Perspectives: An Activity with Red Riding Hood

On of the most challenging aspects of sociology can be teaching perspectives.  To that end, I once read a column by F. Forrester Church retelling the Red Riding Hood Story from the point of the view of the wolf.  Not all of our students will have reached the abstract thought level of thinking, so this activity can help bring those kids along.  The main goal is to help students view things from another perspective than what they are used to.

Here are some questions I use with the activity:

1. Tell me the basic story of Red Riding Hood, both content and the message(s) the story is supposed to send (this often takes about five minutes)
2. Here is the story from a different point of view (sometimes I read aloud, sometimes I have them read silently--depends upon a variety of factors)
3. Summarize the differences between the two stories
4. Why do you think there are differences?
5. At the end of the discussion(s), explain who you believe, Red's story or the Wolf's.  Explain.
6. Debrief the activity as needed, based upon the discussion
7. Transition into how viewing particular behaviors/stories/events through multiple lenses is important and something we will be doing frequently throughout the course.

The Red Riding Hood document can be found on this page:
https://sites.google.com/site/teachinghighschoolsociology/01-perspectives