Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Title: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Retold and illustrated by: Jan Brett
Genre: Folktale


Summary
Once upon a time there lived three bears, one was a little, small, wee bear, one was a middle-sized bear, and the other was the older great huge bear. Each bear had their own bowl for porridge, their own chair to sit in, and their own bed to sleep in. One morning while waiting for their porridge to cool, the three bears took a walk in the woods. While they were out, a little girl named Goldilocks came to their house. She looked in the windows and noticed that no one was home so she lifted the latch and went into the house. As soon as she entered the house, she smelled the porridge. She went into the kitchen and tasted the porridge out of the huge bowl, but it was too hot, then she tasted it out of the middle-sized bowl, but it was too cold. Lastly, she tried the porridge out of the small bowl and it was just the right temperature; she ate all the porridge in that bowl. Next, Goldilocks decides to sit down. She tries each of the chairs and decides the little chair was neither too hard nor too soft, but just right. She sits in the chair until the bottom gives out and breaks. Lastly, Goldilocks goes upstairs to the bedroom where the bears sleep. She tries each of the three beds and decides the bed of the little, small, wee bear was neither too high at the neither head nor foot, but just right. She ends up falling asleep in this bed. While sleeping, the three bears returned to their home, each of the bears had noticed that someone had been eating their porridge, so they go into the living room to see if they can find anyone. Once in the living room, they noticed that the pillows and cushions were not in the same place they had left them. Since they had not discovered anyone yet, they went upstairs to check in their bedrooms. The big bear noticed that the pillow was out of place on his bed, the middle bear noticed that the cover was out of place on her bed, and the little, small, wee bear discovered Goldilocks sleeping in his bed. Goldilocks awakened to the voice of the little, small, wee bear. She immediately jumped out of the bed and ran to the window. She ran as fast as she could and never looked back. This was the last time that the three bears ever heard or saw Goldilocks.


Classroom Connection
There are several activities I could use in my classroom with the book Goldilocks and the Three Bears. First, I could use this book in a unit on fairytales and folktales. First, students would identify specific characteristics that this type of genre has. One characteristic that would be interesting to discuss in relation to this book and a few others is the resemblance of the number three. Students would write down all the stories that use the number three. Then students would describe the situation in each of these stories where the number three played a role. Finally, students would get in groups and discuss why they believe that the number three is so significant in fairytales and folktales.
Another activity I would use Goldilocks and the Three Bears in would be in role-playing or Reader’s Theater. Children would get into groups of four students each and come up with their own script of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but they would need to put their own little twist on it. For example, the students could change up the characters a little bit or change some of the situations or circumstances. Once the group finished writing their own script and practiced with their group, they would have the opportunity to perform for their peers.