Little Red Riding Hood: 3. Let's make a cake for Grandma!
Red Riding Hood and her Ma want to cheer Grandma up by making a picnic. But when Ma hurts her ankle, Red Riding Hood has to walk through the woods to Grandma's house alone.
The story
Red Riding Hood has been cooking pancakes for breakfast and her Ma is very impressed with the results. We hear how Grandma lives in a little cottage in the woods and how once a week Red Riding Hood and her Ma walk there to visit her. Today's visit will be special, because Grandma hasn't been very well and Red Riding Hood wants to cheer her up by making a cake for her. Red Riding Hood goes to the shop to buy ingredients - and Mrs Midgley is still thinking about wolves. Later Red Riding Hood is making the cake when she hears a crash from upstairs in the bedroom: Ma has fallen over and hurt her ankle. Red Riding Hood realises she will have to walk through the woods on her own for the very first time...
Story questions
Who does Red Riding Hood like to help?
Mr Jenkins - with his gardening
Farmer Flynn - by milking the cows
Ma - by cleaning and polishing and shopping and cooking
What has Red Riding Hood made for breakfast?
Blueberry pancakes
Where does Grandma live?
In a little cottage in the woods - and Red Riding Hood and her Ma walk there once a week to visit
Why is Mrs Midgley feeling tired?
She has not slept well - she thinks she has been kept awake by the sound of the Wolf
Why will Red Riding Hood have to walk to Grandma's on her own?
Her Ma has fallen over and injured her ankle so can't walk with her
The song: 'Cake for Grandma' (vocal)
Note how the words in each line of the chorus are repeated, but each time the music changes, getting higher and getting lower.
Talk about the different ingredients which are needed for the cake and how they appear in each verse.
Notice how all the ingredients are mixed up in Verse 4!
Click here for the backing track version of the song or go to the Clips page.
Literacy links
| Year | Activity |
|---|---|
| Year 1 | Discuss what ingredients are needed to make a cake. Act out the things you need to do to make a cake - eg stir in the flour and beat the eggs. The children draw or write a list of the ingredients that are needed. |
| Year 2 | Talk about all the things that you need to do to make a really delicious cake - eg sieve the flour, beat the eggs, stir in the sugar. Children make up their own recipe to make a tasty cake and talk about the method. |
Music activity
The focus of the activity is clapping in time with the beat.
The children clap slowly in time to the music, following Sarah Jane. They begin clapping slowly, keeping the beat. Then Sarah Jane cues them to clap at double the speed...and finally double the speed again. Children need to focus on clapping with the beat.
Extend the activity by clapping some fast and slow rhythms and inviting the class to copy them, focusing on keeping in time. In pairs, the children can work together to create some fast and slow rhythms, then share them with the group.
Meet the characters
Listening music
2nd movement from Symphony No 5, by Ludwig van Beethoven (1804-1808).
What does the music make the children think of? What images come to mind?
What is the speed - or tempo - of the music? (It is slow). What is the dynamic? (It is quiet).
Can the children hear the low instrument at the beginning? It's called a cello, part of the string section of the orchestra. Later some higher instruments play the same melody too. These are flutes, part of the wind section.
Other KS1 Music series
Resources
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Teacher's Notes
Guidance on all the content (pdf)
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Music - Cake for Grandma
Download / print the music (pdf)
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Lyrics - Cake for Grandma
Download / print the lyrics (pdf)
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Story transcript
Download / print the story (pdf)
