even ask who she was and they never saw her again.  

                Goldilocks and the Three Bears is a folktale that was passed down in British literature and became popular in American literature.  This story has a very straight forward plot and setting. The setting is in the Bear family’s house and Goldilocks’ mischief leads her into the house where she destroys their house. Many folktales have the number three in them, as does this story: three bears with three different sized objects, and three different stages of Goldilocks going through the house.  I felt like this story is telling young children to not trust everyone even if they look like an innocent person like the young girl with golden hair, Goldilocks.

                                                    

                

 If I was teaching a lesson plan with Goldilocks and the Three Bears to kindergartners, I would have them compare what are big, medium and small sizes and what is hard and soft. We could also discuss the moral of the story, which is to wait to be invited to someone’s house and to be careful with things that are not ours. This lesson would be under language in the frameworks as vocabulary acquisition and use (Language: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use. 6.). I would have the students make a collage of different objects that were large, medium and small to have a visual and have a hands on activity. For the soft and hard objects I would have different objects that they can sit on like a hard chair and a bean bag for another-hands on activities.