Once upon a time, there was a Little Red Hen that lived with a cat, dog, and pig. One day Little Red Hen found some grains of wheat on the ground and decided to plant them. She asked her friends, "Who will help me plant this wheat?"
"Not I," said the dog.
"Not I," said the cat.
"Not I," said the pig.
"Then I'll do it myself," said Little Red Hen. And she did.
In fact the Little Red Hen watered the wheat, harvested the wheat, cut the wheat, ground the wheat, and then brought the flour home mixed it with milk and butter and made a delicious bread all by herself ! With no help from her friends! When the wonderful smells of the bread wafted though the air the Little Red Hen once again asked her friends,"Who will help me eat this bread?"
"I will," said the dog.
"I will," said the cat.
"I will," said the pig.
At the end of the story we asked the children "What do you think should happen now?" The only part the cat, dog and pig wanted to help with was to eat the bread.
Aaron- "The dog, cat and pig did not help, so the Hen should eat the bread."
Mia- " The Hen should take the bread away and eat the bread by herself, not in front of the cat, dog or pig because they will feel bad."
Eric- "She should eat it by herself."
Isaiah- "Because the Hen made it, she should eat it."
After our discussion we decided to bake pretzels on Shabbat and everyone would help in some way or form. So that is what we did! Some children measured, poured, mixed others kneaded, rolled, twisted the pretzels into letter shapes and helped place them in the oven. Everyone did their part! Now that's what I call TEAMWORK! Oh yes, and we wanted to let you all know the pretzels were delicious!!!!!!!!
Interesting comments from the children. Did any of them think the Hen should share it or did they all think only those who helped should eat? I'd like to hear more about their thinking on this issue- it's such a rich question to ask.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes think Hen is too nice and should teach the other animals a lesson. (Does she do so in the original?) I love this story so much and from growing up, when I want to respond in the negative I still often say, "'Not I,' said the (duck, cat, dog)." It's a story with a wonderful lesson for kids (and adults)
ReplyDeleteAnd when the pretzels came home, I thought that they would be going right to the trash. But then I tried them and quite enjoyed them! Don't judge a book by its cover!! Mia even let me take a couple to class so I could think of her when I ate my snack.
Very interesting and great to hear about the pretzel teamwork. Of course, I can't help but wonder if the kids would have answered the same way if the words "mom" or "dad" were substituted for hen ;)
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