1. Mini lesson Narrator’s Point of View — 5th grade
Poetry

2. The three little pigs

3. Teaching Point
Today we will learn how authors use point of view to influence how events are described.
We are all familiar with the story “The Three Little Pigs”.
We know that the three little pigs set out to build their homes – one from straw, one from sticks, and one from bricks.
The wolf came along and blew down the house of straw and sticks but when he came to the house of bricks he could not blow it down.
He huffed and puffed and finally went down the chimney.

4. Listen as I read the beginning from another book, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs.
Everybody knows the story of the Three Little Pigs. Or at least they think they do. But I’ll let you in on a little secret. Nobody knows the real story, because nobody has ever heard my side of the story.
I’m the wolf. Alexander T. Wolf.
You can call me Al.
I don’t know how the whole Big Bad Wolf thing got started, but it’s all wrong.
Maybe it’s because of our diet.
Hey, it’s not my fault wolves eat cute little animals like bunnies, and sheep and pigs. That’s just the way we are. If cheeseburgers were cute, folks would probably think you were Big and Bad, too.

5. But like I was saying,
The whole Big Bad Wolf thing is all wrong.
The story is about a sneeze and a cup of sugar.
The news reporters found out about the two pigs I had for dinner.
They figured a sick guy going to borrow a cup of sugar didn’t sound very exciting. So they jazzed up the story with all of that “Huff and puff and blow your house down.” And they made me the Big Bad Wolf.
That’s it. The real story. I was framed.

6. Who is telling this story?
Turn and talk to your partner about how the story might be different when he got to the house of straw or sticks.
As you read on your own, look for examples how the point of view influences how details are described.
How does that impact the theme of the text?