Why Re-Invent the Wheel

For Wednesday posts, I will tap into my bag of teaching ideas.  These ideas can be used in the school setting or at home.  Some I have thought of myself and some I have borrowed from others.  I have used them in my classroom and am sharing them with you to use, hence the title, Why Re-Invent the Wheel.  Over my past 11 years of teaching (ouch!) I have perfected being an underachiever and I am not ashamed.

This week we are talking about Fairy Tales.  Everyone loves a good Fairy Tale and almost everyone knows the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  This is the version I read today.  There are MANY versions!  We did a simple sort/size activity following the read aloud as follows:
Biggest to Smallest

Draw pictures of three bears using a stencil, going from biggest to smallest. Copy the pictures so that there are enough for each of the students in your group. If you don't have a stencil, simply draw different size bears.  Let them decorate each bear, and discuss the differences between them.Cut out the bears and place one set of bears on a surface everyone can see and label them “Small,” “Bigger,” and “Biggest.” Take three similar toys of different sizes, such as blocks or cars, and have students sort them beneath the picture appropriately.
You can take this one step further (to keep in a portfolio) and glue the bears on a large piece of construction paper in order from biggest to smallest.  Label the picture, "The Three Bears" and call it a day :).  

I like this activity because it uses other items to help children generalize the skill of sorting and awareness of size.  I also like the artistic element that children can create their own interpretations of Mama Bear, Papa Bear and Baby Bear.    

*If you plan to complete this activity in one sitting allot at least 30 minutes, including reading the story.