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Little Red Riding Hood: 5. Wolfie went a-walking

The Wolf reaches Grandma's cottage before Red Riding Hood. Grandma spies his hairy paw through the letterbox and refuses to let him in. So the Wolf digs a tunnel under the cottage and into her pantry...

The story

Red Riding Hood continues to walk through the woods to Grandma's cottage. Meanwhile the Wolf is racing ahead, hoping to arrive at the cottage before Red Riding Hood. The Wolf arrives at the cottage where, inside, Gramdma is dozing in a chair. She hears a knock at the door and a croaky voice claiming to be Red Riding Hood. But when she gets to the door she peeps through the letterbox - just to be sure. Grandma realises it's a wolf's paw and refuses to open the door. The Wolf tries blowing the door down...without success...then considers going down the chimney...only he can see smoke coming from it. Finally he sees a worm and that gives him the idea to dig a tunnel under the house. He comes up into the pantry where he allows himself one sausage - a small starter before the main meal he is planning.

Story questions

How is the Wolf able to get to Grandma's so quickly?

He knows a shortcut through the woods

Why does Grandma refuse to open the door?

The Wolf doesn't really sound like Red Riding Hood - and when she checks by looking through the letterbox she sees the Wolf's hairy paw

Why doesn't the Wolf climb down the chimney?

He can see smoke coming from the chimney - he doesn't want to get his bottom burned again, as that happened before with the Three Little Pigs

What gives the Wolf the idea of tunnelling under the cottage?

He sees a worm

What happends to the tunnel?

It caves in just as the Wolf emerges into the pantry - so neither he or anyone else will be able to use it as a route out of the cottage

The song: 'Wolfie went a-walking' (vocal)

Clap along to the steady pulse in the verses. Clap along to the fast beat of the chorus. Talk about how these are different.

Practise the clapping and different sounds / speech that happen in the pauses near the end of each verse.

Practise singing the chorus with lots of energy and swaying gently in time.

Click here for the backing track version of the song or go to the Clips page.

Literacy links

YearActivity
Year 1Talk about what you think Grandma’s cottage and garden look like based on what we have seen and heard. Draw a picture of them and add some simple lables for things like 'door' and 'roof'.
Year 2Talk about the conversation that Grandma and the Wolf have through the letterbox. In pairs, act it out as Grandma and the Wolf. Make up some new lines of dialogue for them and share with the class.

Music activity

Divide the class into two groups - Group A and Group B. When both groups are ready play the video.

Group A speaks the words, ‘Trip, trap,’ in time to the music. Group B sings Verse 1 over the top of this, cued by Sarah Jane.

Later, the children can make up their own two-part pieces of music working in pairs and using percussion instruments. One could play a low, steady beat, while the other plays some faster notes over the top. Then share with the rest of the class.

Listening music

Spring from The Four Seasons, by Antonio Vivaldi (1725).

What are the dynamics - the variation between loud and quiet? Is it fast or slow? What does it make the children think of?

The music is played by a string orchestra - a group of violins, violas and cellos.

Can children identify when the music is played by just twoviolins together?

Resources