The Three Little Pigs
How it All Began:
This project stemmed from a previous project in our 4 year old classroom. The children began by learning about their own pet, Fluffy the bunny, in their classroom. After learning about domestic animals, the children wanted to learn about other animals. The teacher and the children took a field trip to a farm and learned about individual farm animals. The teacher then, one day, told the story of the Three Little Pigs. The children loved the story so much that they wanted to do something more. The next day the teacher brought in another version of the story The True Story of The Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka. They compared the two versions and then they started a discussion on who they believed, the pigs or the wolf. They voted and it was unanimous - the pigs won!
One day they began discussing their favorite characters in the story.
Each child picked a favorite character and drew them. They then sat down in circle time and shared their characters with the class.
The following day, the teacher explained that a story could be told many different ways. They could read it, tell it, or act it. This sparked an idea in the children's minds. During their center time the children decided to "Act" the story out. Some children were the audience while the others were the cast members. This gave the teacher an idea. She collaborated with another teacher and decided to teach the children about acting and putting on a play. The children would act out the story of The Three Little Pigs and put on the show for the school and for the parents. This process also taught them about props, costumes, characters, auditions, actors, stage terms, etc.
The Long Process:
The children knew that this adventure was not going to be easy. The children sketched out the sets and made a list of all the stuff that they needed for the play. The children also used model sets to perform during their center time. All the children worked very hard on the real sets by painting and drawing the different pieces of the real set. Each day the children diligently worked to prepare the play and with the help of our teachers and students, the production would be successful.
It's Showtime!
The last touches on the play were made the week before the actual night. They worked on dress rehearsals, finishing touches of the set, and of course the finale (a jazz version of The Three Little Pigs). As the day grew closer the children (and the teachers) were nervous and excited. The night of the play was exciting and new. We booked a stage at a nearby school. It was to be the first production made by Smart Start children and the show was fabulous!!!!