Book Bag Activities for
The Little House
By: Megan Hager

• Burton, Virginia Lee (1942). The Little House. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Rationale:

• Although this story is old, it has a deep meaning that can be related to the present time. I think any child (and adult) can relate to this story in one way or another. This story also shows us some of the incredible advances we have made in the United States during the past hundred years.

Information about the author:

• Virginia Lee Burton was born in 1909 in Massachusetts. Burton illustrated all of the books she has written, and she claims that she illustrates the books before writing the text. Other classics by Burton include; Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Choo Choo, and Katy and the Big Snow. Before submitting a book for publishing, Burton “tried out” all of her books on her sons and their friends and took their opinions and suggestions to heart. Burton died in 1968.

Questions to use with the story:

Before reading text:

• How has your town changed over the past few years?
• What do you think your town was like 100 years ago?
• What are some things in your life that are important to you?
• Where did the Little House live?
• Think of a time when you or someone you know wished for something that was later regretted.

During reading text:

• How has the appearance of the house changed throughout the course of the book?
• What do you notice about the colors used during different scenes in the story? Do these colors and drawings create and mood or feeling for you?
• (Before the little house moves back out into the country.) What do you think will happen to the Little House?
• Explain what is happening when the horseless carriages and steam shovels come down the winding country road.

After reading text:

• How were the different seasons represented in the story? What were the different colors used to represent the seasons?
• Why did the little house move back out into the country?
• How does this story remind you of another book you have read?
• Which season did the Little House observe the children going back to school?
• What, besides cars and steam shovels, have changed the way we live?
• How would this story have been different if there were no more living relatives of the original Little House owners?
• Explain why you agree or disagree with the great-great granddaughter’s decision to move the Little House back out into the country.

Activities:

• Read Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, also by Burton. Have kids make connections and find similarities between the two books. Discuss the two books, simultaneously, comparing and contrasting the text and the illustrations. This would be a great activity toward the end of the little house studies. Once the students become familiar with and comfortable with The Little House, begin studying Mike Mulligan and comparing the two books.
• Make a timeline of the events that occur in the book. Students may want to research possible dates, according to the illustrations and date of publication. The primary grades may want to create the timeline together, as a class, and upper elementary students could create a timeline in pairs or small groups.
• Focus on the sensory images created by the text and create your own illustrations of the different stages the house goes through. Have students make a minimum of four pictures to represent the house and its surroundings.
• Have students write in their journals about the family who own the little house. Have them create careers and lifestyles that each generation may have partook in while living in the little house. Some students may want to predict the future of the house and what the continuing generation of family will do next.
• Have students write a story about something in their life or family that is special. This is a great opportunity for the students to gather information about their family’s history and possible heirlooms that may exist within the family. Have students explain how these special things have changed over the years and predict how they may change in the future.
• Find old pictures of a select city and current pictures of the story. Present the pictures to the class and have a class discussion about the similarities and differences between the pictures. Make suggestions that may explain why the city has or has not changed drastically over the past hundred years. Point out any natural resources, modes of transportation, and colors represented in the pictures.
• Have students conduct an interview of a grandparent (or family friend). Provide some suggestions of questions that will help the students gain insight into the world has changed over the past hundred years. Encourage the students to focus their interviews on the changing of buildings, transportation, and architecture.
• Take a visit to a busy city that has different modes of public transportation. Encourage students to keep their ears, noses, and eyes open. Once you have returned, have students discuss what noises they heard, what smells they smelled in the city, and any unique observations they made. If this trip is impossible, watch a video from a busy city or listen to a cassette tape of a city.
• Ask students to bring in four different objects that represent the four seasons. Give students a few days to think about what comes to mind when they think of each season, and try to find something to represent this thought. Allow the students to share their four representations with the class or in a small group. Have the students explain why the items represent the seasons and how they relate to their lives.
• Read A Very Special House by Ruth Krauss or A House is a House For Me by Mary Ann Hoberman. Explore similarities and differences between The Little House and the book chosen. Have students share why their house is special to them and why its location is important. Have them predict how things would be different if their house was in a different location (i.e. at the beach, in the country).

Props:

• Blocks. Provide a set of wooden or cardboard blocks for primary students to build their own homes/houses. Provide a variety of different sizes and shapes to allow their creativity to run wild.
• Representations of the four seasons. Have some brown and orange leaves to represent spring. Provide silk flowers of bright color to represent spring. Place a pair of sunglasses in the bag to represent the summer season. Have a pair of gloves to represent winter.
• Graphing paper. Provide this special paper for students to draw accurate pictures of their dream houses.
• Clothes representing the different time periods. Provide different types of authentic clothing to represent the time periods in the story, according to the illustrations. Three categories including before cars were invented, the time period when cars were first invented, and more recent attire from the 80s or 90s.
• Pictures of old cars and machines. Find pictures of old cars and machines that were used hundreds of years ago. These pictures could be used for story telling and observing.
• Other books by Virginia Lee Burton.
• Puzzle that depicts the order of events of the Little House. The only way the puzzle pieces fit together is if they are in the correct, chronological order.
• Songs from the different time periods depicted in the story. The students will put the songs in order according to the plot of the story.

Bibliography of other related books:

By Virginia Lee Burton:

• Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
• Choo Choo
• Calico, the Wonder Horse
• Katy and the Big Snow
• Life Story
• Maybelle and the Cable Car
• The Emperor’s New Clothes

Other Authors:

• It’s My City By April Pulley Sayre
• Snow Comes to the Farm By Nathaniel Tripp
• Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf By Lois Ehlert
• A Very Special House By Ruth Krauss
• A House is a House For Me By Mary Ann Hoberman
• Homeless Bird By Gloria Whelan

Assessment:

• The children will be assessed using the questions, based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. The students will be assessed according to their knowledge and comprehension of the book. The students will also be assessed during the activities chosen. The assessment of the activities will be based on the students’ involvement and participation and how elaborate their projects and presentations are done.