The big bad wolf revisited.
Extending the children’s wall interest based on their storytelling, we set up a provocation in the mini-studio which included wooden figures, natural materials, and the wall that the children built with our Atelierista, Amy. Below is one of the stories the children created:
The big bad wolf blows the wall down. The figures climb-up and they fell down. Then the big bad wolf comes and falls down. Help, help, help! I’m trapped!
I’m the boy. I’m the little boy. The boy is in trouble.
I’m the big bad wolf.
The mommy is here now. I’m the mommy. “Mommy, daddy. Mommy, daddy, let’s run away”- The little boy. The little boy continues, “ Mommy, daddy, let’s run away. Climb up here, climb up. Get up here on top of the wall. I have the keys to get up here on the wall. I feel happy being up here. I feel happy.
Oh no, the big bad wolf gets up on the wall. The kid and the mommy are running away from the wolf. The wolf says, “Wait for me, wait for me.”
I’m the knight. I’m climbing up the wall. The knight breaks the wall down. Breaks the wall down. Down! The knight is trying to catch the wolf. Don’t do anything to the little boy because he’s your neighbor. The knight is protecting the wall. The knight is also repairing the wall because it keeps breaking.
The end
With the addition of another material to more fully develop ideas and solidify characters, Adriana reads the story to the children while they work with Sculpey Clay and wire. She asks, “What ideas would you like to modify from our story?”
Adriana: I remember in the story that the wolf is running behind the little boy and mommy. Why is that happening?
Rufus: I know, maybe the wolf is actually part of the family.
During the Reflection meeting, we discussed the idea of the Wolf being part of the family and met to create a storyboard to clearly convey everyone’s ideas.
Rufus: I think the wolf is chasing the little boy because he wants to be part of the family.
Mars: Maybe he is feeling lonely.
Chloe: I think the wolf is saying, ‘Wait for me, wait for me. I’m your friend’.
Christoph: The wolf isn’t part of the family. He is the big bad wolf. Remember, he lives in the forest.
Rufus: But maybe he’s running behind the little boy because he wants to be part of the family.
Adriana: What do you all think about this idea?
Christoph: I think the idea makes me feel happy. How about we make the forest where they are running?
Tallulah: How about we make a bed for the wolf and a pillow?
Christoph: And we connect the bed to the forest so the wolf can rest?
The Little Boy and The Wall
Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Johnson. He is 3 years old. Johnson begins to look for treasure in the forest. The forest is looking very dark, very, very dark, and it sounds like leaves were falling from the trees. Woosh, woosh, woosh, woosh. The moon lights the dark. The little boy is running away from the bee. The boy is feeling scared because he gets lost.
Teacher Reflection:
We always consider what the children are working through or wondering about when designing the next curriculum steps. We see a correlation between the happy family in the story and the settled community in the West Wing. We also recognize the undecided interpretation of the Big Bad Wolf in relation to some of our friends who are still building skills socially. Sometimes friends are too intense or silly when others just want to calmly engage. Quite like this Big Bad Wolf who has been embraced in the story, we know the children appreciate all their friends and want to include them.
With this in mind, Amy and Adriana acted out the story. With the support of the teachers asking questions, the children consider ‘what – ifs’ that resemble real-life problems like, how do you join a group of friends, and, what phrases can convey my desire to connect? The children safely process ideas through a story without their own emotional content. As the children watched the bee chase the boy and wolf and listened to their story, Adriana asked: What do you think is happening here?
Everyone agreed they were trying to connect.
Poppy: It’s like when I paint with one color and get another color and then they mix.
Yes, it is. Because we all represent individual colors and when we combine our identities in a school group, we become a new color together. We’re still stirring.