Setting Activity—The Little House

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton was first published in 1942 but remains a favorite of many. It tells the story of a Little House — from the house’s perspective — that is located in the country, is lived in, and surrounded by beauty.

As the Little House sees the distant lights of the city, she wonders what it would be like to live in the city, and as time goes on, she finds the city growing until she is surrounded by it and no one lives in her anymore.

The story proceeds until a relative of those who once lived in the Little House happens by and sees her in disrepair in the middle of the city. She has the Little House moved back to a country setting. The pictures, text, and detailed descriptions make this an ideal book to reinforce the setting of the story and what can happen within settings (Kick-Offs!).

Read the book to the children and discuss the changes in the setting that occurred. This would also be an opportunity to use the Compare/Contrast Map (shown at right is the map from MindWing’s Talk to Write, Write to Learn manual) focusing on the setting of the house in the country and the city. After discussing the changes, hand out the Setting Glasses (download below). Have the children draw and color the two settings using colored pencils and assemble as shown. We created a bulletin board with the Setting icon and story title/author.

Download SGM^® Setting Glasses

If this activity brings to mind other stories you have used that would work with this lesson, please share with us on our Facebook page.