The Little House – Caldecott

Bibliographic information

Burton, V. (1942). The little house. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company.

Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Suggested Grade Level: PreK – 2

Response to the book:
This book open the eyes of the reader to the changes this world has gone through since the industrial revolution. I brings to light all the different pollutions that surround us in the world today. It is amazing to me that it was written in 1942, a time that I feel was less overcrowded and polluted than today. I wondered what Virginia Lee Burton would think of our cities today. The beauty of nature in its simplest forms is a gift that many of us ignore because of the constant need to go!

 

The plot for this book is what a little house built in the early 1900s goes through when she sees her countryside become a city. The house was to never be sold for money but it was to be built strong and sturdy so that generations of the owner’s family could enjoy it. The house is happy about her location and loves being surrounded by trees and farmlands. She always wondered about what a city was like. As time went by, the little country house was surrounded by everything a city has, tall buildings, traffic, overcrowding and pollution of all sorts. The original owner’s plan becomes reality when his great granddaughter sees the house in the middle of the city and falls in love with it. She moves the house to the country and placed it on land that was reminiscent of the house’s original location.

Lesson Plan:

After reading the book, “The Little House”, the students will be able to compare and contrast the details of the countryside and the city by drawing different images independently.

Lesson Ideas:

Students will be able to draw pictures of the countryside and the city in order to compare and contrast, the two different settings.

Students can build a house using popsicle sticks, glue and markers. They will also create a background of a location they would love to live in and explain it to the class.

Discussion questions:
Where would you like to live and why?
What would your dream location look like?

Outside Resources:

• https://www.google.com/search?biw=1920&bih=976&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=6zktXtnjIaXq9AOG-Y7YDw&q=the+little+house+lesson+ideas&oq=the+little+house+lesson+ideas&gs_l=img.3…4803.6769..7325…0.0..0.83.655.9……0….1..gws-wiz-img…….0i8i30.VC9aoAu9VEM&ved=0ahUKEwiZharI2aDnAhUlNX0KHYa8A_sQ4dUDCAc&uact=5#imgrc=Xrm01WEh5lxsEM:
• https://www.google.com/search?biw=1920&bih=976&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=6zktXtnjIaXq9AOG-Y7YDw&q=the+little+house+lesson+ideas&oq=the+little+house+lesson+ideas&gs_l=img.3…4803.6769..7325…0.0..0.83.655.9……0….1..gws-wiz-img…….0i8i30.VC9aoAu9VEM&ved=0ahUKEwiZharI2aDnAhUlNX0KHYa8A_sQ4dUDCAc&uact=5#imgdii=qbiv4BmXqiK07M:&imgrc=2CX7L7GZHs-NXM: